The novel tells a very simple story that an old fisherman struggles against the big fish and fights with the sharks in two fishing days on the sea. Santiago is a widow and leads a dull, monotonous life in a very small fishing village. After eighty-four days without catching a fish, the poor fisherman, Santiago decides to go fishing on the sea alone. His only friend is a little boy who can not go with him this time. Fortunately, Santiago hooks a giant fish which plunges his skiff further and further into the uncharted water of the ocean. At last, the old man kills the fish and ties it to his skiff. The sharks are attracted by the bloods of the dead fish. So the old man has to fight against those greedy sharks on his way home. What left for him finally is the skeleton of the fish when he goes back to the fishing village with his exhausted body.