The Old Man and the Sea has two big examples of life after death and fighting for ones life.
Santiago is an old man, and he knows that his time will be up soon. Thankfully, he has an apprentice. The apprentice's name is Manolin. Manolin left Santiago for a little while because he was not catching any fish. Manolin's father forced him to leave Santiago because he had terrible luck.
After Santiago catches his marlin, Manolin comes back to him; not because his father said he could, but because he loves Santiago and wants to learn his way of fishing. After Manolin comes back, Santiago knows he has someone who will extend his way of fishing after his death. He now has a successor in life.
Before Santiago was sure he had a successor, he had to fight to stay alive while he was at sea. Santiago went to deeper waters without any food or water. He was unaware that he would be out there for over three days. He manages to catch a few smaller fish to eat, but he is not hungry. He only eats the fish to keep up his strength. Santiago is mainly thirsty, and after awhile he becomes a little delirious from dehydration. Along with not getting enough nutrients, Santiago also has to deal with the fiery sun that beats on him all day long.
Santiago suffers many cuts and cramps while he is in pursuit of his marlin. He almost breaks down physically, but he is able to hold on until the fish is dead.
Along with Santiago, the marlin is also fighting for his life. He puts up a pretty good fight too. The marlin manages to pull Santiago along for three days until he has to jump into the air to fill his air pockets. After his air pockets have been filled, Santiago manages to slowly pull him in and kill him. Right before the marlin dies, he leaps one last leap into the air. Said by the author, " Then the fish came alive, with his death in him, and rose high out of the water showing all his great length and width and all his power and his beauty."
I think, at this part of the novel, that the marlin symbolizes the act of dying. Before being pulled in, the marlin makes a very good fight to stay alive. He does not show any weakness. Then, right as he is about to die, he makes one final attempt at showing Santiago all that he is made of.
This act from the marlin is similar to Santiago's actions at the end of the novel. Santiago knows that he is old and that he will not be able to catch such a magnificent fish ever again, but being able to bring in such a huge skeleton suffices him.
The enormous fish skeleton is Santiago's final leap into the air.
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