Santiago’s humble and simple background are good lessons for young people. He is tolerant, resilient, dedicated and persevering. He was always going back to the sea despite his travails on it. His good human relation makes him able to be friends with Manolin despite the age difference.

It also gives him a vantage ground from which he can have a view of birds and such phenomena as the stars, the moon and the sun. His experiences at sea led him to develop peculiar views about them. He wishes for example that the big fish were like the moon, the stars and the sun that no man can kill.

Few Candidates attempted the question and most of them performed well.