In "The Old Man and the Sea" why doesn't the Old Man recognize that the fish is a marlin?

Question

When I read the book as a kid, I was certain that the "fish" is a narwhal. I'm rereading it now, many years later, and a quick Google search told me I was wrong all these years: the fish is a marlin.However, in the same book, the old man recalls seeing a big marlin in the past. So he knows what marlin is and what it looks like. Why does he keep referring to the fish as a "fish" and never mentions it to be a marlin?

Answer 1

When fighting a tuna, Santiago mentions it as a fish .A dolphin tries to eat his small bait, getting stuck close to the boat. The old man had eaten the bonito already, planning to eat the entrapped dolphin the next day. He refers to the dolphin as dorado, noting that it was harder to eat than the bonito. He encounters a MAKO shark, which he harpoons. (The shark had mutilated his prized fish...the dentuso shark did not have the "ordinary pyramid-shaped teeth like most sharks...This shark's teeth was nearly as long as the old man's fingers with razor-sharp cutting edges on both sides). Then, later he encountered galanos sharks and single shovelnose sharks, These sharks return to attack his fish bait, eventually carrying away the head and carcass, enabling to boat to move more quickly in the water. Santiago reminisces about the ultimate marlin. The story describes what a marlin looks like...size and fin...a great fish Page 52 approximately: "The old man had seen many great fish...weighed more than a thousand pounds, catching two of them weighing a thousand pounds during his lifetime, but never was alone when catching these behemoths. Now he found himself caught fast to the biggest fish ever seen or heard of...and his left hand was very taut." The marlin is assumed to be the biggest fish with a distinct fin and size, based upon the story Hemingway chose to tell. Santiago was born to be a fisherman and destined to kill the marlin because of his ability to never give up and longevity as a fisherman during his lifetime. We learn about the fishes through Santiago's thoughts, not through direct statements. I hope this helps you.