The mako tears into the marlin just above the tail. Santiago, who knows where the shark's brain is located, drives the harpoon in with all his strength, resolution, and hatred. After the shark dies, Santiago assesses that the shark took about 40 pounds of the marlin, his harpoon, and all his rope. As the marlin bleeds anew, Santiago cannot bear to look at the mutilated fish. He knows more sharks will come, drawn by the blood. For a moment, he tries to console himself that he killed the mako, the biggest he has ever seen. He wishes he was at home in bed and only dreaming that he caught the marlin. But then he quickly reminds himself, "A man can be destroyed but not defeated."
As bad as he feels, Santiago must sail on and take what is coming. Still, he knows that he can't stop thinking; that and baseball are all he has left. So he wonders if the great DiMaggio would have liked the way he stabbed the mako in the brain. He wonders if his own injured hands were as great a handicap in his battle with the shark as DiMaggio's bone spurs, though he doesn't know what bone spurs are. He also tries to cheer himself by affirming that every moment he is drawing nearer to home and that the skiff sails lighter for the loss of the forty pounds.
