What is Santiago’s role as fisherman? How do the villagers view him?

Hemingway draws a distinction between two different types of success within the context of the sea and fishing: outer, material success and inner, spiritual success. While Santiago clearly lacks the former, the import of this lack is eclipsed by his possession of the later. One way to describe Santiago's story is as a triumph of indefatigable spirit over exhaustible material resources. As noted above, the characteristics of such a spirit are those of heroism and manhood. That Santiago can end the novella undefeated after steadily losing his hard-earned, most valuable possession is a testament to the privileging of inner success over outer success. The other younger fishermen would make fun of Santiago behind his back. They had motors and radios. They were able to catch a lot of fish. Santiago had an old skiff and had not caught a fish in 84 days.