Quote 79
Perhaps I should not have been a fisherman, he thought. But that was the thing that I was born for. (2.96)
The old man believes that his own life as a fisherman is as much the natural order of things as the sharks eating his fish later on.
Quote 80
"Take a good rest, small bird," he said. "Then go in and take your chance like any man or bird or fish." (3.16)
Santiago sees men and beasts as equal in the face of luck.
Quote 81
He looked at the sky and saw the white cumulus built like friendly piles of ice cream and high above were the thin feathers of the cirrus against the high September sky.
"Light brisa," he said. "Better weather for me than for you, fish." (3.52, 3.53)
The old man gains confidence by examining the conditions in the natural world. It is on his side, it seems, not the fish’s.