Cut The Cord!

Ok. So the one thing I was annoyed at by this book was how dumb I found Santiago to be. Kudos to him for holding out for the fish, but three days??? He was not nearly prepared for what the marlin would do to him. I mean, ok, he caught this huge fish and does not want to let it go. But, there are more fish than this one marlin in the whole ocean. He is bound to catch another one. Just cut the darn cord and move on. Instead, Santiago allows the fish to drag him through the water for two days, until he finally manages to kill it. But, the fish nearly causes Santiago to go insane and kill him, just because of the exertion. I mean seriously? How great is this fish anyway? He does not even keep the fish, but that topic is in my next blog.
I guess I just do not understand Santiago's situation. He had gone 84 days without catching a good size fish, and then he finally does manage to catch a big fish and does not want it to go. I still do not get why he could not let it go, as it was affecting his health. But, Santiago displayed perseverance and did not give up. I am just saying if I was in the same boat (no pun intended) as Santiago, I would cut the cord and let the fish go after a day. Santiago was not even prepared for going out to sea for the amount of time he did. All he had was some small fish the boy had given him and then the small fish he managed to catch while stuck holding onto the marlin. Santiago did display what he valued in life, however: getting the marlin. I would have just cut the cord, let the fish go, and tried to catch another fish. The least Santiago could have done was take the boy with him. He kept saying while stuck in the boat how much he wish the boy was with him. So why didn't he take the boy with him? Although, arguably, the old man did not know what was going to occur on the 85th day he went out fishing.