Not only do the two begin to share death, but also Santiago begins bonding with the fish in life: calling the fish brother. The last example best illustrates the Semiotic language flowing out of the Symbolic language:  “I want to touch and feel him.  He is my fortune…. But that is not why I wish to feel him.  I think I felt his heart” (95).  The latter revelation is a confirmation of Santiago’s use of Semiotic language.  The marlin, whom he had begun to fall in love with, communicated with him through his heart.  Later, as the fish is being desecrated by the sharks, the old man can no longer look at the fish, presumedly out of guilt for he apologizes to the fish for killing him (103).  Even with the sharks he begins to see them less with “complete malignancy” (102) and more like himself (105).