The Old Man and the Sea - Santiago's Wife

In the book The Old Man and the Sea we learn something pretty interesting about Santiago. Even though he only mentions it in passing while he was monologuing he mentions that he has a wife. It is very briefly and easy to miss the quote says " He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women , nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy. " Now even though he only mentions it one time and he mentions it very quickly that quote shows that Santiago had, at one time, a wife. This leaves the obvious question of where she is now. In all likelihood there are two possibilities. The first and most obvious one being the fact that she most likely died. The story did say Santiago was old so she could be dead. The second more out of the box solution has to be the idea she got fed up with him being so obsessed with fishing that she finally decided to leave him and find a better life. In my own opinion I think the first option is the more likely of the two. For several reasons, one being that Santiago seems like a family first type of guy who would never let anything come between him and his family. The other reason is the fact that he talks about her with great pride and love still. You get the feeling that he loves her still and she passed away naturally rather than hurting him by running out on him. Santiago's wife was probably very near and dear to his heart. Someone he loved unquestionably, willing to do anything for her. He probably misses her very much but believes she is in a better place now.