Hemingway's Santiago viewed the sea like a woman. I liked this quote when I read through the book recently and decided to keep it for myself... "But the old man always thought of her (the sea) as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favors, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them. The moon affects her as it does a woman, he thought." (so it follows that should i do wild or wicked things, it is simply because I cannot help them)