He wants to show himself that he’s still strong. Part of this seemingly endless endeavor to catch the marlin and break his bad luck is inspired by a desire to reclaim something of his youth. He knows he needs to maintain his strength or at least the illusion of strength. “Let him think that I am more man than I am and I will be so.” Santiago speaks out loud to himself, as he’d gotten in the habit of, and says: He knows if he does, the marlin might realize its own strength and break the line. He spends a lot of time considering what the marlin must be thinking and worrying about showing weakness. While still in pursuit of the marlin Santiago considers his role as man, fisherman, and living being on the planet. Santiago made himself proud and showed all those who doubted him back in the village that he is a skilled fisherman with an unmatched power of will. He was determined to do what he needed to complete his task, even if he died too. As he states in the novella, he feels a kinship to the fish but he must kill it. Santiago also showed himself to be the more powerful of the two. He broke his streak of bad luck and proved himself worthy of the magnificent marlin. The fish itself has been destroyed and all his hard work along with it. Despite the loss of his much labored for fish, he knows he hasn’t been defeated. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”Īfter catching the marlin and losing it to the sharks, Santiago feels drained, emotionless, and above all else, exhausted. “But man is not made for defeat,” he said. Let’s take a look at some of the most important, and powerful, quotes that speak on this theme. Man versus nature is one of the primary themes in The Old Man and the Sea. The entire plot revolves around the old man’s attempts to win in a battle against nature. Through the themes, man verse nature, nature, and kinship, and perseverance, his emotional considerations of the world are laid bare. Santiago’s character, as outlined through the following quotes, is simple, endearing, and quite easy to empathize with.

Old man in the sea ernest hemingway