Santiago's Defeat

In the book “The Old Man and the Sea” written by Hemingway in 1951, Santiago says “A man can be destroyed but not defeated” (Pg.93). It had to do with the persistence of the man in achieving what he wanted to do despite him facing all misfortune, taunts and hardships in life. In order to turn defeat into victory and to overcome life’s problems with dignity, decency and pride, one should have powerful human spirits. A man can be killed, but as long as he does not quit, he cannot be defeated. We are placed into the critical situations in life where people were more inclined to give up than pursue but if we tend to have self-determination, pride, perseverance and dignity like the old man, Santiago, and then we are never defeated.
In order to enshrine success in one’s life would depend on one’s control of self-determination and giving their best. For instance, a man having serious medical problem, family related issues, financial problem and personal issues in life which leads to feel like end of the world. However, one’s capability of seeing the things, handling and solving the problems makes the man hero though he experiences the worst part of destruction. The old man says in the novel,

Defeat means to have been beaten in a battle or a contest and losing something that cannot be regained or turned back. However, Santiago, the old man in the novel is never defeated even when he says at the end, “They beat me Manolin, they truly beat me,” (Pg.112). Instead, he conquered his enemy marlin by killing it. Likewise, one should not give up even before giving a try. We may lose game and experience hardship, but it does not mean that we are defeated permanently. He experienced destruction for 84 days of not catching any fish and he was being crushed and destroyed physically, nevertheless, his spirit and self-determination has accomplished him a victory with pride. Finally, he proved that man can be never