Never Defeated

In The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway one quote of Santiago that held a lot of weight was "Man is not made for defeat, a man can be destroyed but not defeated." Santiago said this after he had lost his harpoon and all his rope after killing a shark. Even though Santiago killed the shark it still managed to take a huge chunk of Santiago’s massive marlin, and its blood began emptying out into the ocean attracting even more sharks, that Santiago would not be able to fight off because he no long had his harpoon or rope. Santiago was left helpless as the sharks stripped the meat of his great catch leaving only the bones. Santiago was crushed because he had physically lost the prize of a lifetime; all that was left of the marlin was bone. He had spent all that time at sea waiting, hoping to make a catch like this, and when he finally was able to it was taken away from him. The meaning of Santiago’s quote is that if even though his actual prize was taken away from him, he still knew for himself that he had caught it and just because it was eaten by sharks does not take away from the fact that he made the catch of a lifetime. The sharks taking away his physical prize may have “destroyed” him but it will not truly “defeat” him because he knows for himself that he caught the marlin, he accomplished what he set out to do. Santiago has come to the realization that regardless of the outcome of an event, it will never be able to defeat him as long as he knows for himself he accomplished what he set out to do, and as long achieved this; nothing can take it away from him.