What brings a man success is his courage and tenacity against overwhelming odds. Whether Santiago wins or loses his battle with the marlin is inconsequential to him waging a good fight. Santiago and the marlin exhibit qualities of pride, honor, and bravery, and both follow under the same barbaric rule: they must kill or be killed. Throughout the novel, it suggests that it is possible to transcend this law. It is through the effort to battle the inevitable that one can truly show what they are made of. This novel is often regarded as Hemingway 's masterpiece. It 's filled with epic struggles (man vs. nature, man vs. himself), eternal issues (love, survival, teaching the next generation, tenacity against the odds) and strong writing. It 's also somewhat rife with a late-in-life outlook that may be largely lost on young readers. Readers young and old are rarely equivocal about this book -- it 's either love or hate. When I initially read the book, I was infuriated with the fact that Santiago wouldn’t let go of the fish. If he loved it as much as he said he did, he should’ve let it go. However, as I reflected, I began to fall in love with the book. In Santiago, Hemingway has created a hero who epitomizes honesty, bravery, endurance, and belief. No amount of pain or physical abuse can extinguish Santiago 's honor and pride, which remains unconquerable. Even in his vile existence, the old man is proud, saying that he will have fish to eat at home, even though he knows he hasn