“Character cannot develop in ease and calm,” Helen Keller once said. “Only through the experience of trials and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” From suffering comes triumph and from struggle, honor. Ernest Hemingway's fictional short story, The Old Man and the Sea, is a simply written tale of an old man's courage, perseverance, and victory despite his destruction. The protagonist Santiago, is an elderly fisherman, who does not seem to be as successful recently in his fishing career; However, one day, while he was going out to sea, a large marlin seemed to have bitten his hook. After spending three days at sea searching for the fish, despite returning home empty-handed, Santiago earns the respect he deserves for his dedication and unwavering determination despite all odds. In The Old Man and the Sea, honor in struggle and suffering is shown in Santiago's hero, DiMaggio, in the way Santiago is compared to Christ, and in Santiago's ultimate battle with the Marlin. Santiago shows his admiration for DiMaggio, a baseball player, due to their similar situations and how DiMaggio and Santiago overcame their pain to achieve their dreams of being a baseball player or a fisherman. Trying to explain his admiration for DiMaggio, Santiago said to Manolin, his friend and student: “I would like to go fishing for the great DiMaggio. It is said that his father was a fisherman. Maybe he was as poor as us and he would understand (22). Similar to Santiago, DiMaggio's father was also a fisherman, suggesting that DiMaggio came from a modest background like Santiago's; Additionally, DiMaggio also has a bone spur in his heel, but despite his condition, he plays as well as others p...... middle of paper ...... perseverance. In The Old Man and the Sea, honor is represented through suffering and destruction through Santiago's admiration for DiMaggio, Santiago's Christ-like character, and, most importantly, Santiago's fight against the marlin. DiMaggio is special to Santiago because he overcomes his pain and perhaps poverty to become an exceptional baseball player. Both Santiago and Christ are physically destroyed; however, the two are not defeated at all. In fact, Christ rises from death in glory, and Santiago's struggles and fatigues are transformed into new determination after killing the fish. Santiago is honored after bringing the fish home, because he suffered hunger, thirst, loneliness, pain at sea, but he finds healing and life through the fish he gets. tries so hard to catch and protect. After all, when something is truly worth fighting for, you win it with pride and triumph...