While important, Hemingway's treatment of pride in the novella is ambivalent. In Hemingway's ethical universe, Santiago shows us not only how to live life heroically but in a way befitting a man. Or a fish,' referring to the marlin (92). The representation of masculinity, the marlin, is described as 'great,' 'beautiful,' 'calm,' and 'noble,' and Santiago steels himself against his pain by telling himself to 'suffer like a man. The representation of femininity, the sea, is characterized expressly by its caprice and lack of self-control 'if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them' (30). To be a man is to behave with honor and dignity: to not succumb to suffering, to accept one's duty without complaint and, most importantly, to display a maximum of self-control. Hemingway's ideal of manhood is nearly inseparable from the ideal of heroism discussed above. As Santiago says, 'an is not made for defeat.A man can be destroyed but not defeated' (103). What we achieve or fail at externally is not as significant to heroism as comporting ourselves with inner nobility. What the hero does is to face adversity with dignity and grace, hence Hemingway's Neo-Stoic emphasis on self-control and the other facets of his idea of manhood. Hemingway vision of heroism is Sisyphean, requiring continuous labor for essentially ephemeral ends. Triumph, though, is never final, as Santiago's successful slaying of the marlin shows, else there would be no reason to include the final 30 pages of the book. Triumph over crushing adversity is the heart of heroism, and in order for Santiago the fisherman to be a heroic emblem for humankind, his tribulations must be monumental. As long as he focuses on this unity and sees himself as part of nature rather than as an external antagonist competing with it, he cannot be defeated by whatever misfortunes befall him. They are transitory forms which capriciously arrive and depart without affecting the underlying unity between himself and nature.

For Santiago, success and failure are two equal facets of the same existence.

The novella's premise of unity helps succor Santiago in the midst of his great tragedy. Also, apparently contradictory elements are repeatedly shown as aspects of one unified whole: the sea is both kind and cruel, feminine and masculine the Portuguese man of war is beautiful but deadly the mako shark is noble but cruel. Hemingway spends a good deal of time drawing connections between Santiago and his natural environment: the fish, birds, and stars are all his brothers or friends, he has the heart of a turtle, eats turtle eggs for strength, drinks shark liver oil for health, etc.

The old man and the sea novel