Many people face trials and tribulations everyday. People have their own problems that can break or make them. Some people are faced with small problems and some life threatening. A person can be temporarily destroyed at a particular thing or in general but cannot be defeated in a whole. Santiago inOld Man and the Sea? was put through a ton of trials throughout his life and trips but was never conquered to the point where he couldn't keep trying.
Santiago faced so many tribulations in this book the reader was only waiting for when he might break. Santiago pulled it together every morning and kept on going on his unsuccessful fishing trips. Santiago once went 84 days without a single catch. Any typical person would probably find many new techniques over the first couple days without any fish. This is the fisherman's life and income. Fishing is their source of survival. To go without a fish for 84 days and still abide by your daily schedule and spots of the ocean, Santiago could only be stubborn. Here Santiago shows he really isn't being defeated but physically and mentally destroyed over this vast time.
Santiago took hold on the coast of Cuba with little amenities. In the book he looks to the boy for support but doesn't ever mention it. Manolin is a smart boy who knows when the man needs something. The old man sleeps on newspapers dreaming of the white-sanded beaches with wild lions there. Santiago has a rackety old shack with no divided rooms. He owns small skiff to do his fishing but nothing else of value. Santiago lives in extreme poverty while other fisherman go about their somewhat successful fishing lifestyles. This would probably bend the normal person to a point of breaking. I know if I had no money and saw others with it doing the same job I do, I would definitely change my routine. Santiago was destroyed economically and again physically but kept pushing. Santiago was never defeated even as a person in poverty.