He put in all of his effort and ultimately was able to catch the marlin. Though Santiago’s hand was bleeding and he had many other struggles throughout this the old man persevered and did not stop until he caught the fish. Persevering is a great act of success keeping strong, even though rough times have come is a very strong act, letting setbacks lead to demise, which eliminates all chances of success. Perseverance is an important attribute for success; it is required as without it there would be no reason to try when you fall down. The old man persevered just like all men should.
Though Santiago persevered and caught the marlin, he also managed to lose the marlin to the sharks. Though the old man tried to fight off the sharks, he did not succeed; the sharks went off with the fish while he was left only with the skeleton. Santiago was left with what had once been the biggest fish the village had ever seen, to just the skeleton. With the sorrow that he had, with knowing that he had failed the old man went to his home and fell asleep. The old man was not able to keep the fish he had caught, though he persevered in the process of catching the fish he ultimately lost