The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway deals with the effect of endurance and suffering on the human spirit, and how some of the suffering is necessary. Santiago suffers the most throughout the book. First, he suffers physically when trying to bring the fish to his boat. Secondly, his mental endurance allows him to continue on, his mind never let his body give in, even though his body told him to. Third, his spirit is hurt by all of the younger fishermen and the words they say and also by Manolin’s father sending him with another fisherman.
Santiago goes through a lot of physical suffering. The first physical damage that Santiago suffers is the "line burn that had cut his flesh." The cut "was in the working part of his hand." (57) It was not long after his hand had been cut by the line that his hand began to cramp. Santiago told his hand, "Cramp then if you want. Make yourself into a claw. It will do you no good." (58) He does not, however, give in to a little pain. He manages not to use the cramped hand until it has regained its full working order again.
Santiago was able to handle the fish and bring him up to the boat and then to the land, mainly because of his mental endurance. Santiago was a physically strong man, but he was even stronger mentally. His mind knew all that he did and kept him from surrendering. When his body was on the verge of giving in to the fish, his mind would not allow it. He thought of the great DiMaggio and he asked himself, "Do you believe the great DiMaggio would stay with a fish as long as I will stay with this one? he thought. I am sure he would . . . " (68) And to give him more confidence and the will to go on, he thought of the arm wrestling match in the Casablanca tavern. He remembered how, "For a long time after that everyone had called him The Champion." (70) This flashback gave him strength, which his mind used the best it could to bring the fish in.
The young fishermen in Havana had crushed Santiago deep inside. One night while he was out with Manolin, "They sat on the Terrace and many of the fishermen made fun of the old man." (11) That did not hurt his spirit nearly as much as not having Manolin go fishing with him everyday. Manolin no longer went fishing with Santiago because as he said, "It was papa made me leave. I am a boy and I must obey him." (10) Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days. Manolin’s father wanted his son to be on a boat that caught fish so he could make some money. This made Santiago think that if he caught a fish, a great fish, that Manolin’s father would once again allow him to fish with Santiago. Santiago also felt a need to restore his own pride in himself. In a way he, himself, was beginning to feel that he was not as great of a fisherman as he used to be. He felt that not only would Manolin be allowed to go fishing with him if he caught a fish, but he would also, once again, be noted as a great fisherman, not only by others but also by himself.
Santiago suffered throughout the story. He would not have survived the suffering were it not for his great endurance and the mental strength which he had that controlled his entire body. He had suffered pain to his body from the fishing lines running through his hands. Santiago had a great mind, a mind that told him what the right choices were and kept him away from the bad choices. His mind gave him strength when his spirit had been hit hard. He suffered a lot and this suffering was necessary for him to live his life. He could not have lived a life of all good, no one can, and he understood that. When the little bird landed on the fishing line, the bird was exhausted from its flight. Santiago spoke to the bird telling it "Take a good rest, small bird. Then go in and take your chance like any man or bird or fish." (55) Santiago understood that it was part of the life of not only man, but all of God’s creatures, to suffer and that suffering would strengthen him and every other creature in the long run.