What is the moral of the novel 'The Old Man And The Sea?

What is the moral of the novel 'The Old Man And The  Sea? 

 

Ans: The hero is defeated by circumstances but he does not accept defeat and goes on struggling. This way he wins moral victory over physical defeat. Santiago is a fisherman who goes out for fishing far in the sea. He succeeds in fishing a huge M’arlin. 

He succeeds in killing the fish after a tiresome struggle of forty-eight hours. He lashes it with its, skiff and sets sail for home. After some time, the dead marlin is attacked by the sharks. They eat away all the meat of the Marlin and he is left with nothing. The old man suffers a lot during the course of his adventure. 

During the fight with sharks, his hands are bleeding even then he does not lose his heart but says, ‘man is not made for defeat’. His sorrows and sufferings are endless, which makes him a tragic hero and win the sympathies of the reader at the end. In spite of the physical defeat, he was a winner morally. 

The , moral of the novel is that we must struggle honestly and constantly with courage, determination, willpower, firmness, bravery, commitment  and dedication without the consideration of victory and defeat.