Meanwhile, the marlin continues to struggle and fight Santiago, he pulls taught the line hooked in his mouth with his strength. Both Santiago and the marlin fight like this for hours, struggling through pain and fatigue in their fight to the death, while both the old man and the great fish show powerful levels of endurance into the day. The battle of endurance between Santiago and the marlin lasts through the day and into the evening hours. The fight between Santiago and the great fish even lasts into the night. "It was dark now as it becomes dark quickly after the sun sets in September. He lay against the worn wood of the bow and rested all that he could. The first stars were out. He did not know.
the name of Rigel but he saw it and knew soon they would all be out and he would have all his distant friends" [CITATION Hem58 p 73-4 l 1033 ]. And so the battle continued, until finally the marlin could endure no more from Santiago. The old man drew in the marlin's body and strapped it to the side of the boat, but the test of endurance was not over for Santiago. After strapping the great fish to the side of his boat, then the carcass of the marlin was attacked by a mako shark. The old man tried to fend off the mako as best he could, but to no avail. After the shark tore into the flesh of the marlin and its blood was released into the water, the rest of the marlin was taken down by other sharks until just bones were left strapped to the side of the old man's little boat. The old man had won the test of endurance with the marlin, only to lose to the sharks he had come across.
Both the old man and the marlin face mortality and suffer great loss during the novel. The great fish is facing death from the moment it takes the old man's hook, but the old man Santiago is facing his problems also. The old man has already lost his wife, and he has only relics left by her and his memories of her to keep him company during the evening [CITATION Hem58 p 15 l 1033 ].
