I．The three layers of pressure
The success of The old man and the sea lies most in its perfect display-- the grace under pressure．which is a very important quality of Santiago． The quality is composed of two dements：pressure and grace． Pressure is the premise， only under pressure can one‘s graceful demeanor display．
At the beginning of the novel，Santiago had gone eighty··four days without catching a fish and had be·· come the laughingstock of his small village．This is an affront to a masterful fisherman，and it forms the first layer of pressure；As the story begins，a young boy， Manolin，stayed with the old man，but after the fortieth luckless day，the boy，s father told his son to go in another boat， leaving the skiff of which the sail was patched with four sacks and furled like the flag of permanent defeat． W hen the boy left the old man and fished with another，they caught three good fishes in the first week． The boy s good luck formed obvious contrast with the old man g ill luck．If this happened to another boy， it was coincidental， but it happened to the boy who had got nothing with the old man for forty days and exactly when he left the old man for one week．This made other fishermen believed that the old man was really unlucky enough! This is the second layer of pressure；W hen the old man hooked the biggest marlin never seen in the Gulf Stream，he was alone，without the benefit of modem technology．He endured a long and grueling struggle with the marlin and felt lonely and helpless．This is the third layer of pressure．
II．Santiago grace under the three layers of pressure
1．Grace under the first layer of pressure
As the novel begins， we find Santiago definitely and finally failed，however，he kept self-composed and had confidence in his dignity．So even having got nothing in the first 84 days，he continued to go out to fish．
Santiago％ commitment to sailing out further than any fisherman had before testified his confidence to the depth．It also showed his confidence to change his bad luck，because he clearly knew what he was born for． Yes，he was born for the conquering of the sea． Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated． W e all know that eyes are the windows of one 7s sou1．It means the old man's heart or soul is inconvincible．In order to protect his dignity，he finally summarized the famous motto“Man is not made for defeat．A man can be destroyed but not defeated”．
This is obviously the declaration to the difficuhies and adversities．How spirited and valiant the pledge!It encourages human to fight for dignity．

2．Grace under the second layer of pressure
The old man was in his adversity and the boy had got good fishes after he left the old man． Santiago didn’t feel jealous but happy for him．When talking with the boy who was not willing to leave，the old man said．“I know you did not leave me because you doub． ted’’? and he felt it was quite norma1．though he would be lonely without the boy． W hen the boy asked if he could offer the old man a beer on the terrace and then took the stuff home，the old man said，“why not， between fishermen
3． AU these details show that Santiago was reasonable， sensible， kind with open mind．
The old man，s grace lies in his gender feeling．1et §take a look at how the old man woke the boy：he took hold of one foot gently and held it until the boy woke up．W hen the boy was still sleepy，the old man put his arm across his shoulders and said “I am sorry”．Just like Lu Xan said，heartlessness doesn t make the hero， pity for children makes more the man．
With confident attitude towards life，the old man took things philosophically． In fact he hoped the boy could come back to him and he needed the boy，but when the boy wanted to be back，the old man refused because it was the boy，s parents who made him leave and he could not make the boy awkward and unlucky with him．
3．Grace under the third layer of pressure W hen fighting with the marlin， he was driven through the two opposite forces between certainty and uncertainty．Sometimes Santiago felt lonely and helpless，but he conquered all of them ultimately，which was best presented in his long monologue and recall about arln．wrestling contest．such as “1 wish I had theboy to help me and to see this”，“1 wish the boy were here”and “1 wish I had the boy"[39]．
His menti0n 0f the boy several times proved that he wanted to over． whelm loneliness and enhanced courage and force to fight．
Santiago recalled the arm—wrestling episode to give him more confidence．The recall would allow him to forget a connection with the marlin that went beyond the literal link of the line：his bodily aches attested to the fact that he is well matched．that the fish is a wor．thy opponent．As a young man，Santiago enjoyed single-minded competitive contests， as an old man he continued to enjoy them．
III．Conclusion
The old man conveys us that we human beings should keep graceful even under fierce pressure， should face the failures bravely，and keep the spirit of unyielding integrity．These are the qualities with which we should be equipped，just as the motto of the old man“Man is not made for defeat．A man can be destroyed but not defeated．’’
【References】
[1] 海明威 ．老人與海 [M]．吳 鈞 ，譯．上海 ：上 海外文 出版社 ，2000．
[2] Baker Carlos．Emest Hemingway：a life story[M]．New York：Scriber，1996．
[3]Brenner Gerry．The Old Man and Sea：story of a common man[M]．New York：Twayne publishers，1991．
[4]桂揚(yáng)清，吳翔林．英美文學(xué)選讀[M]．北京：中國(guó)對(duì)外翻譯出版社 ，2001．
[5]金莉 ，秦亞 清．美 國(guó)文學(xué) [M]．北 京 ：外語(yǔ)教學(xué)與研究出版社 ，1996．