The conflict of The Old Man and the Sea is primarily an external one, but several other minor conflicts are littered throughout the novel. The most obvious conflict of the novel is between Santiago and the Marlin, an external conflict obviously Man Vs. Nature but to find the heaviest conflicts of the novel one must dig deeper into it. There is also another Man Vs. Nature in the novel in the form of Santiago and the sharks, but this also includes Santiago against himself as he must gather up all of the strength within himself and overcome his doubts to prove that he can make it back home and that nature cannot stop him.
Another conflict that I think is important to the novel and the character of Santiago is Santiago's spirituality. Santiago does not consider himself to be a religious person but in times of great hardship he will pray to the Virgin Mary, which I find to be somewhat hypocritical. It has been so long since he previously prayed that he does not fully remember his prayers. This is a great example of Man Vs. Self because he is coming to terms with his own spirituality and his belief in a higher power.
One of the more important conflicts in the novel is between Santiago and the Marlin because of the realization it causes in Santiago. Santiago comes to view the marlin as his own brother and this strange friendship that forms between the two motivates Santiago for the rest of his journey. He treats the fish as his equal and he attempts to honor it in their battle and becomes stronger in his victory. He is saddened by the fact that such a noble creature should have to die but through it's death Santiago becomes much stronger as a person.
The Old Man and the Sea is a novel that is ripe with conflicts with many of them requiring serious analysis and digging deeper than the surface to find the most prevalent and important conflicts in the novel.
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