Honor in Struggle, in Literature

Struggling with a difficulty often become the main theme of literature.
The Old Man and the Sea is also one of those works. In this story, the old man faced the difficulty of catching a big fish, but he never gave up and never lost his pride.
And many famous literary works, The Load of the Rings, for example, also describe the characters' struggles and the process of overcoming them.

So why this theme often be idealized?

I think the reason is that these difficulties can be seen in our ordinary lives. Of course, these may not be such as fighting with avatar of evil, or extraordinary mission, but may be trouble with study or work or anything else.
And we can learn how to overcome such difficulties or hardships, through the characters in stories.
In The Old Man and the Sea, we can see the old man's stoicism and endurance through the hardship, and they may help us confront our own issues.

I think this theme is universal and fundamental in literature.