The Old Man and the Sea - Symbolism

The Old Man and the Sea may be a short book, but it is jam-packed with symbols. By definition, a symbol is “something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible” (Farlex, Inc.). When Santiago catches the marlin, he has to wait patiently for the fish to come up. For three days straight, the old man puts himself through excruciating pain and intense hunger just so he can catch the giant marlin. Throughout the novella, I often forgot about the fish, but in actuality the marlin symbolizes something important. It symbolizes the struggles we all go through in life and the lessons we learn from those experiences. The marlin is kind of like one giant goal we set for ourselves. We put a tedious effort into reaching the goal we so hope to obtain (i.e. the old man’s struggle to catch the fish to end his bad luck [another symbol]), only to find that sometimes there are obstacles in our way that keep us from achieving what we want (i.e. the sharks eating the marlin before the old man return home [yes, you guessed it, yet another symbol]). But from these experiences we learn many life lessons. The marlin symbolizes a struggle to overcome defeat, but in the end also stands for what we learn from those efforts.

Another symbol in The Old Man and the Sea is the lions that Santiago dreams about night after night. “He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy,” (Hemmingway 25). The lions symbolize the old man’s youth. When he dreams of the lions, he is able to forget about his old age, but reflect on his youth. The fierce animal allows Santiago to continue the fight he has with the marlin. It takes much strength and bravery to catch the fish, but when the old man dreams of the lions, which are strong and brave predators, he gains the power he needs to continue his battle at sea.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.

"Symbol - Definition of Symbol by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia."Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary. Farlex, Inc. Web. 06 Aug. 2011.