The Old man and the Sea Theme

The Old man and the Sea has an arguable theme. In my personal opinion I believe the theme is life and how the time passes. I think the young boy, Manolin, represent family. He is still there for the old man even after 84 days of not catching anything. Family is always there for you no matter how bad it seems to get. I think all of the other fishermen represent all of the negative people we all meet during our life. Everyone who says your not good enough or you can not do something. None of them seem to really tell Santiago he can catch a fish, but rather just laugh at him. Next we come tot he mot important symbolism in the book, the great fish Santiago is trying to catch. This beast represents Santiago's own life. He fights and fights and never grows tired, never gives up. But eventually just like the fish he will be caught. One day, which Santiago knows is soon, he will not wake up and will have been caught by the hook of death. After he has caught the fish Santiago is unable to pull it into the boat. He must row back to shore with his prize catch int he water. Soon sharks begin to tear at the great beast. By the time Santiago has reached shore nothing is left of the fish. This part is a little tricky but I believe that the fish getting eaten represent how in life we can have our biggest dream and aspiration snatched away at any time and that nothing in this world is really certain. Although there are many schools of thought on what the symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea is and means I think everything int his story has in one way or another a comparison with life. Hemingway did write this book close to the end of his life maybe he was reflecting on his life or life in general.