The Old Man and the Sea - What the Water Means

I realized that I never talked about what the boat and the water mean. During the story Santiago is trying to catch an unbelievably large fish. The fish keeps dragging him further and further and further out to sea. This whole time Santiago in a rather small fishing boat. Two of these things are very important. One being the ocean, in the story the ocean is the provider for Santiago, giving him small fish to eat so he may keep his body strong enough to fight the great beast. Though at the same time the ocean or sea is also something to fear. Capable of smashing his little boat like a toy. Killing Santiago even, all this with a single wave. Santiago seems to respect the ocean and to know what it is capable of. Mainly he knows that the ocean can be a great friend or a fierce enemy. The second important thing I originally happened to over look was the boat. It was only after someone asked me what it represented that I began to think about it. Some of the things I came up with are that the boat represents home. In the swirling unknown of the ocean and even under great the pressure Santiago's home at sea is always his very own safe haven. The other thing I think the boat represents in time, at in in conjunction with the ocean moving around it. I feel like the ocean swirling around Santiago represents all the time that has passed for Santiago during his life while he was at sea. I am not positive on my interpretations of these two things and of course everyone sees things differently. These just happen to be what I believe they stand for during this novel. Perhaps people see them as something completely different. The important things is that you decide for your self and not just take some other persons opinion and say you agree.