Range of Meanings in The Old Man and the Sea
Brief notes on the text.
1. Initial Reaction To The Text And Possible Meanings.
When I first read, Ernest Hemingway?s, intellectually challenging, masterpiece, ?The Old Man and The Sea? my initial reaction was how slowly the plot developed. However, I soon realized to be able to appreciate the story and what it means I would need to read the book not as what it is but what it says, I would need to understand the book?s symbolism. After overcoming this initial barrier to greater discernment, numerous new meanings could be derived from the text. The first and most obvious, was how it was a story of determination and persistence through all odds. The second shows how it may be possible to feel pride within ones self without the physical. Displaying how it is possible to be proud of your self, in that you achieved what you set out to achieve, even if there is no manifestation of that achievement. No public approval or glory, no head for the mantle piece, no fish for the freezer, but an inner happyness that only comes from setting and getting your goals. The thrid meaning however, is perhaps the deepest is indicates how this tale of persistence and determination, ?The Old Man And The Sea?, parallels the tale of a normal life. Expressing the struggle in our lives to reach our goals and achieve our dreams and how we are invariably ?shot down? in our attempts to do so. Although this meaning has the greatest depth, it is often in the human nature to read to deeply, or divulge to much. The story may however, on the simplest of levels, be a tale of a man out to sea and his battle with the awesome power of nature, and how most often it will win outright over the man.
2. Significance
The Boy:
The boy, I believe is the person that we all need, and wish we had. He is the person in the old man life is there for him to love, put more importantly the boy is the to love him and support him but most of all the boy is there to encourage him. He is there not just to give him reason to get up in the morning but give him the faith to go try and catch a fish.
Joe Dimaggio:
Dimaggio plays the role of the old man?s idol in the story. He represents the power to overcome whatever life throws at you and shows it is possible to live through the hard times.
Lions On The Beach:
These represent his freedom in his youth as a link to his past but also his ultimate goal before he dies. The lions on the beach represent a place he wants to escape back to, and explore once more.
3. Parallels To Christianity
The story relates to those told in the bible as simply a battle between good and evil. Evil is often seen as an invader. If someone is to invade another?s home, he is often seen as evil, thus the man, in the eye?s of the fish is evil. So their battle and ultimate resolution, when he is eaten once more, tell the same story to that of Christ. In how he struggled with evil his whole life, and eventually was put to death for it - the fish is caught- but rises from the dead - the shark eats the fish, returning it back to the sea-.
