Old Man and the Sea Question 5

Question five asks "How does this novel reflect the history, behavior and social issues of the time period and setting and what is this book's symbolic and thematic significance?". The book I am answering the question for is Old Man and the Sea. To be able to tell you, the reader, the history, behavior, and social issues from the time period of Old Man and the Sea, you must know the setting. This books setting is in an older Cuban fishing village in the 1940's. (Hemingway) This era was a time of many hardships because of World War Two and the middle-end of great depression.(1940s.org) The hardships of the time had a big influence on the behaviors of the people in the village the book is set in. People in town began living to work, rather than working to live. This made for a very busy time because people were doing anything to be able to have a paycheck. This was especially hard for the village because they were mainly fishermen. Being a fisherman is a dangerous job as it is but when you add the pressure of having to catch something to be able to live makes even more stress. Evident throughout the book was peoples need to fish because if you were catching fish, you were making money. That was a big social issue because people were very judgmental if you weren't able to catch anything. This is why the old man, Santiago, was deemed to be unlucky because he hadn't caught a fish for eighty four days, making him somewhat of an outcast. (Hemingway) Many sought him as worthless. In this time older people were not seen as needy as much as they are today. Today there are many benefits and help offered to elderly because we recognize the helplessness many fall into. At this time they still had to work and earn the money and help they were given. Living in a small village in the 1940's caused many social issues because of the historical events that were incorporated at the time. This shows a great theme of hard work and will to live because of the things they pushed themselves through.



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

1940s.org | 1940-1949 History Fashion Movies Music. 2010. Web. 25 July 2011. .