Old Man and the Sea- Symbols

There were many different uses of symbols in the book. What is a symbol? A symbol is "something used for or regarded as representing something else; a material object representing something, often something immaterial; emblem, token, or sign. ("symbol.") Through out the book Hemingway used this writing skill to expand the depth of the words by giving them something to symbolize. Having something symbolize something else makes each word have even more invisible words or phrases attached to them. By invisible I mean they have many not actually written out meanings to them. This makes a book more interesting to the reader. One symbol in the book is Joe DiMaggio, who used to be a Yankees baseball player. Joe DiMaggio symbolizes the human strength even through injury because he went his entire baseball career (pretty much) with a foot spur. Santiago, the protagonist in the story, used the strength that DiMaggio had as a reference to how he can't give up because of the injuries he has. The next symbol used was the lost harpoon. In the story when he was fighting the sharks he lost his harpoon which at this point was all he had left weapon wise to fight them. (Hemingway) The harpoon symbolized his strength and sense of power at the time he was using it. When is was lost it represented a sense of loss of the little strength he had left. The next symbol was the mast on the boat. The mast symbolized the cross of Christ, known as the cross Christ carried and was ultimately crucified on. The scene of walking the cross up the hill was sort of reenacted when Santiago carried his mast all the way up the hill to his home. (Hemingway) This was not his death but it was very closing to being so. Symbolizing became a huge part of the story Old Man and the Sea because it was the only thing showing how this old man got his courage and strength. He acted on how the great Joe DiMaggio would have, how Christ himself would have, and ultimately won the struggle



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



"symbol." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 15 Aug. 2011. .