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The Old Man and the Sea Analysis The novel The Old Man and the Sea written by American writer and journalist Ernest Hemingway tells about the man and his fight with a huge and strong fish and all obstacles he had to overcome during his exhausting fight. The Old Man and the Sea has a significant position among other works of Hemingway. What is more, it earned him the Nobel prize for Literature and the Pulitzer Prize It was written 12 years since his novel For Whom the Bell Rings was published achieving a huge success among critics. Some of his works published later were not as successful, and The Old Man and the Sea received warm reviews from many critics. “The Old Man and the Sea is generally considered by many to be his crowning
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The sea represents the loneliness and isolation of the main hero, along with playing a great role in the plot development. “According to Hemingway, man was most able to prove himself worthy in isolation. The novel, in this regard, is an example of Naturalism in Literature that controls the lives by environment” (Sandamali 127).
The harpoon is a symbol of Santago’s strength, power and confidence. He used it to kill the fish, and he used it to fight with sharks. After he killed the first shark, it went down with the harpoon in its body. The old man understood that this was a sign that he would no longer be able to fight with sharks “He took my harpoon too and all the rope, he thought, and now my fish bleeds again and there will be others” (Hemingway 29). Lions which the old man saw in his dreams, also possess a symbolic meaning. They represent his young age, the strength which he had but starting to lose. Not surprisingly, the lions from his dreams is the source of his own power. When he was alone in the boat far from others, he thought that it would be wonderful to have a sleep, as perhaps he could see lions. It means he was exhausted and needed