The Old Man and the Sea as a Symbolic Representation of Man's Journey of Life - Research Paper Example

The boy was actually a comfort and solace for the Old man in his futile endeavour in the sea for the first forty days of his fishing expedition. Thus by making the Old Man alone to face the trenches of life, the novelist begins to symbolically draw out the journey of life, the journey that one has certainly to undertake alone. Therefore, one can assume that 'The Old Man and the Sea' is not simply a heart rending story of an old man and his suffering in a vast and dreadful sea but a symbolic representation of man’s journey of life, confronting with the hard realities of life.

Santiago’s journey through the sea can be regarded as the journey of life with many ebbs and flows. He was once a good fisherman who could catch big fish and turtles. In his youth he kept fascination towards baseball and hand game that he could even defeat a Negro from Cienfuegos in a fight. Baseball was his next subject of interest after fishing. He found Di Maggio as his favourite baseball player and wish to regard him as his role model in fishing. Analysing all these factors, one can certainly infer that Santiago, during the early stages of his life, truly enjoyed the life of a vigorous youth.

That is, at the early parts of his journey of life, he could enjoy somewhat a good life. But the real experiments in his life begins in his old age, especially with the fishing expedition that extended for long eight four days without a fish. Santiago becomes completely alienated after forty days of his fishing expedition when the boy left him at the insistence of his parents as they identified the Old Man as ‘salao’, the extreme form of poverty. This incident can be considered as one of the plummets in his journey of life.

However, Santiago soon overcomes his loneliness created after Manolin’s departure by engaging in conversations with birds and fish that approach his small boat. But the suffering of Santiago continues as he could not catch any fish till the eighty fourth day of his fishing trip. It was on the eighty fifth day Santiago hooks a huge marlin that pulls his boat two straight days in the sea. Though each attempt the fish made to escape wounded the Old Man, he begins to love the fish and even calls it ‘brother’.

This enables one to compare it to the act of a man at once loves and appreciates his enemy and his movements. Therefore, one can cite a kind of gentlemanliness in Santiago behaviour who respects the big marlin and even compares his sufferings to that of himself. All through his journey of life, anyone can see him as such a gentle and brave fighter who could explore alone in the deep sea and catch big fish. Analysing the novel one can say that life is a journey which meets with death, the end of worldly life.

One cannot find any change or difference in the ending of one person or another. However, the matter that needs attention is the voyage taken though the life. “The vast sea represents life’s journey, with its ebbs, flows, and storms that must be navigated” (Howsweet.com). It should be really notable that “In Hemingway’s portrait of the world, death is inevitable, but the finest men will nonetheless refuse to give in to its power” (Howsweet.com). One can also agree with the fact that “In both the sea and in life, there are a number of possibilities that lie hidden from the common eye; some are gifts to be