TOMATS - Symbolism

In Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, one could spot out many points of symbolism that is fluent through out the entire novel, novella, what ever you would like to label it as.  Through the journey of the old man trying to capture his marlin one symbol is very persistent in presenting it self to the reader.  The marlin may symbolize strength, unlike the weakness that the old man possessed in a physical aspect.  The marlin was similar to the old man in some ways as well.  The great marlin the old man eventually caught, put up a good fight.  Just like the old man the fish persisted and fought for its life and never gave up, until the very end when he did sadly die.   Another symbol would be the lions that the old man dreamed about night after night while on his great journey with the marlin. The lions were similar to the old man in the sort of way that they both had pride.  Lions are a known symbol for pride, unless one is putting it up against the Wizard of OZ.  I think the lion was a coward. I may be wrong.  The old man knew that he killed the fish for pride(Hemingway 75).  He felt guilty yet knew it needed to be done.  Dreaming of the lions may have brought the guilty thoughts into his mind.  The last symbol that would come into my mind would be the old mans skiff.  I think it symbolized the old man himself.  Mostly all of the symbols relate to the old man in some way, shape, or form, but this one is most recognizable with the old man.  The skiff was old, frail and had many imperfections.  The skiff was small, as was the old man in comparison with the great marlin that was strapped up to the side of the skiff.  His little boat never failed, nor did the old man.  There may have been parts stripped from both the boat and the old man, but they never failed.

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