This document provides an analysis of symbolism in Ernest Hemingway's novel "The Old Man and the Sea". It discusses several symbols in the novel, including the lion representing Santiago's lost youth and pride, the sea representing the mysteries and challenges of life, the harpoon representing Santiago's loss of power, and the marlin and sharks representing the natural world. Other symbols examined are the baseball representing motivation, the mast representing suffering, and Santiago's skiff representing the struggles of man.

1. The American
Literature
Prepared by
Makwana Monika
Department of English

2. • Symbolism in The Old Man and the
Sea
 Name:- Makwana Monika
 Paper:- 10 The American Literature
 Topic:- Symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea
 M.A. Sem:- 3
 Enrollment no:-2069108420190027
 Email I’D:- makwanamonika76@gmail.com
 Submitted to:- S. B. Gardi department of
English

3. • The Old Man and the Sea
 Written by Earnest
Hemingway.
 Written in 1951 in Cuba.
 Published in 1952.
 Awarded in 1953 by Pulitzer
prize for fiction.
 Tells the story of a fisherman
Santiago and his battle with a
great Marlin.
 Centers upon the character
Santiago.

4. • About the author (Ernest Hemingway)
 An author and journalist.
 Born in 1899 and died in
1961.
 Started his career as a writer
in newspaper office.
 His famous work:-
 The Old Man and the
Sea(1951)
 The Sun also Rises(1926)
 Farewell to Arms(1929)

5. • What is symbolism?
 The use of
symbols to
represent idea or
qualities.
 A symbol is a mark
or sign that
indicates or
signifies as
representing an
idea, object or
relationship.
“Symbolism is the use of symbols
to signify ideas and qualities
by giving that are different
from their literal sense””

6. • Symbolism in The Old Man and the
Sea
 In this novella Hemingway
symbolized person, place or
things to represent the real
meaning of his writing.
 Hemingway is connected with
nature and he uses all nature in
this novella.
 The symbolism has far deeper
significance in this novella.

7. • Symbols
Lion
Shark and
marlin
sea
harpoon
Baseball
mast
Skiff

8. • The Lion
 Lion is a symbol of youth,
strength and freedom.
 It is a symbol from Santiago’s
childhood.
 Santiago dreams of lions
twice, first his bed in his
village and in his boat.
 It is symbolize Santiago’s lost
youth as well as his pride.

9. • The Sea
 Sea is symbol of life itself.
 According to Hemingway, in the
sea and in life, there are many
possibilities and similarities that
the cannot see.
 The life and the sea are full of
mystery, surprise, shock and
challenge.
 Accordingly, if man is lucky
enough, then he may discover
treasure from sea.
 If the man is unlucky then he
may not find even single small
fish from greater sea.

10. • The Harpoon
 It is symbol of loss of power,
strength and pride.
 Santiago loses his harpoon
during the battle with Marlin.
 Santiago loses his harpoon,
however he continues a futile
battle with Sharks.
 At end of the play, he
struggles a lot to catch the
fish.

11. • The Marlin and Shark
 Marlin is a glorious fish.
 Symbolize the mysterious
world of sea. Which is full
of surprise and challenge in
his battle with marlin.
 However, sharks are in great
contrast to marlin.
 The showed hosed sharks
have attacked the marlin
thoughtlessly.

12. • The Baseball
 The Old Man and the Sea
introduce important symbol
of Baseball.
 A symbol of motivation for
Santiago.
 DiMaggio symbolizes the
value of enduring through
pain and suffering.
 It represents hop that old
man has for manolin.

13. • The Mast
 It is symbol of cross of
Jesus.
 It is on his skiff, where
stands the mast, that
Santiago suffers.
 Santiago suffer at sea for
three days with painful
injuries to palms of his
hands and his back.

14. • The Skiff
 It is symbol of Santiago
himself.
 As Santiago struggle in
his life.
 The skiff also have to
struggle in the sea.
 It is symbol of man
defeated.

15. Conclusion
 So, we can see that every symbols are
connected with elements like, power,
strength, pride, and loss of humans.
There are symbols in this novella.