Old Man and the Sea: Main Theme

The main theme in this novel is finding honor within defeat.  It can be described as bittersweet.  You lose, but you gain something that in return my be better than what you wanted in the first place.  The old man wanted to set out to catch a great fish and he did that.  He thought he had won, but the sharks soon came and defeated him although he thought his struggle was over.  Initially, the reader might have thought that this was just a depressing little book about an old man who had everything for a little while and then lost it.  It was in fact, about an old man who found honor in this great defeat.  He found other gains from losing it all.  He found perseverance, he found experience, and he found understanding.   He gained more insight on the world than he had to begin with.  When he started this journey, he did not have the same outlook on life as when he ended.  He ended with the honor of respecting his opponent, the marlin.  He ended with the experience of knowing he could catch any fish as long as he was willing to commit to catching it.  He ended with the understanding that things may not go your way all the time, but you can still gain from the experience.  He also gained personal respect from others because they saw what a great catch he had lost, and what a toll it took on the unlucky old man.  The old man gained so many things from this defeat, that it seemed like a good thing at the end.  Even though he was disappointed, he still would have much to look forward to.  He also ended his streak of eighty-four no fish days.  Obviously, the reader can see the old man Santiago gained more than he had lost.  Therefore, the theme was well seen through the pages of this book.  Hemingway did a wonderful job making sure the reader understood the main theme of the novel.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.