The Old Man and The Sea - 3

3) What universal themes does this book address?  What does the author understand about human nature?

The Old Man and The Sea is focused mainly on the honor that some people are able to capture.  The honor is brought out by the struggles that the characters face.  I would say that the universal theme portrayed in this book is great respect, whether that respect is focused on nature, death, life, or other characters in general.  The old man is a character that really does have a substantial amount of respect for all things, even what he should believe to be his enemy (Hemingway 46).  I find that the only problem with that is the lack of respect shown for the old man.  Even the people in town find that he does not deserve even the slightest acknowledgement, but the old man still honors them and treats them with understanding (Hemingway 13).  
Elaborating more on honor, the old man may be unsuccessful at what he does for a long period of time, but his dedication and determination is still very honorable.  Success should not measure recognition, only the time put into a task should be noted.  While the old man had zero success in the eyes of the town or anyone else, he finds defeat to be a familiar face and is still not discouraged.  He even agrees to go fishing again with the young boy after such a needless struggle (Hemingway 59).  That kind of struggle is what makes a true honorable man.
By finding this universal theme, I can tell a lot more about what Hemingway understands about human nature.  He has to know that people have the ability to adapt to their surroundings and common experiences.  Many people would be ruined by such a struggle ending in failure, but the old man is so adapted to having nothing that it almost does not even make a difference in his mind.  Hemingway also must understand that if a person has a real true passion, that is all they really need.  The old man, Santiago, has close to nothing but his boat and fishing pole, because he truly believes that those things are all he needs (Hemingway 3).  When we get past all the material possessions and privileges, all we can ask is to be able to fulfill whatever passions we have.

Hemingway, E. The Old Man and The Sea. New York, NY: Scribner, 1980