The Old Man and The Sea - 5

5) How does this novel reflect the history, behavior and social issues of the time period and setting?  What is this book's symbolic and thematic significance?

The novel The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway was set near Havana, Cuba in a village off the Gulf of Mexico.  It takes place towards the end of the 1940s.  I honestly do not know that the location setting of the book made a difference in the story.  The book was set there in order to give the old man access to the sea that he was fishing on.  I do, however, believe that the time setting had a significant impact on the story.  Things were different back then.  This was a time where the world was making massive leaps in technology and some people were not ready to accept it.  People still were walking to get from place to place.  They were not spending hours on the phone or in front of the television.  They were still physically working for what they wanted.  The old man was the epitome of a hard worker and a dedicated figure of his time.  Even if everyone else did not understand why he was working so hard, he was mentally and physically challenging himself before he gave into modern changes (Hemingway 12). 
This book may have symbolized the people who were not ready to accept modern changes.  People liked the old ways of things, and these new renovations to modern life were making people uneasy.  The old man was incompetent of accepting the changes that were being made at that time, and that is why he was being shunned for the people in town (Hemingway 8).  They were all ready to make those changes, and he was considered abnormal because he was not.
During this time, America and Cuba were not necessarily getting along.  The theme of the book, honor, was a value that needed to be respected by the two countries.  America did not accept Cuba because it was released that they were in a communist state.  America disagreed, and a dispute began.  America gained respect for Cuba's independence when they defeated America.  This is similar to the old man and the town.  The old man was not respected, the people disrespected him, and he still pulled through with respect and honor in the end.  I think this could have been symbolic through history.  

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

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