The Old Man and the Sea blog 10

The lions on the beach was a symbol repeated three times throughout The Old Man and the Sea.  Since the book’s first publishing, debate has occurred about the meaning of this symbol.  The following quote is one of the three times the lions are mentioned.  “He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength nor of his wife.  He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach.  They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy” (Hemmingway 25).  There could be many reasons why Ernest Hemmingway chose to include this symbol in this book.  It obviously was very important to him because it is mentioned so many times.  Santiago believes this picture of lions at the beach is comforting and he loves them dearly.  In his trials, this dream is almost like an escape from life and a unity of opposite forces.  “Because Santiago associates the lions with his youth, the dream suggests the circular nature of life.  Additionally, because Santiago imagines the lions, fierce predators, playing, his dream suggests a harmony between the opposing forces- life and death, love and hate, destruction and regeneration- of nature”  (Sparknotes 12).  All these thoughts are speculation since they are not connected to a single meaning.  Santiago only ever uses the dream as a source of comfort and renewal.  He also connects this dream with his love to Manolin, which makes the circulation of nature idea a good explanation.  Though we may never learn exactly why Ernest Hemmingway included this image in The Old Man and the Sea, it is apparent that it has some deep meaning behind it.  This is why literature is so amazing; there is always something else to dissect and learn from.  Great literature can only be seen under a microscope, because it has some many parts to be found. 

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

"The Old Man and the Sea." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 21 July 2012. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/oldman/>.