Symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea

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1. Santiago physically conforms to accepting pain when he is holding onto the rope with his hand even though it is pulling on him. He still endures and accepts the pain, although he knows the loss of the marlin is still going to occur. He does this because he views the big marlin as a worth opponent and has the courage to continue what he started. 2. Santiago mentally conforms to enduring the loss of the big marlin when the sharks begin to attack. Santiago is able to fight off the first few sharks but the blood , Santiago knows, will attract more sharks and soon there would be nothing left of the marlin. Santiago accepts this loss, because it cannot be avoided, yet he still holds on to the skeleton of the fish because of his courage and values. 3. Firstly, Manolin’s parents who forbid Manolin going out to sea with Santiago are an example of living by this false code. They do not want to accept the pain of Manolin going with Santiago a nd not bringing back something. They don’t have the endurance to accept that loss, although unavoidable, and therefore they lack the pride which encompasses knowing that Manolin and Santiago would have done their best to catch a marlin. Also, Manolin could also fall under this false code because he did not have the endurance to disobey his parents and thus to accept the pain of the latter punishment. He also did not have the courage to act according to what he believed and what he wanted which would have been to go with Santiago. 4. a) The lions in Santiago’s dream on the last night represent how he imagines his adolescence. The lions being active and energetic and their reappearance in his dreams is how he pictures himself and Manolin being young a... ... middle of paper ... ... was unlikely in the 20s. Daisy’s values were to be treated like royalty and have all of the wealthy class things without having to work for it. She demonstrated this by staying married to Tom because they both have money in the family even though she knew he was cheating on her. She really had no moral values at that point and only valued materialistic things and the lavish lifestyle she continued to live. Tom , like Daisy, valued the wealthy lifestyle. He however had a slightly different attitude toward that. Daisy would simply enjoy the wealth, but Tom, he believed that his wealth made him superior to everyone else. He disregarded his wife Daisy when he was cheating with Myrtle, however when the topic of Gatsby loving Daisy came afloat, Tom was outraged. This shows that he also values everything being in its rightful place working out best only for him.

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