Important Themes

One of the most important themes in "The Old Man and the Sea" is life from death. Death is very prominent in the novella, and Hemingway frequently suggests there is life from death. In the novella, the old man felt rejuvenated after the battle that could have killed him if the fish had fought harder and the boy that he taught how to fish will also be able to pass on his teachings after he dies. This theme also relates to the crucifixion imagery theme. Hemingway's use of imagery and descriptions that relate the old man to Christ such as connecting the old man's cut hands to the wounds Christ suffered during crucifixion suggests how Hemingway wants to say that the old man, like Christ, will turn death into renewed life and defeat into triumph.

Some other major themes would be pride being a source of greatness and determination and the honor in struggle, defeat, and death. Unlike many archetypal stories were pride, or hubris, is a fatal flaw, in "The Old Man and the Sea", it is pride that drove the old man to be able to go eighty-four days without catching a fish to set sail again, to sail further than anyone else, and to follow the fish for three days. Then there is the struggle

If

by: Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!

This poem clearly relates to the theme honor in struggle, defeat, and death, it kind of tells the story of the old man's struggle. In the first highlighted paragraph, it's about how the old man is still confident while all the others except the boy believed he is unlucky and how he is patient even after eighty-four days without catching a fish. Then in the second highlighted paragraph, it's about how the old man used his will to hang on to the marlin even when his hand is all cut up and his back is all stiff and sore. Lastly, in the end, the equivalent of "you'll be a Man" for the old man would be he caught the marlin.

All That is Gold Does Not Glitter

by: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

This poem relates to the theme life from death. The first highlighted sentence just says even though the old man is old, he was still able to catch the eighteen feet marlin and fight away all those sharks. But the second highlighted paragraph is more about the theme. In "From the ashes a fire shall be woken", it symbolizes life from death because a new fire is coming from the ashes of the one that had "died". "The crownless again shall be king" symbolizes the triumph and honor the old man earns from his catch because it would take a while for his achievement to be surpassed and he is again revered by fellow fisherman.