"Old Man And The Sea" written by Ernest Hemingway is a book that makes you think. It makes you think not only about the characters and how you can relate to them but as well as many of the hidden messages and relationships that help create the books main point. The animals, religious references, and the dream sequences found throughout the book all have one thing in common, the life of Jesus, and how the old man relates to him.
In the book the old man encounters many different types of animals, including Birds, sharks, and a Marlin. Each of these animals represents something outside of their character role in the book. The Bird represents the small children who came to Jesus in times of crisis. The sharks represent the Devil, and the evil he tried to place upon the followers of Jesus. The Marlin represents the diciples that followed Jesus through his journey as they learned his ways and became willing to do any thing for him, much like the marlin depended on the old man to decide what was to become of their fate while they were at sea.
While reading this book it may not seem like there may be an actual meaning to the theme. By taking a closer look at some of the Religious references used in the book it becomes clear that they refer to numbers in the bible. The number forty for example is used in the book to tell how long the old man was at sea. In the bible it refers to Jesus being in the desert for forty days and nights. Many of the other numbers used have the same relation and references made to Jesus.
Many of us have dreams about what we want our life to be like, and our hopes and thoughts are for the future. The old man does not have dreams like these but dreams about lions. In the book the lions represent not what the man wishes he had or what he could make happen, but of what he wanted life after death to be like. Time spent in paradise. In the bible it says that "all who follow Jesus will live in eternity with him in heaven" referred to by the old man as paradise.
