Earnest Hemingway, a prolific literary writer of his time, infuses a multitude of symbolic elements into one of his most famous novels, The Old Man and the Sea, which help develop the numerous themes in the story. Hemmingway constructed the fight between Santiago and the marlin, his antagonist, to symbolize the overarching themes of strength, perseverance, valor, and defeat. Furthermore, the use of such symbols advances the plot towards Santiago's eventual defeat. These symbols include the community of Santiago, the sea that supports it, and the people who make up the small fishing village. The figures that appear throughout the film also act on a symbolic level to foreshadow events and reflect the internal conflicts central to the story. In addition to this, many of the symbols ambiguously serve to tie biblical principles together, aligning relatively close to the life of Jesus Christ while maintaining a correlation to the plot. The timeless tale of a fisherman's struggle beautifully depicted through the use of symbolism, employs vivid uses of symbolic figures to connect the plot and the story's many themes. Manolin, Santiago's protégé, apprentice, companion and one of the few characters presented throughout the story, key to understanding his character, symbolizes the old fisherman's hope. Clearly, Manolin himself has hope for Santiago, as exemplified by the boy's companionship with the old man, despite his eighty-four day run without a hitch. However, the boy's hope – or rather the boy's hope – becomes a vice used by Santiago during his three-day journey. Faced with a hopeless situation, Santiago relies on the boy's hope to get him through the situation. Likewise, it should be noted that in the absence of Manolin,...... half of the document......,pageNum-8.html>.Editors, SparkNotes. "SparkNote on The Old Man and the Sea." 2002. SparkNotes.com. May 22, 2010 .GradeSaver LLC. “The Old Man and the Sea: Summary and Analysis.” gradesaver.com. May 10, 2011 .Hemingway, Ernesto. The old man and the sea. New York: SCRIBNER, 1952.Lorcher, Trent. "Symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea." July 21, 2009. brighthub.com. May 10, 2011 .Sauder, Diane. "The old man and the sea - Symbolism". pinkmonkey.com. May 15, 2011 .Shmoop University. "The old man and the sea Symbolism, images and allegory." shmoop.com. May 10th 2011 .