To convey the meaning the author uses various symbols and to understand them we need to read between the lines. The old man, Santiago is himself the symbol of brave old man who defies the again as far as the perseverance is concerned. He is not the typical aged person who sit in the home reading the news paper. Instead he goes no dreaming of achieving big thing field. The patched sail of his shift is symbol of defeat the sea symbolizes all compassionate motherly figure and the home of many creatures three days later , when he returns to his shack carrying mast over his shoulder Christ with cross appears before our eyes . Thus the novella has variety of symbols and they enrich the writing.
