So when this book comes to the subject of history and references to historic events, there is not much, mostly because the main plot and the entire book is really about is the old man trying to catch this monstrosity of a fish without dying. Sure, Hemingway peppers in some stories from the old man’s past, but that does not help in most cases.
Despite what I said in the previous paragraph, there is at least some things in the book that reflect history and feelings of the time period. The only real point that the old man makes about social issues of the time would be when the old man takes a lot of time to complain about how the new fisherman describe the sea as being a male, as only a means of profit. The old man makes the point that “He always thought of the sea as la mar which is what people call her Spanish when they love her” and “The younger fishermen, those who used buoys as floats for their lines and had motorboats, bought when the shark livers had brought much money, spoke of her as el mar which is masculine. They spoke of her as a contestant or a place or even an enemy. But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favors, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them.” (Hemingway 26,27) I guess it could be said that maybe Hemingway was hinting at how the newer generation does not respect nature as the older generation does. Maybe he is trying to make the point that younger, inexperienced people do not respect things, like the ocean, until they have worked on it for many years and learned to see what a wonderful place it really is. If so, Hemingway would have been one of the first authors I heard of to bring up the issue that we may need to start to respect and care for our earth a little better.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1980. Kindle. Web. 21 June 2011.
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