25 Excellent Essay Topic Ideas On The Old Man And The Sea

Essays are an integral part of any educational process. Teachers and professors often assign to write papers about different well-known books to encourage creative and critical thinking in their students as well as to develop their writing skills.

The Old Man and the Sea has served as a great source of inspiration for many decades. It’s about courage, faith, honor and stamina. As this novel is considered to be a real masterpiece of literature, it contains lots of food for thought. Therefore, you can always find something you might want to write about.

Essay Topic Ideas

Students always find it hard to make up their mind what to write about when it comes to a great deal of choice. So, here’s a list of possible topics for your consideration:

1. Symbols behind Santiago and the boy.
2. The Bible characters Santiago is subtly compared with.
3. Pride of the main character. Does it help or prevent him?
4. Santiago was destroyed but not defeated. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
5. Manolin’s role in Santiago’s life as the only developed character other that Santiago.
6. Santiago as a role model for men.
7. Recall some of the scenes from the book you can associate yourself with. Describe them and state why.
8. Comparative analysis of the book with its screen version.
9. The way Hemingway’s “theory of omission” found its reflection in The Old Man and the Sea.
10. The importance of lions being present ashore for Santiago.
11. Santiago’s view of nature and the sea.
12. Material Vs spiritual success in the novella.
13. Christian allusions in the description of Santiago.
14. The idea of luck in the novella.
15. Alternative endings of the story. Write your own version based on your understanding of the novella.
16. Reflection of Hemingway’s life experience in The Old Man and the Sea.
17. The importance of the sea as a setting.
18. Your attitude to the characters. Whom do you find the most appealing?
19. The significance of Santiago’s vision.
20. Santiago and the marlin: relationships and confrontation.
21. The old versus the young: the role of the age in the novel.
22. The significance of Santiago’s enthusiasm about baseball.
23. Comparative analysis of Joe DiMaggio and Santiago.
24. The main character’s opinion about his sinful nature.
25. Character description versus interior monologue: which one gives the reader a more comprehensive picture of Santiago?

No matter what topic you choose for your essay, make sure you admire it. Believe it or not your passion or lack of interest will become obvious to the reader.