The Notions of Victory and Defeat in "The Old Man and the Sea": A Stylistic Consideration

Abstract

One of the masterpieces of English literature is “The old man and the sea” which is a heroic
novelette by Ernest Hemingway, it is regarded as the most famous literary work during his
lifetime where after the publishing, and this novella was the reason behind winning Nobel
Prize for Literature in 1954.
The present study considers the most important ideas in the novella: victory and defeat
through modern viewpoint, indicating that it is not necessary to win to be victorious, rather,
victory could be achieved through the honor of resisting massive destructive competitor. The
present study investigates the ideational concepts of victory and defeat in one of the most
famous narrative pieces in the 20th century, the old man and the sea that represents the
struggle of the man in the modern age.