I belive that the sheep simbolize young children that are concerned only with food and water. Just like young kids, the sheep follow and trust anyone who feeds them and gives them water and the sheep also seem to just sit around and observe their surroundings learning and listening just like a young child does. I also think that the amount that Santiago cares for them and raises them almost like they are his own children makes me think they are supposed to represent a major emotional loss when he has to sell them for boat money.
Monday, September 15, 2014
Reading Question
On page 9, reread the passage that begins, "The only things that concerned the sheep were the food and water," and ends with, "They trust me, and they've forgotten how to rely on their own instincts, because I lead them to nourishment." Do you think that the sheep symbolize something? If so, what?
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I like your idea that sheep symbolize young children but I cannot help but wonder why they must only symbolize children. While children are the most obvious group of individuals who follow blindly, so do adults. The quote said that the sheeps' own concern was for food and water but once it was given to them regularly, they began to depend on him. Could the same not be said of some adults, who started out looking for food and water but ended up growing so immersed in material things that they couldn't see past their own reflections and onto the people they chose to represent them? I have heard too often that politics is a game of winning the people, not of having just policies and honest statements. I suppose it should be both, but judgements and stereotypes seem to eradicate the idea of fair game. If we had two candidates out there for the same political party with the same speeches and beliefs, would people choose the homosexual candidate or the heterosexual one? If people follow false judgements like sheep do their shepherd, then what is the difference between younger children and us in this context? If we do not realize who is leading us until we no longer receive the nourishment we have begun to take for granted, than who says we're not like sheep regardless of age?
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