The Old Man and the Sea, written by Ernest Hemingway, is a prime example of the effectiveness and importance of the Iceberg Theory; The novel stands out among all other classic pieces of literature due to its room for interpretation and simplicity.

The novel follows an old man named Santiago, who is an experienced fisherman. After not catching any fish for nearly three months, he hooks onto a massive fish. He spends the next few days being pulled away from land by the fish, determined to reel it in and kill it. Santiago holds the fishing line on his back and shoulders because if he tried to reel it in it would snap, but This causes him to be in constant pain, something important to the message Hemingway is trying to produce. After brutal fights with sharks, he returns home with the dead and half-eaten marlin.  

The writing style that Hemingway uses is direct and straightforward, differing from other writers at the time such as F. Scott Fitzgerald. He uses the Iceberg Theory to emphasize the plot and themes. The Iceberg Theory is a way of writing in which simplicity is used to let the underlying messages become clearer.  Hemingway does not go deep into character emotions but merely expresses the characters by words and actions, leaving it up to the reader to make decisions based on what is presented. The simple style provided by Hemingway leaves an extreme amount of room for interpretation, underlining the values/lessons Hemingway wants to share with the world. 

Adding to his unique writing style, looking back upon Hemingway's interesting life makes me strongly believe that the motivation and justification for his writing style derive from him starting off his career in journalism along with fighting in multiple wars. I think his emotional and deep experiences developed the messages that he wants to share throughout his lifetime, and implementing the idea of the iceberg theory into his writing was the best way to communicate with the reader.

One thing I primarily enjoyed in the novel was the simplicity of how Hemingway chose to narrate the story. I find it odd how such simplicity and lack of figurative language draw me in so much, but my first thought when reflecting on this was how satisfying the simplicity was in a world of intricacy.