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Department of English, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran , sdrahimipour@cfu.ac.ir
Abstract: (6 Views)
Introduction: This analytical review explores the intersection of Victor Frankl’s logotherapy and Ernest Hemingway’s ethical vision, focusing on The Old Man and the Sea. The study Assumes that Hemingway’s fiction, often interpreted through existential and psychological frameworks, also lends itself to a logotherapeutic reading – one that highlights the human quest for meaning amid pain, struggle and moral choice. Santiago, the novella’s central figure, embodies a profound ethical resilience that resonates with Frankl’s insight into purposeful suffering and responsibility.
Material and Methods: The article employs a qualitative and interpretive approach through close textual analysis of The Old Man and the Sea, situating the novella within Hemingway’s broader ethical imagination. Concept drawn from Frankl’s logotherapy – such as the will to meaning, freedom of attitude and moral responsibility – are used as analytical lenses. By tracing Santiago’s moral decisions and inner reflections, the analysis uncovers how meaning is consciously constructed through adversity, transforming ethical engagement into existential affirmation.
Conclusion: Findings suggest that Hemingway’s narrative technique and character construction effectively dramatize core logotherapeutic principles. Santiago’s deliberate choice to maintain dignity and purpose despite suffering underscores the ethical dimension of human existence that Frankl locates at the heart of recovery and transcendence. The study concludes that literature, exemplified by Hemingway’s work, serves as a vital medium for exploring moral resilience and offers valuable models for confronting contemporary crises of meaning and morality.
Material and Methods: The article employs a qualitative and interpretive approach through close textual analysis of The Old Man and the Sea, situating the novella within Hemingway’s broader ethical imagination. Concept drawn from Frankl’s logotherapy – such as the will to meaning, freedom of attitude and moral responsibility – are used as analytical lenses. By tracing Santiago’s moral decisions and inner reflections, the analysis uncovers how meaning is consciously constructed through adversity, transforming ethical engagement into existential affirmation.
Conclusion: Findings suggest that Hemingway’s narrative technique and character construction effectively dramatize core logotherapeutic principles. Santiago’s deliberate choice to maintain dignity and purpose despite suffering underscores the ethical dimension of human existence that Frankl locates at the heart of recovery and transcendence. The study concludes that literature, exemplified by Hemingway’s work, serves as a vital medium for exploring moral resilience and offers valuable models for confronting contemporary crises of meaning and morality.
Keywords: Ethics, Ethical Values, Morality, Moral Values, Society, Society and Ethics, Hemingway’s Works, The Old Man and the Sea
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© 2026 CC BY 4.0 | International Journal of Ethics and Society
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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