False hope in the american dream, the sea, and women.

Will Barker
To me this book is about false hope and the falsity of the american dream. I am only about halfway through the book but it seems to me that Hemingway is critiquing the American Dream or just any dream of success. The old man thinks that he is going to be lucky and catch a fish but really it is all false hope. Also the ocean represents false hope in itself and in romantic love. The old man compares the sea to a woman, the sea is kind of this mysterious thing that can draw you in just like romantic love can, and in the end both will deceive you.