What is Old Harbor?

There are many symbols of Ethan's heritage and ancestry in the novel, and the Old Harbor is probably the most graphic. The harbor where the whaling ships once stood proudly and the townspeople gathered to trade, resupply, and view these magnificent ships has now been replaced by a more modern harbor. Ethan visits the old harbor often in the story, and it is the home of his secret place. The old harbor represents the very foundation of Ethan's knowledge of how life should be, how a man should conduct his life, and it stands abandoned by the modern world, just as his views on life.