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山东政法学院外语系06届本科毕业论文Analysis of Santiago in the Old Man and theSeaBy SunWenjingSubmitted to the School of Foreign Studies in Partial Fulfillmentto the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in EnglishUnder the Supervision of (Associate) Professor Ms.Yuan TingApril, 201013Analysis of Santiago in the Old Man and the SeaAbstract: The Old Man and the Sea ，one of Ernest Hemingways most famous work,was published in 1952.Critics praise that the novel is Hemingways last major work of fiction,and he won 1953s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and Award of Merit Medal from the American Academy of Letters.1 It is a short novel，a fable of a kind ，about an kind Cuban fisherman Santiago and his battle with a great mailin。For 84 days，Santiago does not catch a single fish but he does not feel discouraged ，He goes far out into the sea and he hooks a giant marlin.A desperate struggle ensues .Santiago manages to kill the fish and ties it to his boat,only to find that on the way home he has to fight a more desperate struggle with some dangerous giant sharks,which eat up the marlin,leaving only a skeleton .The old man brings it home and goes to bed to dream,almost dead witn exhaustion.2Key Words: background ; struggle ;grace under pressure;symbolism老人与海中圣地亚哥形象分析摘要：老人与海是海明威最著名的作品之一，发表于1952年。很多评论家认为这是海明威最后一部主要的小说作品，凭此书他获得了普利策奖以及美国艺术与文学学院长篇小说奖。这是一部寓言类中篇小说。内容是关于年迈的古巴渔民桑提亚哥和他与大马林鱼之间抗争的故事。在连续84天毫无所获时，桑提亚哥试图杀掉这条鱼并把它绑在船上，从而展开了一系列的殊死搏斗。而在回家途中，桑提亚哥却不得不面对更凶猛的鲨鱼的袭击，鲨鱼吃掉了马林鱼，只留下衣服鱼骨架。老人将骨架带回家，几乎奄奄一息，他上了床，很快就进入了梦乡。关键词： 背景，奋斗，压力下的优雅，象征ContentsAbstractiKey Wordsi摘要ii关键词iiContentsiiiChapter One Introduction11.1 Total Background11.2 Background of the Old Man and the Sea1Chapter Two Analysis of Santiagos characters3Chapter Three Sruggle bravely and pridely regardless of defeat or death4Chapter Four Grace Under Pressure64.1 Grace under Pressure64.2 Grace under the first layer of pressure64.3 Grace under the second layer of pressure74.4 Grace under the third layer of pressure7Chapter Five Symbolism In Santiago95.1 TechniqueSymbolsim95.2 Santiago- the Best Expression to “the toughguy character”9Chapter Six Conclusion12Bibliography13Analysis of Santiago in the Old Man and the SeaChapter One Introduction1.1 Total background The Old Man and the Sea is a fable of an old mans life which was told by Hemingway. Hemingway is a famous American writer of modern times. He is also an international literary celebrity in the world. His father was a prominent doctor, and also a dab at fishing and hunting. The influence of his father made him full of love with fishing and hunting. His life was active and adventurous, but it was full of pains. The First and the Second World Wars had affected Hemingway a lot, he had once joined the army and had injured in Italy, and he suffered much that was brought about by the war deeply. He was disappointed with the world and pessimistic about the fate of the man. In his early days novel, The Sun also Rrises depicts the war, describing the bewilderment of the European and American young people, then he was look down upon by someone around him and some writers. “You are all the generation that has been at a loss.” So, seeking way out and seeking the understanding of life is the theme that Hemingway wanted to explore. He was an unyielding man, so he portrayed the distinctive individual character of “the character of unyielding man”. From all the works of Hemingways, we can find that when Hemingway chose personage, he especially liked to choose beggar, hunter, solider and so on, they could protect their dignity by resisting with the world which is full of hostility, they maintain a graceful demeanour under great force, but on target. The characters of the protagonist are different from that of the early days novel. As a mouthpiece of “the lost generation”, Hemingway suffered cold shoulder and attack almost ten years in the commentary field. In order to save the desperate situation, Hemingway wrote a work ,the Old Man and the Sea,that he firmly believes to be the best works in his life.The characters of Santiago,in The Old Man and the Sea,shows his inward world -he was an unyielding man ,and had the desire to be the best one in the world,all these can be improved by the protagonist who is suffering but strong-minded.1.2 Background of the Old Man and the Sea Between 1940 and1950，Hemingway was silent from a literary point of view.During this period ,he had written one work named Across the River and into the Trees.It was such a poor performance that critics all agreed that he had run out of his intelligence in literary.But he did not lose his hope and continue with his career.Finally the Old Man and the Sea comed up with storm.Hemingway never gived up to seach for his treasure in the world and finded it in the end because he knowed the world which was just like the sea and full of dream and nightmare.He also knows the world is fair just like the sea.If he insisted of what he thinks is true,he will find what he wants and win prize from the world. The novel, the Old Man and the Sea, is based on a true story written by Hemingway . After World War II, Hemingway moved to Cuba, to know elderly fisherman Gregorio Fuentes. In 1930, Ernest Hemingway by a ship in the storm was in danger. Fuentes rescued Hemingway from danger. Since then, Hemingway and Fuentes forged a profound friendship often with the sea fishing.In 1936, Fuentes, very far out to sea to catch a big fish, but because the fish is too large delay for a very long time at sea, resulting in Return Journey was attacked by a shark had returned only a skeleton. Ernest Hemingway in the classic magazine published a newsletter in the blue sea, and reported the matter. At that time this matter made Hemingway deeply touched, and he awared that it is a good novel material, but have never had the opportunity to start writing it.Shortly after Christmas in 1950, Hemingway had a very strong creative desire .At a villa in the outskirts of Havana, Cuba, an observation Society, he began to start writing Hits (originally called existing sea). To February 23, 1951 he completed the first draft in just eight weeks before and after. April Hemingway sent the manuscript to go to Cuba to visit his friends circulated the people, winning a unanimous praise. Hemingway also thinks that this is his best novel just as he himself said this is a lifetime work of the best written work.Chapter Two Analysis of Santiagos CharactersThe Old Man and the Sea is one of the best works of Ernest Hemingway and it is different fronm his other works,This lies in:Hemingway not only depicts the image of unyielding man ,but also eulogizes the eternal value of human beings“Man is not made for defeat. Man can be destroyed but not defeated”3 Santiagos resolute characters and exquisite fishing skills suggest that he is not only a toughguy but also represents lofty ideas that is an eternal value in liferiver.A life state with different aspects can be seen from Santiago,such as pride,brave,optimistic,lonely and intelligenct.The Old Man and the Sea is a warfare between strong determination and the vicious enemy.This work is about an old fisherman named Santiago who overcomes the great forces of nature.He does not catches a single fish for eighty-four days,what is worse,the child who has catch fish with him also leaves him.Lonesome is his onlyfriends as well as enemy.But he still keeps on trying without being despired.He goes far out into the sea and catches a huge marlin after three days patient struggle.When a person waits for something toilsomely and when he has an opportunity to get it ，he will treasure the chance carefully and make mind to realize it.It is the pillar of his spirit,and only by making it become true can he continue his life. From fighting with the huge marlin to driving away the fierce shark,the fighting process is always in the state of bearing the outside attacks with only one person. It is only when the condition is so bad can show a persons skill of tolerance.Even though he is so tired,he brings the big skeleton of the fish back to the bank.“He saw the white naked line of his backbone and the dark mass of the head with the projecting bill and all the nakedness between.”4 Maybe,Santiago gets nothing,but he has tasted the victory in fighting process.The toughguy image of the old fisherman is more obvious and outstanding.This image represents Hemingways personal ideal values as well as a symbol to fighting with nature.On the other hand ,it slso represents a spirit that is struggle,pride,never giving up ,confidence and grace under pressure.Chapter Three Sruggle Bravely and Pride Regardless of Defeat or DeathAt the beginning of the novel, Santiago is characterized as someone struggling against defeat. He has gone eighty-four days without catching a fishhe will soon pass his own record of eighty-seven days. Almost as a reminder of Santiagos struggle, the sail of his skiff resembles “the flag of permanent defeat.” But the old man refuses defeat at every turn: he resolves to sail out beyond the other fishermen to where the biggest fish promise to be. He lands the marlin, tying his record of eighty-seven days after a brutal three-day fight, and he continues to ward off sharks from stealing his prey, even though he knows the battle is useless.Because Santiago is pitted against the creatures of the sea, some readers choose to view the tale as a chronicle of mans battle against the natural world, but the novella is, more accurately, the story of mans place within nature. Santiago displays qualities of pride, confidence, and bravery, and he is subject to the same eternal law: they must kill or be killed. As Santiago reflects when he watches the weary warbler fly toward shore, where it will inevitably meet the hawk, the world is filled with predators, and no living thing can escape the inevitable struggle that will lead to its death. Santiago lives according to his own observation: “man is not made for defeat .Man can be destroyed but not defeated.”5In Hemingways portrait of the world, fighting with rival is inevitable, but the best men as well as animals will nonetheless refuse to give in to its power. Accordingly, man and fish will struggle to the death, just as hungry sharks will lay waste to an old mans trophy catch.The novel suggests that it is possible to transcend this natural law. In fact, the very inevitability of destruction creates the terms that allow a worthy man or beast to transcend it. It is precisely through the effort to battle the inevitable that a man can prove himself. Indeed, a man can prove this determination over and over through the worthiness of the opponents he chooses to face. Santiago finds the marlin worthy of a fight, just as he once found “the great negro of Cienfuegos” worthy. His admiration for these opponents brings love and respect into an equation with struggle, as their destruction becomes a point of honor and bravery that confirms Santiagos heroic qualities. Santiago, though destroyed at the end of the novella, is never defeated. Instead, he emerges as a hero. Santiagos struggle does not enable him to change mans place in the world. Rather, it enables him to meet his most dignified destiny.Many parallels exist between Santiago and the classic heroes of the ancient world. In addition to exhibiting terrific strength, bravery, and moral certainty, those heroes usually possess a tragic flawa quality that, though admirable, leads to their eventual downfall. If pride is Santiagos fatal flaw, he is keenly aware of it. After sharks have destroyed the marlin, the old man apologizes again and again to his worthy opponent. He has ruined them both, he concedes, by sailing beyond the usual boundaries of fishermen. Indeed, his last word on the subject comes when he asks himself the reason for his undoing and decides, “Nothing. I went out too far.”6While it is certainly true that Santiagos eighty-four-day run of bad luck is an affront to his pride as a masterful fisherman, and that his attempt to bear out his skills by sailing far into the gulf waters leads to disaster, Hemingway does not condemn his protagonist for being full of pride. On the contrary, Santiago stands as proof that pride motivates men to greatness. Because the old man acknowledges that he killed the mighty marlin largely out of pride, and because his capture of the marlin leads in turn to his heroic transcendence of defeat, pride becomes the source of Santiagos greatest strength. Without a ferocious sense of pride, that battle would never have been fought, or more likely, it would have been abandoned before the end.Santiagos pride also motivates his desire to transcend the destructive forces of nature. Throughout the novel, no matter how idious his circumstances become, the old man exhibits an unflagging determination to catch the marlin and bring it to shore. When the first shark arrives, Santiagos resolve is mentioned twice in the space of just a few paragraphs. First we are told that the old man “was full of resolution but he had little hope.” Then, sentences later, the narrator says: “He hit the shark without hope but with resolution.” 7The old man meets every challenge with the same unwavering determination: he is willing to die in order to bring in the marlin, and he is willing to die in order to battle the feeding sharks. It is this conscious decision to act, to fight, to never give up that enables Santiago to avoid defeat. Although he returns to Havana without the trophy of his long battle, he returns with the knowledge that he has acquitted himself proudly and manfully. Hemingway seems to suggest that victory is not a prerequisite for pride. Instead, glory depends upon one having the pride to see a struggle through to its end, regardless of the outcome. Even if the old man had returned with the marlin intact, his moment of glory, like the marlins meat, would have been short-lived. The glory and honor Santiago accrues comes not from his battle itself but from his pride and determination to fight.During the process of fighting with the powerful rival,the toughguy image of the old fisherman ismoreobvious and outstanding.This toughguy image not only reflects Hemingwaysideal of personality but also symbolize the courage of human beings fighting with the nature.That is to say,it embodies a kind of spirit which is health and positive.Santiago serves as a contrast to somebody who is perplexed and whose value of life is so narrow minded .When human beings come acrossenormous tribulation,They should think of thetoughguys who fight with the strong rival on the sea lonely ans bravely.From this ,thecan see that some difficulties easier to conquer than that of imagedChapter Four Grace Under Pressure4.1 Grace under pressureIn one sence ,Hemingway wrote all his life about one theme,which is neatly summed up in the famous phrase,“grace under pressure”and created one hero who acts that theme out.The fillowings deal with the problem of “grace under pressure”repesented by Santiago,the protagonist of the novel.He is endowed with this optimistic attitude towards life-courage,confidence,dignity and never giving up through the “grace under pressure”.This chapter deals with the problem of grace under pressure and its revel ation to people.The success of the Old Man and the Sea lies most in its perfect display- the grace under pressure,hich is a very important quality of Santiago The quality is composed of two portion :presure and grace.Presuer is the premise,only under pressure can display onegraceful demensnor.At the beginning of the novel，Santiago had gone eightyfour days without catching a fish and had become the laughingstock of his small villageThis is an affront to a masterful fisherman，and it forms the layer of pressure；As the story begins，a young boy， Manolin，stayed with the old man，but after the fortieth luckless day，the boy father told his son to go in another boat， leaving the skiff of which the sail was patched with four sacks and furled like the flag of permanent defeatWhen the boy left the old man and fished with another，they caught three good fishes in the first weekThe boy good luck formed obvious contrast with the old mans ill luckIf this happened to another boy， it was coincidental， but it happened to the boy who had got nothing with the old man for forty days and exactly when he left the old man for one weekThis made other fishermen believed that the old man was really unlucky enough! This is the second layer of pressure；W hen the old man hooked the biggest marlin never seen in the Gulf Stream，he was alone，without the benefit of modem technologyHe endured a long and grueling struggle with the marlin and felt lonely and helplessThis is the third layer of pressure4.2 Grace under the first layer of pressure As the novel begins，Santiago definitely and finally failed，however，he kept self-composed and had confidence in his dignitySo even having got nothing in the first 84 days，he continued to go out to fishSantiagos commitment to sailing out further than any fisherman had before testified his confidence to the depthIt also showed his confidence to change his bad luck，because he clearly knew what he was born for Yes，he was born for the conquering of the sea Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated W e all know that eyes are the windows of ones sou1It means the old mans heart or soul is inconvincibleIn order to protect his dignity，he finally summarized the famous motto“Man is not made for defeatA man can be destroyed but not defeated”8This is obviously the declaration to the difficulties and adversitiesHow spirited and valiant the pledge!It encourages human to fight for dignity 4.3 Grace under the second layer of pressure The old man was in his adversity and the boy had got good fishes after he left the old man Santiago didnt feel jealous but happy for himWhen talking with the boy who was not willing to leave，the old man said“I know you did not leave me because you doubted”9and he felt it was quite norma1，though he would be lonely without the boyWhen the boy asked if he could offer the old man a beer on the terrace and then took the stuff home，the old man said，“why not， between fishermen All these details show that Santiago was reasonable， sensible， kind with open mind The old man，s grace lies in his gender feelingSome details in how the old man woke the boy：he took hold of one foot gently and held it until the boy woke upW hen the boy was still sleepy，the old man put his arm across his shoulders and said “I am sorry”Just like someonesaid，heartlessness doesn t make the hero， pity for children makes more the man.With confident attitude towards life，the old man took things philosophically In fact he hoped the boy could come back to him and he needed the boy，but when the boy wanted to be back，the old man refused because it was the boys parents who made him leave and he could not make the boy awkward and unlucky with him 4.4 Grace under the third layer of pressure When fighting with the marlin， he was driven through the two opposite forces between certainty and uncertaintySometimes Santiago felt lonely and helpless，but he conquered all of them ultimately，which was best presented in his long monologue and recall about arlnwrestling contestsuch as “1 wish I had theboy to help me and to see this”，“I wish the boy were here”and “1 wish I
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