People should have a rest when they are old. However, San Diego is not ready to rest. He has an active life and clear eyes. He went to sea for the 85th time. The day before going out to sea, he discussed with his children to buy lottery tickets. The children suggested that he use the first record of not catching a big fish for 87 days as the lottery number, which inadvertently violated the taboo of the old man. He said, "It won't happen again." He decided to use "85" as the lottery number. I haven't caught a big fish in 84 days. "85" should be the end of the old situation and the beginning of a new situation. Since fate prevented him from catching a big fish in 84 days, he should be allowed to catch a big fish in 85 days. The old man seems to have entrusted his hope to God, but in fact he is convinced of his own strength. The old man's persistence and competitiveness in fishing, his concern for American baseball teams, and his early wrestling with others to win or lose, that is, his concern for winning or losing, and his desire for competition, are a spirit. Now, he wants to catch a big fish and prove his strength again, and prove that he has the ability to gain something between heaven and earth.
The decisive battle first started between him and the marlin, and then the fierce shark joined in. The old man used his life's wisdom, but his fatigue has been holding him back. Marlin is a spiritual behemoth. Sharks are fierce and cruel, and both sides are evenly matched. In diamond cut diamond, this battle is extremely difficult. After two days and nights of fighting, the marlin was stabbed in the key by the old man's fork. After several struggles, it died under the harpoon of the old man. Seeing victory in sight, the appearance of sharks turned the tide. The shark launched a fierce attack on the old man's prey. Although the old man tried to protect it, he finally lost the shark and the marlin was bitten to the bone.
Who won? Who lost?
The highest goal of the game is to win. Although a draw takes care of the dignity of both sides, it is not what both sides want to pursue: the old man wrestled with others and remained deadlocked for a day and a night, still refusing to make up with his opponent. The competition for survival is more intense. The old man lives by fishing. According to the old man's estimation, this excellent big fish weighs 1500 kilograms and can fetch a big price. Catching a big fish means a livelihood, and losing a big fish means a more embarrassing life. From the practical interests, the old man failed because he lost a big fish. But don't forget, the old man still has a spiritual pursuit: he wants to prove that he is good. Readers will never forget the famous monologue of the old man: "Man is not born to be defeated" and "Man can be destroyed, but not defeated". The old man fulfilled his promise with his actions. He persevered in the face of setbacks, maintained high spiritual strength and vitality from beginning to end, and declared this strength and vitality; He also found his dignity and self-confidence and won the respect of others. Therefore, after he returned to the shack, he could sleep so soundly. At present, the fishermen's onlookers and tourists' amazement at the rare big fish skeleton are in line with his dream of distant African lions. So mentally, he is also a winner, a strong man and a tough guy. Nobel Prize in Literature's award speech praised this work as "an eulogy for the indomitable spirit of struggle even if nothing is achieved, and an eulogy for the moral victory despite difficulties and obstacles and failure", which is absolutely true. By extension, The Old Man and the Sea is an ode to human beings, praising their strength, dignity and courage.
In the gloomy sky of western literature in the 20th century, The Old Man and the Sea is a bright color, because people's understanding of themselves and the performance of this understanding in literature have changed a lot here. In ancient Greek literature, there was a god above man, and man struggled and was often teased by God. For example, the protagonist of Oedipus was bound, tortured and exiled because he violated great power; But it also reflects that human beings have the courage to fight against fate, and the tragic and lofty appreciation shown in the struggle. Man has not been crushed by God, but in opposition to God, he has also made himself a figure of God. From the Renaissance to The Romantic Period, people constantly challenged the divine power, and then replaced God and became "the essence of the universe, the primate of all things". In Faust, the transcendence of the soul seems to be never perfect; Whitman takes himself as the center of heaven and earth, and in the process of searching for "identity", he puts his own brand on everything in the universe; Robinson Crusoe promises wealth and shows the charm of overseas colonization and adventure. /kloc-since the middle of the 0/9th century, with the deepening of capitalist contradictions, people's confidence in themselves has been frustrated, manifested in European literature, and their internal and external expansion has gradually disappeared. The protagonists are mostly ordinary people, with secular sufferings, ordinary people's defects and humble desires. At the beginning of the 20th century, western society experienced an unprecedented spiritual crisis, and two world wars dragged mankind into the abyss of disaster. As a reflection of reality, western literature is generally pessimistic and desperate about people, so all kinds of obscene freaks and perverts do everything they can. In such a literary situation, The Old Man and the Sea published by 1952 shows a tendency to return to traditional human beliefs and shows cautious optimism about human courage and strength. This is very rare, and it is a good medicine for mankind to heal the wounds of war and recover from the double disasters of material and spirit after the war.
Nobel Prize in Literature's award speech reminds readers of "American identity and spirit" in Hemingway's works. Although American culture was born out of European culture, it gradually formed its own national characteristics in the course of hundreds of years of development. Many western scholars believe that the westward movement and frontier development play a decisive role in the formation of the American nation and its culture, and the westward movement and frontier development are largely manifested as the struggle to conquer nature. The vast territory and rich resources have nurtured, moistened and enriched the American nation, and also provided a broad imaginary world for American writers. It is at this point that American literature and European literature show great differences: American literature pays attention to the relationship between man and nature, while European literature pays attention to the relationship between man and society. In the history of American literature, writers such as Cooper, Emerson, Mark Twain, Whitman, Melville and Jack London all wrote that nature has become a stage for people to display their ambitions in various ways. Cooper's "noble barbarian" represents the desire and ideal of abandoning the concept of civilization and returning to nature. Emerson's transcendental view of nature advocates experiencing natural spirituality and living in harmony with nature. Whitman's poems have a wide understanding of nature and realize the king's reign and rule over nature. Melville's novel Moby Dick highlights the antagonistic relationship between man and nature and shows man's arrogance and retribution in the face of unfathomable nature. People's fear and desire to conquer fear.
The Old Man and the Sea continues the theme of nature in American literature and creates a new dimension. One of the most striking is the old man's contradictory attitude towards the ocean and its creatures. Hemingway usually attributed the diverse and complicated relationship between man and environment and between man and various alien forces to the relationship of competition and confrontation, and The Old Man and the Sea was no exception in this respect. Competition stimulates vitality, but when the opposite of competition is nature, people no longer have moral legitimacy, and the rationality of their competition is questioned, because victory means conquering nature, taking away, full of killing and blood. In the novel, Santiago kills dolphins "from the anus to the tip of the lower lip". When he killed the marlin, he "raised the harpoon as high as possible, ... and plunged the iron fork into the side of the fish, just behind the big pectoral fin stuck in the air and as high as the old man's chest. The man ... put it on the fork handle, dipped it deeply, and then pushed it in with the weight of his whole body. " These details reflect the cruelty of San Diego. San Diego thought of the profit after killing the big fish: "There is 1500 pounds, ... take out two thirds, cut it and wash it, and sell it for 30 cents a catty." How much is it? " The shrewd calculation of utilitarianism. The world only recognizes the winner, and even the question of good and evil becomes irrelevant. In this world, without family and social relations, people are greatly simplified. He only needs strength, courage and wisdom to survive. He faced the challenge alone and took on everything. In a sense, people have also been alienated by competition. On the other hand, the old man is humble and full of warmth in front of nature. He said that the sea is negative and he likes it. A tired bird, a jellyfish and a fish in the sea can arouse his love and long-term memory. He talks to nature and listens to their voices. When he struggled with the marlin, he had to kill it, but at the same time he repeatedly called the big fish his brother and friend. He marveled at the magnificence of the big fish and said, "I have never seen anything bigger, more beautiful, calmer and nobler than you." The above two contradictory attitudes show that Hemingway is difficult to choose between the subjective standard and the natural standard, so Santiago chose two opposing aspects: asking for gifts from nature and getting along with nature on an equal footing. He is not blind and arrogant, but he has not put himself in a position of submission. Nature is his supplier, and he wants to take it; But he also respected natural life, and tried to take responsibility for nature and realize the value of individual life without infringing others' right to exist.
However, in The Old Man and the Sea, the contradiction between man and nature has not been fundamentally solved. When the old man went out to sea, he said that the sea is "a force that is generous at one time and unwilling to show mercy at another." This time, it failed without mercy. When the old man finally dragged his tired body back to the shore, he could not help but sigh: "I went out to sea too far." Facing nature, the old man has his attitude and purpose, but nature itself is not designed, chosen or even understood by the old man, and it has its own logic. The old man's attitude and choice in front of nature shows man's subjectivity, but it is finally proved to be illusory or even hypocritical, which naturally leaves us with eternal confusion and dreams.
The Old Man and the Sea has achieved great artistic success. Hemingway won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954, which had much to do with the novel published in 1952. Nobel Prize in Literature praised Hemingway as "proficient in modern narrative art", and British writer Herbert said that Hemingway's novels triggered a "literary revolution". These praises are equally deserved by the old man and the sea. The greatest artistic feature of the novel is symbolism. Although Hemingway hates researchers to associate his works with any symbol, The Old Man and the Sea is indeed a profound novel. Hemingway chose fishing and hunting, the most primitive and natural life activity of human beings, as the object of expression, and filtered out all specific social and times factors, and set off a lyrical monologue with a gorgeous and pure sea background. By doing so, Hemingway made the whole structure of the work point directly at the archetype of ancient mythology, thus expanding the coverage of the work and making it possible for the work to derive and deduce richer meanings in the broad human background. Another example is the recurring image of the African lion. Africa is an important image in American culture and literature, which is closely related to the composition of the American nation. The old man has been to Africa in his early years. From the metaphorical analysis of the novel, this is his pilgrimage and root-seeking journey. Therefore, the African lion has become a symbol of strength and an inexhaustible source of life, and its individual behavior is linked with the spirit of national ancestors. He draws strength from it and shows this spirit. Another artistic feature of The Old Man and the Sea is conciseness, which has also become the biggest feature of his style. Hector Bates wrote vividly on this point: "He cut down the redundant words of the whole forest, and he restored the refreshing appearance of the basic branches. He deleted explanations, discussions and even discussions; Cut off all colorful metaphors; Clear the old sacred and lifeless article prejudice; Until the end, through sparse and thousands of words, my eyes suddenly became clear. " As a result, the "academic style", which reached its peak with Henry James' complicated and tortuous works, was "cut clean" by Hemingway just like the "loose hair" attached to literature. Reading The Old Man and the Sea will undoubtedly leave a deep impression on this point.