symblizmin the OldMan and Sea.docx

symblizmin the OldMan and Sea.docx

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symblizmintheOldManandSea

题目：

SymbolisminTheOldMan

andtheSea

摘要

《老人与海》是20世纪美国著名作家海明威的代表作，被称为是海明威时期的最佳作品,是海明威生前出版的最后一部作品，可视为其人生哲学的总结。

本文从社会历史学的角度，通过分析海明威主要的人生经历以及他的生活和作品，揭示了海明威并不是真的想要创造一个传统意义上的英雄，而是想要诠释生活的真谛:

即生活是高于一切成功或失败的无止境的追求。

《老人与海》中的象征因素，评论界意见不一。

事实上，桑提亚哥的遭遇和生存环境就是海明威艺术化了的亲身经历。

本作品中也反映出了海明威的人生观。

本文将从《老人与海》的主人公和其生存环境等方面着手，对作品中的象征和作品中体现出的人生观进行整体的剖析、归纳和总结。

关键词:

海明威；《老人与海》；象征主义；人生哲学

Abstract

TheOldManandtheSeaisoneofthemasterpiecesofErnestHemingway,whichisconsideredasthemostoutstandingworkamongthatgenerationandisthesummaryofhisphilosophyonlife.Thispaper,adoptingasocio-historicalperspectivecoveringHemingway’smainlifeexperienceandhisworks,expoundsthatHemingwaydoesnotreallywanttocreateaherointhetraditionalsenseoftheword,butwantstointerpretlifeasitis,thatis,lifeisaneverlastingpursuitratherthansomekindofachievementorfailure.AsforthesymbolsinTheOldManandtheSea,thereisvarietyofopinionsintheeyesofdifferentcritics.Infact,theundergoingandlivingenvironmentofSantiagoistheportraitofHemingway'sownexperiences.Thispaperwillmakeananalysisonthesymbolsthroughsuchaspectsastheheroes,thelivingenvironments,andsoon.

Keywords:

Hemingway;TheOldManandtheSea;symbolism;lifephilosophy

Contents

Chapter1Introduction1

1.1ErnestHemingwayandHisMainAchievements1

1.2ABriefIntroductiontoTheOldManandtheSea1

1.3PreviousResearchaboutHemingwayandHisWorks2

1.4PurposeandtheSignificanceofThisResearch2

Chapter2Symbolism3

2.1DefinitionofSymbolism3

2.2DevelopmentofSymbolism3

Chapter3HemingwayandSymbolism5

3.1InfluenceoftheWorldWars5

3.2HemingwayandtheLostGeneration6

3.3Hemingway’s“IcebergTheory”RelatedtoSymbolism6

3.4ReasonforUsingSymbolismintheNovel6

Chapter4SymbolsintheNovel7

4.1SymbolicMeaningoftheTitle7

4.2SymbolicMeaningoftheMainCharacters7

4.3SymbolicMeaningoftheSeaandtheSharks8

4.4SymbolicMeaningoftheMarlin9

4.5SymbolicMeaningoftheOtherFishermen9

4.6OtherSymbolsintheNovel10

Chapter5Conclusion11

References13

Acknowledgements15

Chapter1Introduction

1.1ErnestHemingwayandHisMainAchievements

ErnestHemingway,oneofthemostfamousAmericannovelist,shortstorywriterandessayist,wasbornin1899atOakPark,Illinois,nearChicago.Hisfatherwasasuccessfulphysicianwitharelishforhuntingandfishing.Hismothertaughtmusic,andoftentookhersixchildrentoconcert,plays,andpaintingexhibitions.Athighschool,Hemingwaytookagreatinterestinsports,andwroteregularlyforthenewspaperoftheschoolandliterarymagazine[1]

DuringtheFirstWorldWarHemingwayjoinedtheambulancecorpsinItalian,and,afewweekslater,hewasseverelywounded,atthecloseofthewarhereturnedtotheUnitedStates.ThenheworkedasareportfortheTorontoStar.Whenthewarwasover,hewenttosettleinCuba.[2]

Besideshisnumerousshortstories,Hemingwaywroteseveralnovels,ofwhichthebestknownare:

TheSunAlsoRises（1926）,AFarewelltoArms（1929）,ToHaveandHaveNot（1933）,ForWhomtheBellTolls（1940）,andTheOldManandtheSea（1952）.Theheroes,inhisworksareoftentheso-called“toughguys”,menwhoshow“graceunderpressure,”whofaceuptotragedieswithcourage.[3]

InParis,HemingwayalongwithGertrudeStein,EzraPound,T.SEliotandJamesJoyce,accomplishedarevolutioninliterarystyleandlanguage.Hedevelopedaspare,tight,reportorialprosebasedonsimplesentencestructureandusingarestrictedvocabulary,preciseimagery,andanimpersonal,dramatictone.Hislean,economicalstylehadanimmenseimpactonhiscontemporarywritersinAmerica,EnglandandotherEuropeancountries.Inaword,HemingwayhasmadegreatcontributionstoAmericanliterature.

However,InJuly,1961,Hemingwayusedaguntotakehisownlife.[4]

1.2ABriefIntroductiontoTheOldManandtheSea

TheOldManandtheSeaisoneofHemingway’smostenduringworkstoldinlanguageofgreatsimplicityandpower,itisthestoryofanoldCubanfishermanlivingonthecoastofCuba,whoisthinandhasmanydeeplinesinthebackofhisneckandhisskinisverybrown,andhishandsaremarkedbypullingheavyfishattheendofropes,downonhisluckandhissupremeordeal—arelentlessagonizingbattlewithagiantMarlinfaroutintheGulfStream.Thefishissopowerfulthatitpullstheboatafterit.Ittakesthesmallboatfarouttosea.Theoldmancannolongerseetheland.

“Fish”,hesayssoftly,aloud,“IwillstaywithyouuntilIamdead.”

Onthemorningofthethirdday,theendcomes.Tiredandfullofpain,theoldmanthrowshisharpoonintotheheartofthegreatfish.Thefishraiseshighoutofthewater,showingallitspowerandbeauty.Thenextmomentitisdead.

Slowlyandpainfully,theoldmantiesthefishtothesideoftheboat.Thenheturnsbackandsailstowardsthedistantshore.However,thefirstsharkcomesandmoresharkscome.Theoldmanfightsagainstthemwithhisoarandhisknife.Thenheusesastick.Whenhesailsintothelittleharborandpullshisboatontheshore,nofishisleftbutthegiantwhitebackbone.

HereHemingwayrecastsinstrikinglycontemporarystyletheclassicthemeofcourageinthefaceofdefeat.Thishugelysuccessfulnovellaconfirmshispowerandpresenceintheliteraryworldandplaysahugepartinhiswinningthe1954NobelPrizeforliterature.

1.3PreviousResearchaboutHemingwayandHisWorks

Now,HemingwayiswidelyrecognizedasoneofthemostimportantandinfluentialAmericannovelistsofthetwentiethcentury.“Timewillshowthatthisnovel（TheOldManandtheSea）wouldbethemostbrilliantmedium-lengthnovelforourtime”saidFaulkner.[5]AndalsoHemingwayconsideredthenovelashismostsuccessfulmasterpiece.LotsofcriticssaythatHemingwayisessentiallyanegativewriter.Itisverydifficultforhimtosay“yes”.Allofhisworksdramatizethisconceptoflife,thatitisdangerousandalwaysreadytodefeatanddestroyyou;butthat,ifyoukeepcalmandstandonyoursetofprinciples（whichEdmundWilsoncallsthisprincipleofsportsmanshipishisTheWoundandtheBowandPhilipYoungsumsupasa“codeofhonor”）.[6]WhilecommentingonHemingway’scareer,criticshavemostlyadvertedtothe“masculinity”inhiswritings.Hisearlyfictionswonhighpraiseforthestoic,understated-“masculinity”-styledmenandthedepictionofmalepursuitsandattitudes.Hemingway’searlyheroesareJakeBarnes,FrederickHenry,andsoon.SuchyoungmentriedtocopewithWorldWarIandtheyhadtofacemanyunimaginableproblemsafterthewar.Atthesametime,Hemingway’searlywomenrolesoftensufferfromsamefateinspiteoftheirdifferentlifeexperiencesandwaysoflife.Theyareallfrustrated,thwarted,ordead.ItiseasytoseeHemingway’spositiveattitudesonlytowardsthedocile,submissivetypesofwomen,suchasCatherineBarkleyandMaria.But,inParisoftheearly1920s,overeightyfeministsocietiesrepresentedmorethansixtythousandmembers,andmanyofthesefeministswouldhaveagreedthattherecognitionofwomen’ssexuallyamountedtoliberation.

Bytheendofthe1930sHemingwayforgedagreatliteraryreputationinAmerica.Hepublishedhisthreefamousmasterpieces:

TheSunAlsoRise,AFarewelltoArmsandForWhomtheBellTolls.Bygeneralconsensus,criticshaveconcludedthatHemingwaydevelopedhisdepictionofwomenandofgenderissuesinhisnovelsintheirhistoricalandbiographicalcontexts.

1.4PurposeandtheSignificanceofThisResearch

AboutErnestHemingwayandhisfamousshortstory,TheOldManandtheSea,therearemanycriticswhohavevariouspointsofviewonthetopics.ButTheOldManandtheSeaanditswritingstyleandskillssuchastheuseofsymbolismandhis“Icebergtheory”haven’tbeenstudiedcompletely,andsomearejustliteral.That’snotenough.TheOldManandtheSeaisHemingway’smasterpiece,anditisregardedasoneofthemostinfluentialworksintheAmericanliterary.

ThisstudywillconcentrateonsymbolismandthemainsymbolsinTheOldManandtheSeaandtheinfluencefactorsonthesymbolism.

Chapter2Symbolism

2.1DefinitionofSymbolism

Themeaningofsymbolism,originatingfromGreek,isthataplankorakindofpotteryisdividedintohalveswhichareownedbybothpartiesofthehostandtheguestrespectively.Whentheymeetagain,theyputthetwoplankstogethertoindicatethefriendshipandlovebetweenthem.[7]Afterlongtimeevolution,itsmeaninghaschangedinto“useoneconcepttorepresentanothertoexpressone’smeaning”.[8]Sotodaythemeaningofsymbolismisthataccordingtothecertainrelationshipbetweenthethings,usethespecificimageofsomebodyorsomethingtoshowsomeabstractconcepts,thoughts,andemotions.Inliterature,asymbolisathingthatstandsfororsuggestssomethingelsebyreasonofrelationship,association,conventionoraccidentalresemblance,especially,avisiblesignofsomethinginvisible.Thesymbolgenerallydoesnotstandforthemeaning,notforanythingabsolutelydefinite;itevokesanobjectthatsuggeststhemeaning.Itusuallyreferstotheuseofabstractconcepts,asawaytoobfuscateanyliteralinterpretation,ortoallowforthebroaderapplicabilityoftheprosetomeaningsbeyondwhatmaybeliterallydescribed.Hemingwayperfectlyused“symbolism”inthisnovelwriting.

2.2DevelopmentofSymbolism

SymbolismwasfirstidentifiedasaliterarymovementbyJeanMor.Inart,alooselyorganizedmovementthatflourishedinthe1880sand1890sandwascloselyrelatedtothesymbolist