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试析《老人与海》的悲喜色彩美文学毕业论文

2013-05-03 18:22

Abstract
Terse words, vivid images, copious emotions and profound thoughts were the outstanding features of The Old Man and the Sea. The novella was one of    Hemingway’s masterpieces, which solidly confirmed the renown of him and made him one of the most influential writers in American history.
In this novel, two opposites existing side by side depended on each other and were unified, namely, Hemingway created the delightful characters and plots. On the other hand, he created tragic ambience in the whole novel. People could find the plot of tragedy from the old man. At the same time, they could also feel the inspiring strength from him; the big marlin lived in the Gulf Stream, a place far away from the old man, but it was doomed to be a tragedy when the old man went far out. It fought against the old man for three days and nights which was also inspiring.
This thesis has analyzed the old man and the big marlin separately to demonstrate that they contained both delightful and tragic facets,  which brought about the novel’s success and novelty. The combination of the two facets was the soul of the whole story and gave the novel oneness.
Key Words
tragedy; delightfulness; failure; success
 
摘   要
海名威以其简洁的文字，鲜明的形象，丰富的感情和深刻的思想成就了著名的《老人与海》。牢固确立了他在美国上的地位，使他成为美国历史上最具影响的作家之一。
小说中存在两个对立面，这两个对立面同时也是相互依存、统一的。即海明威在作品创作中既创造了让人感到振奋的角色和情节，又让其带有了一定的悲剧色彩。人们从老人身上既能读出悲哀的情节，也能感到一股鼓舞人心的力量；大马林鱼生活在遥远的海湾，它碰上了老人是它命运的悲剧，但它与老人三天三夜的拼搏精神也是鼓舞人心的。
本课题分别对小说中的老人、大马林鱼做了详细的分析，论证了老人、大马林鱼集悲喜于一体，展示了小说的成功之处和新颖之处，这样的悲与喜相结合是小说的灵魂，赋予了小说统一性。 （科教作文网http://zw.nseac.com编辑发布）
关键词
  悲剧性；令人愉快；失败；胜利
 
Introduction
Hemingway's story began by depicting the interaction between the two primary characters as they prepared their fishing gear for the following day near a Gulf Stream harbor in 1940’s. The opening profile was Santiago, the “old man” in the title, and the character throughout the story. He was a Cuban fisherman, described as being old in every way except his eyes, which “were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated”（Hemingway, 4）. Although Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days, he ignored the jeers and pity of other fishermen, and returned to the sea in his skiff day after day. Santiago's attitude seemed to be that although he was faced with tragedy -- as everyone was sooner or later in life -- he would not cease struggling. Relying on memories of his youth, news of the Great DiMaggio's recovery from injury, and thoughts of the boy, Santiago had the courage to resolutely go on taking pains throughout the story. By struggling against a big marlin for three days and nights, he finally killed it. But several groups of sharks frequently attacked the dead marlin on the way. He did not take the whole of it back at last but just its head, tail and the whole spine.  
This novel has been studied by so many people and given different perspectives as follows:
Iceberg Theory Embodied in the Old Man and the Sea:“One eighths of an iceberg is above the water, while seven eighths is underneath the water. Profound levels of meaning and strong emotions will not enchant you until you dive into the water”(Guo Xiaozheng, 15).
Analysis on Metaphor Used in the Novel:“Ernest Hemingway employed metaphors. In the novels that Ernest Hemingway wrote, he used metaphors to reflect his life experiences and opinions. He believed that in life everyone must find their own niche and used the metaphor of the ocean and the boats on it to demonstrate this”(Gao Wei, 78).
The Role of Manolin and His Relationship with Santiago:“Conversations between Santiago and Manolin were added to the beginning and the end of the fishing tale. The conversational frame established a relationship between Manolin and Santiago which made Santiago complete his significant exploration and return with marlin carcass”(Tao Jie,120).

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The Old Man Was the Incarnation of Christ:“ The old man had experienced two processes of being nailed by the crucifix. These plots showed he had no difference with that of Christ”(Wu Lao, 4).
Analysis of Heroism Reflected in The Old Man and the Sea:“ He hooked a big marlin. This was one of his successes. He drove away the sharks from time to time on his way home even though his fish was almost eaten up by the sharks. This was his second success-- the success in spirit”(Gao Wei, 80).
Studies about these aspects mentioned above were really deep and comprehensive. They gave a lot of references to readers and helped them with comprehension this novel. The opinions were reasonable, receivable and valuable. However, few people have talked about the tragic ambience blended harmoniously in this novel. They had even ignored one thing-- everything has double characters. This novel was actually a combination of the tragic and delightful facet. The characters in the story contained the two aspects which were oppositions in logic, but unity seen from the whole story. So this thesis will give the novel new soul and provide another way of appreciating it to millions of readers.
 
Ⅰ. The Tragic Ambience in the Old Man and the Sea
Hemingway used terse language to describe a real story, vivid images and wonderful plot. The story still contained a lot of tragic things although the old man had succeeded in spirit at last and his spirit was inspiring and valuable to people. The old man and the big fish were two separate individuals which were closely related. Their fate could not be separated from each other. They had tragic destiny because of the affection to each other from their existence. They were both tragic characters in the whole story and made people feel sentimental in that circumstances. Additionally, Hemingway created this ambience unconsciously because his life was filled with tragedies. So it showed one aspect of the author's life and could not be separated from it.
A. Analysis of the Old Man for the Tragic Ambience.
1. The Tragic Ambience Could Be Found in the Old Man’s Daily Life.
"The tail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat"(Hemingway, 4). The style of the tail described by Hemingway reflected that Santiago was in straitened circumstances. He lived in a shack that "was made of the tough bud shields of the royal palm in which there was just a bed, a table, one chair, and a place on the dirt floor to cook with charcoal"(Hemingway, 10). The shack was so small that his mast was nearly as long as it. This living condition made people feel miserable. The old man's wife had died several years ago which could be inferred from the story. The shack looked more forlorn and the old man felt lonelier because he lived in it alone. Once there was a photograph of his wife on the wall. He did not want to look at it because it made him feel lonely so that he had to put it away to avoid sorrow.
He could not depend on any one even though he did not hook a fish for eighty four days in such a loveless circumstance. He had no money to buy food and could not afford the cost to eat in the restaurant as other people did. Fortunately, Manolin, the young boy Santiago taught to fish from the age of five,still took care of the old man after he left. This kind of life was so pathetic that no one, who had heard his present condition, could feel at ease for him.
As Santiago, alone in his boat, rowed out to the sea, he saw twice a bird. The second time he saw it, he uttered some words to let the bird stay with him so that it could be his friend on the sea to accompany him. This showed that he was lonely in his boat and how eager he was to have a companion even if it was just a bird. However, he did not keep the bird staying with him. It flew away when the line jerked and the old man had not even seen it go. In addition, it was a principle for the fishermen that people should not speak any word except when it was necessary. The old man broke this principle by speaking aloud several times unconsciously to the bird, the marlin, the sharks and himself .This was also tragic ambience during the period when he was on the sea.

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2. The Tragic Nature--People and Objects Around the Old Man Brought to Him.
Most of the fishermen considered the sea as a while the old man considered it as a female. He thought it was gentle and soft and forgave the wild or wicked things it sometimes had done. But it was unimaginable that it was the sea which he loved all along that brought groups of sharks continuously on his way home. The sharks followed him by blood of the dead fish and ate the fish indomitably. Moreover, they were ruthlessly destroyed the achievement of the old man gradually. Was this the favor that the sea had done the old man? He was a winner originally if these hateful sharks did not come to attack his fish, but the fact always came in a way that people did not expect. All that the sea brought to him was the things which made him an entire failure from a great success.
The sea gave him a temptation that there would be several good days on the sea and it was advantageous for a fisherman to sail out with the ocean current. The old man thought it was a good chance to hook a big fish evidently. He planed to go out with the help of the ocean current and then came back home several days later. He did so. To his gratification, he did hook a big marlin. However, he sailed too far and he had no assistant so that he could not protect the fish when the sharks sent by the sea attacked it. He was destined to be a failure because of the seducement of the sea. This was a tragedy of the old man.
Another one was the leaving of Manolin,a young boy whom Santiago taught to fish. Manolin had fished with Santiago when he was 5 years old. Manolin was Santiago's only loyal friend, always willing to obtain meals, coffee, and bait for the penniless old man, and, more importantly, to provide companionship. Despite his work in another boat Manolin still cared for the old man. He helped the old man a lot in the daily life such as eating, drinking, and he could only did this because he was forced to leave the old man by his parents citing the old man's fishless streak as the worst form of unluckiness. People around the old man had to do this to keep their lives going on although their work was endless. No one could care about this action and think it over. They were just busy with their own matters coldly and ruthlessly. The old man had to sail far out without the boy. He felt lonely and sometimes helpless on the sea. "I wish I had the boy (Hemingway, 41)”, "If the boy were here  (Hemingway, 61)”, were the old man's often-said sentences when he was on the sea. He needed the boy to be his companion to talk with him when it was necessary and he also needed the boy to be his assistant when he needed help. So the leaving of Manolin and the ruthlessness of people around were the necessity to formation the old man's tragedy.

 

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3. The Old Man’s Tragic Ending.
    The first tragic result that he received was to be sneered by the other fishermen in the Terrace after his eighty four days of failure in hooking fish. These young people were not warm to him. He was just a joke in their eyes. How about the older fishermen? Hemingway said in this novel like this:" Others, of the older fishermen, looked at him and were sad. But they did not show it and they spoke politely about the current and the depths they had drifted their lines at and the steady good weather and of what they had seen (Hemingway, 3)”. Though the older fishermen felt sad for him, what they did was not to comfort and encourag him, but to avoid talking about it. Maybe they did not want to show their fear about this truth. Maybe they feared facing the same situation one day. In a word, there was no one sympathizing with him except the boy.
The second tragic result he got was that he had not taken the whole fish back. The old man was pulled by the big marlin for three days and nights. He killed it at last because of his insistence. This was a perfect result. But this was not the final result. He was fermenting his own tragedy when he killed it. This tragedy took place when the groups of sharks came to attack the big fish. He had not taken the whole fish back home but just a head, a tail and the whole spine although he used all his strength to fight against the sharks and drove them away. Going far out for three days and nights, dealing with the big marlin for three days and nights, fighting against the groups of sharks on his way home, the old man got nothing at last. Was not it a tragedy?
B. Analysis of the Big Marlin for Tragic Ambience
The big marlin lived in the place far from the shore of Gulf Stream. People seldom sailed far out to the sea. So it lived in this vast beautiful area and enjoyed freedom. It was growing stronger and stronger in this environment and would originally live happily until its death. However, the old man's sailing out changed its fate. This was the fish's tragedy. The marlin was a clever fish which had stratagems. It struggled against the old man for three days and nights working continuously. But the tragedy was that the old man it happened to meet with was a well-prepared and indomitable man so that it was inevitable for the fish to escape. This was the miserable scene:" The old man dropped the line and put his foot on it and lifted the harpoon as high as he could and drove it down with all his strength", " He felt the iron go in and he leaned on it and drove it further and then pushed all his weight after it(Hemingway, 97)”. However, this was not miserable enough.

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It was bound to the skiff after it died because it was too long to be put into the skiff. This was the beginning of its bad luck. It was attacked by the sharks four times. In the first attack, the marlin was bit in the flesh just above the tail and the old man could hear the clicking chop of the shark's teeth and "the noise of skin and flesh ripping on the big fish (Hemingway, 77)”. The marlin lost about 40 pounds of the meat this time. In the second attack, the two sharks bit the marlin ferociously on its body which caused the skiff’s quake continuously. The marlin lost about 1/4 of its meat this time. In the third attack, the old man let the shark bite the big fish in order to kill the shark accurately. In the last attack, one of the sharks "opened his jaws and sank them into the silver side of the fish (Hemingway, 87)". The other shark "came in again with his jaws wide. The old man could see pieces of the meat of the fish spilling white from the corner of his jaws (Hemingway, 87)". After this attack, the big fish lost half of its flesh and had only a head, a big tail and the white naked backbone left. It suffered several attacks after its death, which was so miserable that everyone would cover his eyes at the first sight he saw the scene. What a tragic fate it had!
C. The Tragic Ambience Connected with the Author's Life
Hemingway had participated in World WarⅠand World WarⅡwhich changed his opinion of the society. He felt that the world was filled with violence and illusive things. So he created Santiago to express this feeling and let Santiago have a tragic fate. He had also participated in the Spanish Civil War and the World WarⅡ, by taking part in the D-day invasion of France. He was awarded Bronze Medal for WWII. He settled near Havana, Cuba, where he wrote "The Old Man and the Sea" (1953), for which he received a Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature.