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1、CONTENTAbstract11.Introduction22.The Symbolism42.1 The Definition of Symbolism42.2 Major Symbols in The Old Man and the Sea52.2.1 The Old Man the Best Expression to “the unyielding character”52.2.2 The Boy the Best Supplement for the Unyielding Man Character72.2.3 The Sea the Symbol of Hemingways Su
2、rvival Environment.82.2.4 The Shark A Powerful Deputy of the Evil Force102.2.5 The Marlinthe Symbol of Achievement123 Hemingways Philosophy of Life Reflected by the symbols in The Old Man and the Sea133.1 Hemingways Attitude towards the Society Reflected through the Symbol of the Sea133.2 Hemingways
3、 Attitude towards the Enemy Reflected through the Symbol of Shark-143.3 Hemingways Attitude towards the Achievements Reflected through the symbol of Marlin144.Conclusion15Bibliography17AbstractThe Old Man and the Sea, praised by a famous writer as “the most excellent simple article in this generatio
4、n”, is a masterpiece of the unyielding manHemingway. But with regard to the symbolism, it has been talked differently, and was equivocal in the explanation by Hemingway himself. The Protagonist, the living environment, the sea, the Shark, the Marlin are not themselves but have significant symbolical
5、 meaning. Here the author will analyze its symbolism thoroughly through some aspects such as the leading character，the living environment and Hemingways philosophy of life reflected by the symbols, with a view to help the reader get a better understanding of Ernest Hemingways masterpiece Key Words：E
6、rnest Hemingway ;the symbolic factors; iceberg theory; the living environment; philosophy of life摘要 被威谦、福克纳誉为“这代人最优秀的一个单篇”的老人与海是硬汉子海明威的力作，而对于老人与海的象征主义，评论界各执已见，海明威本人的解释也模棱两可。而小说中主人翁桑提亚哥和生存环境、大海、鲨鱼、小孩等角色实际上并非角色本身，表面上简单的角色及故事情节有着深刻的象征意义，所以笔者希望从文章的主人公、其生存环境等各个方面对其象征主义进行剖析、总结和归纳老人与海的象征手法以及海明威的人生观在各象征因素中的
7、体现,以期能帮助读者更好地理解这部作品。关键词海明威；象征因素；冰山原理；生存环境；人生观1.IntroductionRegarded as a giant both in American literature and the world literature, Ernest Hemingway was born on July21, 1898, at Oak Park, Illinois. In the childhood, influenced by his father, Hemingway was interested in music, pictures, hunting, fis
8、hing and the like. His variety of interest, especially the love of fishing extremely affected all his life and he drew much writing inspiration from his fishing experience. Taking adventures also plays a vital role in his life and for the reason that he experienced the two world wars. As a noticeabl
9、e representative of the “Lost Generation”, Hemingway published the books of this sort, The Sun Also Rises at the age of 26. Because the book chiefly deals with the living attitude of the post-war generation, especially the lives of those wounded soldiers and the loneliness and disillusionment of the
10、 modern people whose ideal was shattered at the time when “God is dead”, they thought life was nothing and meaningless. In this case, Hemingway became the spokesperson for the The Lost Generation. Actually the parable of a mans struggle against the nature, The Old Man and the Sea was published in 19
11、52. Acknowledged as his best works, the novel reinvigorated Hemingways literary reputation after the violent attacks，he received from Across the River and Into the Tress. The positive reaction that followed the novel included praise not only from the reviewers but also from a board spectrum of the m
12、ass, from ordinary readers to fellow men of letters. The publishing of this work showed that Hemingway had shown he could still achieve a major triumph, whether or not the reviewers and critics or the public could appreciate the true value of his achievement. The Old Man and the Sea was awarded the
13、Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and Hemingways famous iceberg technique, which is a simple but highly suggestive style, was vividly embodied in the work, thus he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his “mastery of the art of modern narration”.The Old Man and the Sea is a fable of an old mans life which was told
14、by Hemingway. Hemingway is a famous American writer of modern times. He is also an international literary celebrity in the world. His father is 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 a
15、nd 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 ma
16、n. In his early days novel, The Sun also rises 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 understa
17、nding 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, h
18、unter, 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 gene
19、ration”, Hemingway suffered cold shoulder and attack almost ten years in the commentary field. In order to save the desperate situation, Hemingway wrote a work that he firmly believes to be the best works in his life, which was called The Old Man and the Sea, which is the inheritance and development
20、 of Hemingways unyielding character.Hemingway grew in the time that symbolism was embodied and expanded from circle of poet into the field of literature. Hemingway himself also thought that the novel should be like an iceberg, the one-eighth reveals above the water, the other seven-eighths hide deep
21、ly in the water, which needs the reader himself to understand. In other words, one has to keep a close eye on Hemingways words and reading between the lines because of his highly symbolic language. The theme and the description of The Old Man and the Sea is very simple, because it reveals only one -
22、eighth on the face, the rest seven-eighths are hidden, when reading carefully and learning about the culture and situation at that time, you can understand the real hidden part by the writer. So, the distinctive writing style of Hemingway is his iceberg theory and symbolism.2.The Symbolism2.1 The De
23、finition of Symbolism Symbolism is an artistic movement in the late 19th century that tried to express abstract or mystical ideas through the symbolic use of images. In literature, it is a writing style of using something to stand for something else by reasoning of relationship, association, acciden
24、t resemblance, or a visible sign of something invisible.As a master in literature, Hemingway uses very simple words and sentences to write some magnum opus, which is his iceberg technique that he uses in his work. He believed as a good writer, he didnt need to reveal the action or characters clearly
25、, obscurity can give us the aesthetic sense. So the words and sentences in his work are symbolic and suggestive. In my opinion, the arbitrariness of Hemingway about the symbolical factors fully manifest that he is unwilling to accept the laurel of “symbolist”. When we study Hemingway, we must start
26、it from The Old Man and the Sea, which promotes his creative writing to the summit of honor. When we study The Old Man and the Sea, we have to research its symbolical factors. 2.2 Major Symbols in The Old Man and the SeaThere are many symbols in this story, such as the old man, the boy, the sea, the
27、 shark, the marlin and etc. This paper only focuses on the important symbols and analyzes the deep meanings of them.2.2.1 The Old Man the Best Expression to “the unyielding character” The Old Man and the Sea is a short simple novel that has been hailed as a classic. The story The Old Man and the Sea
28、 is about an old fisherman named Santiago who overcomes the great forces of nature. Not catching a single fish for eighty-four days, the old fisherman still keeps on trying without being despaired. He goes far out into the sea and catches a huge marlin after three days patient struggle. On his way h
29、ome sharks come and attack, Santiago tries his best to fight but fails to prevent the marlin from being eaten. In the end he returns with nothing but the skeleton of the marlin. Many people believe that the novel is about the life of Hemingway himself. Because some parts of the story do relate to wh
30、at Hemingway has experienced in his life.In order to prove he is a “geezer”, or in order to prove that he is strong-minded, and can finish the task that no one can replace, the old man must catch a big fish, concerning dignity and honor. Hemingway stressed that he had once planned to name the articl
31、e Mans Dignity. To Hemingway, he must write works that is the best in all his life. Hemingway realizes that he can gain a good fame by the fulfilling of The Old Man and the Sea. “I will do my best to write better later on, but it will be very difficult I am special writer, I know how things stand.”(
32、刁邵华，海明威第22页) The old man also realizes that “eighty-fifth” is a lucky day, “I can seize a big fish of one thousand pounds”(海明威，老人与海第18页). After the old man catches the biggest fish that he has never seen, he has already exhausted, his hands are not only deserted, but also full of scars. In my opinio
33、n, the portraying of the old man who is “a loser who can not be defeated” cant be departed from enquiring into the dual personality of Hemingway. The victory of spirit gives dignity and courage to these losers and their creators. At the same time, he uses a mask to conceal the weakness and fatalism.
34、 The aggravation of the old mans circumstances is to reveal the “graceful demeanor” when Hemingway is under “pressure”. Under this pressure, the old mans failure appears to be moving and tragic. At the beginning, the old man puts to sea every day, but he has not caught a fish in succession in eighty
35、-four days, this kind of failure is out of luck enough, and the little boys departure makes the old mans circumstances more miserable. But in such situation, the old man reveals the unyielding character perfectly: When his big fish has been eaten by the shark with skeleton surplus rested, he asks hi
36、mself: “ What defeated you?” (海明威，老人与海第101页)The old man admits his failure bravely, but he believes his own ability absolutely. He believes even though he fails, he is still brave incomparably, and has not been defeated by the shark in spirit, he does not lose heart, because he believes that “Once h
37、e has been defeated, the thing is easy.” The First World War made Hemingway learns the society again, which affected the works of literature seriously. In Hemingways sight, the world is full of violence and hypocrite, the death is waiting for everybody. This is the symbol of the old mans sad fate. I
38、f we want to live in this society, we must set up a living rule, that is: If we can not win, we can not admit defeat, we can do our best to live under toleration, giving up dispute of emotion, seeking happiness in the open air. This set of living rule made Hemingway portray this typical unyielding m
39、ans unperturbed manner. After sixteen years, Hemingway realized the true essence of the story, he turned this true story into a parable that infiltrates philosophy. Hemingway does not tell the story simply, but reveal his living experience, emotion and thought symbolically.2.2.2 The Boy the Best Sup
40、plement for the Unyielding Man Character “The God give me an good old man and a good boy, but nowadays the other writers has already forgotten these things”(刁邵华，海明威第35页), when Hemingway talked about the successful factors of this novel, he once quite satisfied to mention the boy and the old man in t
41、he same breath. From that we can see the little boy takes a very important part in The Old Man and the SeaThe boy learns fishing from the old man on the boat from five years old, the character features of the boy reveals the old mans character from another side, though he was little, he is not child
42、ish. He not only learns the capability of fishing, but also the spirit of striving to become stronger and the responsibilities of a man. The young and tender shoulder has already been used to steel him, though “he felt drowsy when walking”, he still says “This is nothing, true man will do it.” （海明威，
43、老人与海第63页）So the child brings sorrow and happiness, he brings the hope, the society of the human can also extend uninterruptedly. Taking the only boy whom he can depend on r for survival is Hemingways unique idea. Taking away is because the old man “has bad luck” and the boys parents force him to cla
44、im kinship with them. Also because of Hemingway living in a society that tends to be decadent and declined, to be a upright and dear-headed intellectual, at one side, he saw through the hypocritical and corrupt society, though he is brave, a long times struggle made him unable to do as much as he wi
45、shes to, and he can not change the backward reality anyhow. So he feels depressed and uncertain of the wishes and victory, he turns into a victor in spirit gradually, is eager to use the victory of spirit to make him gain comfort and freedom from sorrow. Under this mentality, Hemingway reveals sympa
46、thy to the weak man and scorn the rich, so the child makes decision to return to the side of the old man when the old man feels lonely and sad. The return of the boy reveals that he turns a blind eye to the authority of his father and the superstition to the fate. Before the child goes back, the str
47、uggle of the old man is isolate; the words of the child make clear that he becomes mature under the move and inspire, he faintly feels happy and the wish of brightness. So the image of the boy is the elaboration of the writer in making out the line of the story， and the information that the boy refl
48、ects is beyond the information that the writer hopes on the fish，the old man and sea. The boy helps him when the others deserts. “If the boy were here”. The story mentions it for nine times, which symbolizes that the child is the strength for the weak man when he fails and is disappointed.2.2.3 The
49、Sea the Symbol of Hemingways Survival Environment. The sea is the symbol that stands for the world and society where man must live. The sea is boundless, full of various marlins and sharks, full of raging waves and hidden reef. And the sea is cruel, savage and insidious, just like the real world where Hemingway lives.In both the sea and the life, there are many possibilities that lie hidden
