论文总字数：29610字

摘 要

海明威所创作的《老人与海》具有极大的影响力并被广泛阅读，是世界小说文学瑰宝之一。小说的主人公桑提亚哥充分展现了伟大的挑战精神。本文展现了桑提亚哥在生理和心理方面所面临的挑战以及他对命运的挑战，从而分析了其挑战的原因。一是生存的需要，二是为了证明生命存在的意义。最后，本文探讨了桑提亚哥挑战的成果。他获得了精神的胜利并且他的精神得到了传承。通过对《老人与海》的研究，桑提亚哥的挑战精神深深地震撼了我们，激励着我们在这个日新月异的社会勇于接受挑战，克服困难。

关键词：《老人与海》；桑提亚哥；挑战精神

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. Manifestations of Santiago’s Challenge 3

3.1 Physiological Challenge 3

3.2 Psychological Challenge 4

3.3 Challenge to Destiny 6

4. Causes of Santiago’s Challenge 7

4.1 A Way to Survive 7

4.2 A Way to Prove the Meaning of Life Existence 8

5. Results of Challenge 9

5.1 The Triumph of Spirit 9

5.2 Transmission of Challenging Spirit 10

6. Conclusion 11

Works Cited 13

1. Introduction

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) is one of the most famous American novelist and essayist. Hemingway’s life was full of writing and adventure. He was ebullient to be engaged in bullfighting in Spain, big game hunting in Africa and deep sea fishing in the Gulf Stream near Cuba. However, repeated accidents and alcoholism sapped his vitality and he committed suicide in 1961. By presenting a realistic portrayal of the inter-war period with its disillusionment and breakdown of old values, Hemingway has described the awkward situation of the modern man. His protagonists are alienated and lonely individuals, who always fight a losing battle against the adversity of life. However, suffering and hardship do not make them pessimistic. They use their courage and endurance to accept challenges and transcend themselves. They show great spirits of human in a life of tension and pain.

In 1950，Across the river and into the tree was published, and it met with negative reviews. Hemingway’s literary talent was questioned by some critics. Hemingway faces their doubts directly and accepts the challenge. In order to prove his ability and wisdom, Hemingway wrote the rough draft of The Old Man and the Sea. Published in 1952, it turned out to be his last major work. His novel’s language is simple, but its vivid characterization and profoundly implicating meaning made Hemingway win Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. This book that has been hailed as a classic tells us a tragic adventure story. Santiago, who is an old and lonely man, struggles for three days for a great marlin found only in the deep sea. Unfortunately, when the old man is on the way to the land, the bloodstain left by the marlin in the water attracts a great amount of sharks. Although Santiago fights a heroic battle with them, the great sharks have almost devoured the entire marlin. What the sharks left is only a skeleton. Although Santiago loses the marlin, he doesn’t feel depressed, because he challenges himself and earns respect from others. Both Hemingway and Santiago tell us that “Men can be physically destroyed but never defeated spiritually.” (Hemingway, 2005: 127) Whenever we meet difficulties or troubles, we are supposed to keep positive towards life, because we need to survive in this changing world. We have no choice but to accept challenges bravely, so that we can achieve success and realize our dream in some day.

2. Literature Review

Ernest Hemingway, who is a contemporary, outstanding novelist in America, has been regarded as a powerful man both in American literature and the world literature. No sooner than The Old Man and the Sea was published in 1952, it gave rise to universal interest, various reaction and violent discussion. “In essence, The Old Man and the Sea is not a novel full of plot, but is a allegorical novel. By describing struggle between the old fisherman and the great fish, it reflects the spirit of Code Hero.” (Jian Tong, 2002: 352) As simple the plot is, the appeal and meaning it brings is not the story itself. It is no doubt that the touching and unforgettable portrait of the immortal and powerful figure, Santiago, who is a great representative of human, contributes to the popularity of the novel.

A great number of critics express various opinions on the evaluation of the novel, but there is a general consensus about the dauntless spirit in the critical world. So far, the evaluation of this novel mainly comes from literary points of view. Many researchers interpret it from the analysis of the novel’s characters and its plot, from the author’s attitude towards life and the society. They even link the critical analysis of the novel to Hemingway’s personality, temperament, experience, and his beliefs in literary creation. They also make a comparison between The Old Man and the Sea and the author’s other works when evaluating the novel. Carlos Baker (Carlos Baker, 1952: 297) thinks that Hemingway is a man like Jesus from the aspect of Santiago’s sufferings and courage. Clinton S. Burhans, American scholar, thinks Santiago is a tragic man, whose series of action lead to his unavoidable failure. Robert W. Lewis thinks Santiago is a lonely and benevolent man. In Dai Guiyu’s (Dai Guiyu, 2009: 154) opinion, the old man’s unconscious dream and illusion are built consciously by Hemingway. They represent the old man’s unconscious desire. She thinks Santiago’s desire---to be the champion, to be the real man is actually the metaphor of Hemingway’s own desire. Recent years, many critics analyze the novel from the Eco-critical perspective. Santiago is a seeker after “whole spirit” of nature. “Santiago is not superstitious about religion; he is close to nature, as he is curious about the performance of marlin” (Yang Renjing, 2012: 148) Since then, people pay much attention to Ecological Environment.

This essay, which is on the basis of the former researches, has chosen to analyze the challenging spirit of Santiago, which has never been studied. Firstly, I will portray difficulties Santiago faces when he fishes to show his great spirit. He uses his courage and endurance to transcend himself and show his challenging spirit. Secondly, I will show causes of Santiago’s challenge. Through the introduction to causes, we find the necessity of the challenging spirit. Thirdly, I will show the result of Santiago’s challenge. He is the winner of his life and his challenge spirit is passed on. At last, I will analyze Santiago’s challenging spirit and advocate the challenging spirit to fit in the present society.

3. Manifestations of Santiago’s Challenge

3.1 Physiological Challenge

One won’t achieve anything without hard work and great efforts, so it is unavoidable for people who achieve success to suffer pains from physiology. The first physical challenge to Santiago is his old age. “Aging and death is not only the biggest enemy of Santiago, who lives by fishing, but also the outcome of life to everyone.” (Li Shuxin, 2009: 248) There is no doubting everyone is doomed to get old. No one can avoid getting old and keep young all the time. Since we can not change this truth, what should we do is to face aging directly and have a young and positive heart. Although Santiago is old, he never submits to the age and has a positive towards it. There are many scars on his dry hand. “[These scars] were as old as erosions in a fishless desert. Every thing about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.” (Hemingway, 2005: 002) He doesn’t think the old age is an excuse for not accepting and overcoming challenges. He thinks the increase of age is not so bad, because it bring him rich experience and wisdom. Therefore, when Manolin asks the old man whether he is strong enough now for a truly big fish, he answers, “‘I think so. And there are many tricks.’” (Hemingway, 2005: 009) He is willing to face the old age and makes full use of rich experience to overcome challenges and seeks the meaning of life.

The second physical challenge to Santiago is his strength. The old man “[swings] with each arm nothing happened. The fish just moved away slowly and the old man could not raise him an inch.” (Hemingway, 2005: 049) The fish is so big and strong that the old man is unable to pull it in but instead it pulls the boat away to the wider and deeper sea. Unfathomable sea and unknown injuries is really a big challenge to the old man. At the same time, he has to tolerate the hot sun and cold night. “The sun was hot now and the old man felt it on back of his neck and felt the sweat trickle down his back as he rowed.” (Hemingway, 2005: 044) “It was cold after the sun went down and the old man’s sweat dried cold on his back and his arms and his old legs.” (Hemingway, 2005: 045)Besides, he endures the pains from hands, lack of sleep extreme thirty and proper nourishment. “Santiago catches, kills, and thus avoids nausea. He rations what little water he has brought on his boat, and he leans against the fishing line, uses the weight of his own body to keep the marlin hooked during the long effort.” (Valenti, 2007: 29)

However, it doesn’t matter to him. He only wants to show people what a man can do and what a man can endure. He is so firm that he spends three days and two nights fighting with him. Hegel ever said, “The great personality and the degree of firmness can only be measured by those opponents.” (Ji Xiaohui, 1999: 24) The old man uses his firmness to show his way of challenging the physical limits.

3.2 Psychological Challenge

If we are eager to be successful, it is common for us to suffer pains from psychology. The first psychological challenge is the loneliness. Everyone is a lonely walker on his life journey. No one can always dependent on others. They must face the difficulties and accept challenges on their own, which means that they need to endure the loneliness and solitude. In the novel, we can know Santiago’s wife has passed away and he had no children. He is alone. He feels lonely when fishing. Sometimes, he may feel confused and doesn’t know how to deal with this feeling. “He looked across the sea and knew how alone he was now.” (Hemingway, 2005: 071) But he knows it is unavoidable to be lonely, so he chooses to drive loneliness away by talking to himself and enjoying the beauty of the nature. He sings songs and makes friends with birds to express what he thinks. And “he could see the prisms in the deep water and the line stretching ahead and the strange undulation of the calm” (Hemingway, 2005: 42) He realizes “no man was ever alone on the sea.” (Hemingway, 2005: 071) When struggling with the great fish, he always says to himself, “I wish I had the boy” (Hemingway, 2005: 058) “I wish I had the boy,” the sentence appears many times in the work. I don’t consider that the old man hope that there was someone who can help him. “He decided that he could beat anyone if he wanted to badly enough.” (Hemingway, 2005: 084) Thus, what he expects is that someone can witness his experience, courage, persistence, ability and challenge and share his success. The old man has a great thirst for being identified. He pursues self-satisfaction and the feeling of existence. He overcomes the challenge -----loneliness successfully.

The second psychological challenge is the endurance of long fighting. When he is on the returning way to the land, the old man suffers greater challenge: the marlin’s blood draws the shark group. These sharks are hungry and have wide, flattened, shovel-pointed heads. From the point of the old man’s view, “they were hateful sharks, bad-smelling, scavengers as well as killers, and when they were hungry they would bite at an oar or the rudder of a boat.....and they would hit a man in the water.” (Hemingway, 2005: 133) Facing these fierce sharks, the old man didn’t feel afraid at all. He is an old man, but he is not unarmed. He uses his harpoon with all his strength to hit the shark and hope they can disappear at once. After a long fighting, the old man feels so tired inside that he has an illusion “I wish it had been a dream now and that I had never hooked the fish and was alone in bed on the newspaper.” (Hemingway, 2005: 127) “‘I shouldn’t have gone out so far, fish,’ he said. ‘Neither for you nor for me. I’m sorry, fish.’” (Hemingway, 2005: 136) However, in short time, he tells himself, “But a man is not made for defeat......A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” (Hemingway, 2005: 127) Tired as he is, he still keeps on indicating himself that he must endure pains and fight them until he dies regardless of the result. It is his spiritual fighting. One’s energy is limit, but his spirit is powerful.

3.3 Challenge to Destiny

One may lose the battle in life, but he shouldn’t lose the hope for life. Our life journey is by no means a plain sailing. No matter what happens to us, we should not submit to destiny. Just as Beethoven says, “I will take Fate by the throat; it will not bend me completely to its will.” Whenever the old man loves life and always has a hope for life, and refuses to succumb to destiny. He uses his courage, bravery, determination and confidence to show us how he challenges to destiny.

It seems that the old man is doomed to be a loser, because he has gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish and a streak of bad luck. Manolin’s parents think “The old man [is] definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky.” (Hemingway, 2005: 001) The old man never thinks so. In his eye’s, fatalism is a kind of ridiculous claim. No one knows what will happen in the future and what human can do is to catch every moment. Thus, the old man is always cheerful and undefeated all the time. With the love and hope for life, he is willing to accept the challenge of destiny. Just as he says, “Only I have no luck any more. But who knows? Maybe today. Every day is a new day.” (Hemingway, 2005: 033) So he prepares everything for fishing, and he comes across the great fish on the eighty-five day. But the great fish is not easy to overcome. With the hope and faith, he finally kills the great fish. However, the God seems to play another trick on him. On his returning to the land, his gain-----the great fish was attacked by shark group. The old man was upset but he didn’t lose hope and the spirit of challenge. “It is silly not to hope, he thought. Besides [He believes] it is a sin.” (Hemingway, 2005: 129) Just as Martin Luther King says, “Luck is a thing that comes in many forms and who can recognize her?” In the old man’s heart, luck is in air, what he does is to struggle and overcome the challenge. He believes he can change the destiny by his efforts.

4. Causes of Santiago’s Challenge

4.1 A Way to Survive

When one lives in the world, he must meet and accept many challenges, because he needs to survive in the competitive world, which is full of many difficulties. That is why Santiago has to choose to challenge the great marlin, shakes and the changeable weather. Santiago is an old, poor, lonely and gaunt man, who has scars on his hands from dealing with heavy fish on cords, all of which is the consequence of a long life hard work. Although his life is so tough, he was never tempted to give up and is ready to accept the challenges. That is because he knows he needs to survive. As we all know, people cannot live in the world without “bread”. Santiago also knows this point. He is a fisherman, who lives on fishing, so he still needs to fish alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream to support his life, though he has gone eighty-four days without taking a fish. Santiago thinks “[he] were born to be a fisherman as the fish was born to be a fish.” (Hemingway, 2005: 129) He even says to himself that he kills the fish to keep him alive and it can feed many people. Therefore, when the great marlin took the bait, he was very excited and tried his best to pull the fish. In order to survive, he spends three days and two nights facing the challenge and struggling with the marlin.

During his facing and accepting the challenge, he also shakes his belief. He thinks that the fish is his friend and he feels sorry for the great fish which has nothing to eat. However, he must kill him, for the faith of survival. He is able to recognize that “Everything kills else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as if it keeps me alive.” (Hemingway, 2005: 130) Therefore, killing the great fish and accepting challenges to survive is the common phenomenon in the nature. It is known to all of us, one cannot live well without materials, including food, clothes and so on, which are the basic things for us to live. In the mind of the old man, “[marlin’s] over fifteen hundred pounds the way he is... Maybe much more. If he dresses out two-thirds of that at thirty cents a pound?’ I need a pencil for that,’ he said.” (Hemingway, 2005: 119) He knows that the fish is so great that it can bring him considerable income. With the money, he may improve his level of living. He is poor and his possessions are composed of little more than the clothes he wears. If he has the money, he may have enough money to buy warm clothes and delicious food so that he may live better in the following days.

4.2 A Way to Prove the Meaning of Life Existence

It is not enough for people to have satisfactory of materials. They also pursue the satisfactory of spirit. Maybe the spirit is facing, accepting and overcoming challenges, from which the meaning of life existence is shown. That is why people are willing to face and accept the challenges. Santiago is such a person, eager to prove the meaning of his life existence. Because the old man didn’t take a fish in eighty-four days, Manolin’s parents didn’t allow him to catch fish with the old man and the villagers made fun of him. However, Santiago didn’t become angry, because he knew what he wanted. He faces these ridicule and challenge directly. He insists that he is bound to overcome these challenges and achieves success some day. Next day, he fishes alone and takes the great marlin, a great challenge, which he struggles with for three days and two nights. On his way to the land, he comes across sharks-----a great challenge. He knows that he may fail, but he doesn’t give up and tries his best to overcome the challenge.

Santiago depends upon no one but himself to overcome the discomfort and pain that happen during his lonely struggle with sharks. Sharks are so fierce and cruel that the old man loses his harpoon and all the ropes. At this time, he feels upset and nearly surrenders. However, there is a faith in his heart to support him. “But a man is not made for defeat ...A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” (Hemingway, 2005: 127) This is the way for him to show the meaning of his life existence. When he struggles with challenges, his life is filled with meaning. To survive, human faces challenges continuously. Because of this, life has existent meaning. Therefore, he must overcome the challenge and show the villagers that he is a man, a real man. And he shows us the eternal thing-----the dignity of the human.

There is no precise definition on the meaning of life existence. It was without a shadow of a doubt different people have different kind of view. They use their own way to interpret the meaning of life existence. From the point of Hemingway’s view, the meaning of life existence may be live as a “Code Hero”. People need to save themselves, including their spirit and emotion. Whenever they should not lose the pursuit of spirit, what they should do is try their best to retain the value of life. From the point of Santiago’s view, the meaning of life is to challenge what he faces and overcome difficulties. As a fisherman, he never gives up fishing.

5. Results of Challenge

5.1 The Triumph of Spirit

Old but not doddery, “unfortunate” but not defeated, gracious but not weak, proud but not complacent, Santiago is such an individual who transcends his own limitations. “He refuses to ponder, and never abandon skills a fisherman. What he wants is to catch the big fish and catch it with dignity.” (Li Huatian, Lu Min and Peng Can, 2007: 309) He eventually loses what he gains-----marlin, but he brings the skeleton of marlin, which is the symbol of his spiritual victory. What the old man represents is the eternal spirit, which transcends time and space. The most important is that he is hopeful for himself and challenges what he faces. Killing the marlin represents that the old man’s attempt to hold on to a replace in his society. When the villages saw the skeleton of the great fish, they measured the skeleton with a length of line. “‘He was eighteen feet from nose to tail.’ the fisherman who was measuring [marlin] called.” (Hemingway, 2005: 153) And a tourist saw the skeleton and felt surprised. All these are affirmation for the old man. On the level of material, Santiago failed after struggling for three days and nights; however, on the level of spirit, he succeeded after challenging to destiny. Santiago uses his way to move us and show his meaning of life existence.

The old man only brought the skeleton of the great fish. To some degree, it seems to be a tragedy. However, he is a hero, who uses endurance, pride, courage, and hope to challenge what happens to him. It is only in spiritual terms that victory can ever be real. “Unlike Robert Jordan, Santiago does not attempt to justify his struggle in terms of externals; unlike Frederic Henry, he does not attempt to worship a “scared object”-----a kind of “Love-Goddess” for whose sake all things may be sacrificed. For Santiago, the only justification for life is living.” (Cooperman, 1996: 45) Santiago is the winner of life. “He lives up to his conviction that ‘A man can be destroyed but not defeated.’ For Santiago, what matters most in life is live with great fervor and nobility following his belief.” (Chen Shidan amp; Qu Xiaoli, 2013: 299) In the final analysis, the triumph of human is only the spiritual triumph. No matter how successful one is in material, he cannot win our high respect; while only his spirit and boldness can touch us. The old man accepts the formidable challenge and sees it through to the end. Whether he wins or loses his battle with marlin is less important than fighting a good and brave fight in which he shows his challenging spirit.

5.2 Transmission of Challenging Spirit

It is no doubt that the old man who dreams “lions” is the symbol of the human spirit. He is a man of action and uses his challenge spirit to show us how grandeur human is. And his spirit is transmitted to Manolin. Manolin says to the old man, “They didn’t beat you. Not the fish.” (Hemingway, 2005: 155) This is the affirmation for the old man’s spirit. And the boy also says to the old man, “The hell with luck......I’ll bring the luck with me.......But we will fish together now for I still have much to learn.” (Hemingway, 2005: 157) These indicate that Manolin is ready to inherit the old man’s spirit and want be a man like Santiago. He learns to be brave and absorb spiritual source from Santiago. He does not fear to challenge difficulties, which may occur in the future. “Santiago is mentor, spiritual father, old man, or old age while Manolin is pupil, son, boy or youth. Santiago is the great fisherman and Manolin his apprentice faithful to him and what he represents. In giving the marlin’s spear to the boy, the old man is passing on whatever he posses and values to him, his successor. In accepting the marlin’s spear from the old man, Manolin accepts for all time Santiago’s legacy.” (Chen Shidan amp; Qu Xiaoli, 2013: 302) The old man looks for support from the boy. Without the boy’s help and care, the old man will feel lonely and depressed. Both of them look for warmth form each other and are emotional anchors of each other. And the end of the novel, the old man dreams the “lion” again. The lion, commonly called “the king of beasts” is undisputed symbol of strength and ferocity. It represents the old man’s hope for life. His spiritual strength is endless. Both Manolin and we absorb the spiritual source from him. In this rapidly changing world, there is always something to support us to walk forward. What is it? Is it money or other materials. No, it is challenging spirit, which is instrumental in supporting to walk further. It indicates us that if only we are alive, we are supposed to accept and overcome challenge.

6. Conclusion

In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago emerges as a hero, who reflects his own life attitude. That is to face, accept and overcome challenges with his strong will and endurance. Whenever he persists in his belief—— “Men can be physically destroyed but never defeated spiritually.” (Hemingway, 2005: 127) He endures sufferings from physiology and psychology. Unhappiness accounts for eight or nine tenths of a man’s life, but Santiago never yields. He is confident that he will ultimately triumph over adversity and challenge. Whatever he faces, he always has a young heart and keeps optimistic. What determines the quality of life is his spirit. He wins Manolin’s and our love and respect with his own way.

We should not only appreciate Santiago but also try to be a man like Santiago. Especially in the present society, competition between people is increasingly intense. It is unavoidable for people to meet and challenges from all direction. How can we live in such a environment? We have no choice but to face. Thus, what we can learn from Santiago is to have challenging spirit and take actions. Life is full of thorn and rough. We must realize clearly there is no station, no one place to at once and for all. Challenges exist everywhere, and we must accept challenges. Walking in the journey of life, we must have a challenging heart. It is no doubt that having challenging spirit is a way for us to survive. At the same time, we can show our meaning of life by accepting challenge. We should act like Santiago to overcome whatever we meet and pursue our dream. Whether rich or poor, we should not throw the spirit of challenge away. If you are rich, you should not feel proud and satisfied with your condition. If you are poor, you should not feel self-abased because of misfortune you meet. Life is always long, tough, and filled with difficulties, but as long as we accept challenge with an undefeated heart, we will be a real winner in our life. If we can keep challenging in our life, we will be clearly aware of the meaning of life and become a stronger of life.

Works Cited

[1] Carlos Baker. Hemingway: The writer as Artist. Princeton University Press, 2005.

[2] Ernest Hemingway. The Old Man and the Sea. Beijing: Chinese Books Publishing Company, 2005.

[3] Patricia Dunlavy Valenti. Understanding The Old Man and the Sea: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Beijing: China Renmin University Press, 2007.

[4] Stanley Cooperman. Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1996.

[5] 陈世单, 屈晓丽.《美国文学史》. 北京：中国人民大学出版社，2013.

[6] 戴桂玉. 《后现代语境下海明威的生态观和性属观》. 北京：中国社会科学出版社，2009.

[7] 简同. 《百部世界文学名著赏析》. 北京：北京燕山出版社，2001.

[8] 纪晓慧. 《lt;老人与海gt;的人物形象》. 丹东纺专学报.1999(2):35-36

[9] 李华田，卢敏，彭灿 .《厄内斯特·海明威导读》. 武汉：武汉大学出版社，2007.

[10] 李树欣. 《异国形象：海明威小说中的现代文化寓言》. 北京：中国社会科学出版社，2009.

[11] 杨仁敬. 《海明威：美国文学批评八十年》. 上海：上海外语教育出版社，2012.

剩余内容已隐藏，请支付后下载全文，论文总字数：29610字