老人与海中的硬汉精神分析.docx

IntroductionErnest Hemingway was one of the most influential writers in the twentieth century. He played a major role in defining twentieth-century American literature. This was because he had such high standards and insisted on a certain type of intense truth in his writing. Since he often wrote about the sort of experience that tested a man’s mettle, he repeatedly risked his life in high-adventure situations. Hemingway served as a Red Cross ambulance driver in World War I, made reports on the Spanish Civil War and World War II, worked as a deep sea fisherman, and went on big game safaris throughout Africa. He was in two plane crashes while visiting Africa and was so badly injured in one that some newspapers reported he had been killed. All of this and more showed up in his writing.The Old Man and the Sea was written by Hemingway in 1951.The book was so successful that it enabled Hemingway to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.This is clearly an almost perfect short story. It is also an unforgettable novel, not only because of the exciting plot but also because Santiago’s tough guy image. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated,”(Hemingway, 1951: 281) says Santiago. The statement is referred to throughout the novel. Santiago is physically destroyed in the end, but not mentally. Santiago’s courage and pride pushes him forward throughout the novel, even when it looks like hope is lost, but he is never defeated. It starts with 84 days of not catching anything. He is being crushed but his spirit and pride prevented defeat. During the fight with the Marlin, he hasthe choice to spare his life and let the fish go but he knows he has to overcome his destruction.So he keepson and catches the fish.Finally, the fight with sharks is his hardest battle. He is alone, in his own life battle. Fishingis his life, and sharks and other dangerous creaturesare actually all these that can destroy life in general. And this statement “man can be destroyed, but not defeated” is on