老人与海-硬汉形象“codehero”intheoldmanandthesea

老人与海-硬汉形象“codehero”intheoldmanandthesea内容摘要：

ely wanted. When the sharks attack the fish, it is as same as the sharks attacking his dignity. This is mostly why an elderly man, armed only with crude weapons would fight many sharks. As the sharks tear apart the Marlin bit by bit, it is as they are tearing apart his dignity bit by bit. That is why Santiago found the courage to fight off sharks to protect his dignity. Hemingway shows that a man will not risk his life for his dignity, then what is in that life to live for? Even though the old man lost the battle with the sharks at the end, “his obtunding and persistent determination makes him as a perfect Code Hero”(The American Tradition in Literature, Page82). He had done everything a person possibly could have. Through Santiago Hemingway told us that we are wholly down on our luck and destroyed in the end. Then we should conduct ourselves just like the old fisherman, not be pessimistic and disappointed but to keep on struggling until we get what we want. That is, undefeated spirit is most important. This is also the normal principle of Hemingway. I think Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea was Hemingway himself. In The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway was fond of him and sang high praise of him. He placed his personal experience on the old man and reflected some of his innate characters. Hemingway merged himself with Santiago in thoughts and feelings. The spirit of Santiago lasted and reembodied on Hemingway. Throughout Santiago, the old man cannot accept the fact that he is getting old and that he slowly casting his strength. Hemingway in reality was having the same problems. He was getting old and things he once did, he no longer could do. Just as Hemingway could not accept that fact, neither could his character: Santiago. In fact, Hemingway utilized his life to show that he was an unconquerable “old lion”. 青岛理工大学琴岛学院毕业论文用纸 第 5 页 Chapter Two The Four Characteristics of Code Hero Everlasting Hope for the Future One may lose the battle in life, but he can achieve a moral significance after his courage, bravery and ability to endure have been tested. Because hope does not die, power is not off. Even if the hope is slim, we also must try our best to fight for it. The author believes that, hope makes the old man to fight with the Marlin, fight with the sharks and fight with his own will. At the beginning of the novel, the author portrays the image of the old man. “The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of the neck. The brown blotched of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks. The blotches ran well down the sides of his cords. But none of these scars were flesh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert”(The Old Man and the Sea, Page1). When we read here, we maybe show our sympathy to the old man and think that he cannot do anything. Further more, Santiago‟s life is not in good condition. He lives in a shack in which there is only a bed, one chair and a place on the dirty floor to cook with charcoal. He is so poor that had no “pot of yellow rice and fish to eat”(The Old Man and the Sea, Page2). While sailing for fishing, he has only a bottle of water with him. He leads a lonely life. His wife died leaving him no children. Except a boy he once taught to fish, he has few friends. It seems that few people care him. What is more, he is a failure in catching fish. For eightyfour days he fished in a skiff without taking a fish. Eightyfour days is a long period of time. Eightyfour days without a fish is very unfortunate for a fisherman. For a weatherbeaten, povertystricken and lonely old man like Santiago, the misery might be beyond anyone‟s intolerance. For a man can tolerate failure, but can‟t tolerate continuous failure. Too much failure will sure defeat a man even with strong will. For this reason, we may arrive at the conclusion that Santiago will give up fishing. But to our surprise, the color of the character is brighter in the following, “everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated” (The 青岛理工大学琴岛学院毕业论文用纸 第 6 页 Old Man and the Sea, Page2). The eyes of the old man are not stuffy and he has the eyes those “were the same color as the sea” that only the young man has, which shows the old man has a young heart as the young. “He fitted the rope lashings of the oars onto the thole pins and, leaning forward against the thrust of the blades in the water, he began to row out of the harbor in the dark”(The Old Man and the Sea, Page18). The old man firmly insists that he will not always be unfortunate, and ships into the deep sea without looking back. What makes the old man make such a decision under the difficult condition? Through the man, the author points out—even though life is harder, even the wretched standpoint, “But who knows? Maybe today. Every day is a new day”(The Old Man and the Sea, Page22). This is the hope for the future, never giving up hope for the future. The author further strengthens the character of the old man—the Code Hero. When the sharks have eaten half of the Marlin, “it is silly not to hope, he thought. Besides I believe it is a sin. Do not think about sin, he thought”(The Old Man and the Sea, Page90). “he forked the tiller free from the rudder and beat and chopped with it, holding it down again and again…” Finally, he saw one shark came against the head of this fish, and he knew all was over. He swung the tiller across the shark‟s head where the jaws were caught in the heaviness of the fish‟s head which would not tear. He swung it once and twice and again. He heard the tiller break and he lunged at the shark with the splintered burr. He felt it go in and knowing it was sharp he drove it in again. The shark let go and rolled away. That was the last shark。