打屁屁的文章(英语论文)《老人与海》中硬汉形象分析

题目An Analysis of “Code Hero” in
The Old Man and the Sea

摘 要
海明威是美国著名的小说家之一，小说《老人与海》使其获得了1954年的诺贝尔文
学 奖。在此小说中，作者创造了一个完美的硬汉形象——桑地亚哥。《老人与海》是一件
影响广泛， 寓意 深刻的世界文学瑰宝，它广泛地为大众所阅读，以至有人这样认为“只
要是个文化人，你就会知道海明威 其人。知道海明威，你就不可能不知道小说《老人与海》。”
为什么这部小说如此被广泛的阅读？当然， 诸多方面造就了小说的成功，但是有一点，毋
庸置疑，那就是作者对小说主人公桑地亚哥这一永恒的艺术 形象的成功塑造给人深刻印
象，让人难以忘记这个硬汉形象的代表。
本文是从分析作品中老人 这一形象出发，揭示“硬汉”的特征，倡导一种坚忍不拔，
永不言败的精神。在论文引言中，我们将对小 说的主要内容作一简单的叙述，揭示小说的
中心思想，并提出本次设计的内容——分析小说主人公桑地亚 哥这一硬汉形象特征。后简
单介绍此次论文的写作思路及框架。论文正文的一部分为背景信息，我们通过 介绍小说作
者海明威的传奇一生，指出作者与小说主人公的诸多相同之处，其中最相似之处便是都具有“硬汉”精神。在正文的第二部分，我们将结合老人捕鱼前后及在大海中航行的遭遇，
具体分析小 说主人公的“硬汉”形象特征。这种特征主要表现在四个方面：首先，在任何
困难情况下都不放弃希望； 其次，在斗争过程中始终保持高昂的斗志，永不服输；再次，
在行动上勇往直前，打不到，击不跨；最后 ，在漫长的斗争过程中学会忍受孤独。本文的
最后一部分为总结。通过对小说中“硬汉”形象的分析，深 刻体会“硬汉”精神对当今社
会的现实意义，倡导这种坚忍不拔，永不言败的精神。

关键词：《老人与海》，海明威，“硬汉”，桑地亚哥

Abstract
Hemingway was one of the most famous novelists in America. He created a perfect image
of Code Hero: Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea which won Hemingway Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1954. The Old Man and the Sea is one of the most influential and far-reaching
novels of the literary treasure of the world. It’s so widely-read that people consider that
“Whatever there is an intellectual, people know Hemingway and nobody knows Hemingway
without knowing his works The Old Man and the Sea. Why the novel is so widely read? Why is
it so influential and why is it so loved by the people of different colors and different nations?
Surely many factors may contribute to the success of the novel. But the main factor, no doubt, is
the touching and unforgettable portrait of the immortal artistic figure, Santiago, a representative
of Code Hero.
In the introduction of the essay, I will make a brief description about the contents of this
novel and point out the main idea of the novel. The content of the essay is to analyze the
characteristics of Code Hero. And then I will set out framework of the essay. The first part of
the body is the background information. Through the introduction to Hemingway’s legend life,
we find some common points between the author and the old man, and the most familiar point is
that both of them have the spirit of Code Hero. In the second part of the body, I will portray the
process of his catching Marlin and fighting with the sharks. Then I will analyses the spirit of
Code Hero. The spirit is concentrated on four areas: First, never give up hopes in any difficult
conditions; secondly, keep daring spirit and never admit defeat in the process of fighting; thirdly,
behave heroically in the actual battle; and last, endure the loneliness in the long process of the
fighting. The last part of the essay is the conclusion. This paper will analyze the image of the old
man, reveal the characteristics of Code Hero, and advocate the spirit of never giving up.

KEY WORDS：The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway, Code Hero, Santiago

Contents
摘要
Abstract
Introduction ................................. .................................................. ............................ 1
Chapter One The Background Information........................ .................................. 2
1.1 About the Author ....................................... .................................................. .. 2
1.2 The Author’s View on the Novel and the Old Man ....................................... 3
Chapter Two The Four Characteristics of Code Hero .......................................... 5
2.1 Everlasting Hope for the Future .......... .................................................. ........ 5
2.2 Daring Spirit for Facing the Challenge ........................................ ................. 7
2.3 Heroic Behavior in the Actual Battle .................................... ........................ 9
2.4 Loneliness Endurance in the Long Fighting ............................................... 10
Conclusion ................................... .................................................. .......................... 12
Acknowledgements .................................................. ............................................... 13
Bibliography ................................. .................................................. ......................... 14

Introduction
The Old Man and the Sea was published in 1952 and was one of Hemingway’s most
successful novels which won Hemingway Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.
The novel writes a very simple story which chronicles the adventure of Santiago, based on a
true story of a Cuba fisherman. After eighty-four days without catching a fish, Santiago, an old
Cuban hooks a giant fish. For two days and two nights the old man holds on while the fish pulls
him further and further. Finally he kills the fish and ties it to his skiff. Almost at once, brutal
sharks begin to take his price away. He struggles against the sharks with the harpoon, the oar, the
knife, the short club. The sharks eat all but the bones of the fish. Half dead with exhaustion, he
brings the skeleton home and makes his way to bed and dreams of his golden time.
In the novel, Hemingway creates an immortal artistic figure, Santiago, a representative of
Code Hero. Santiago is a poor fisherman who lives alone and has finally lost all will to live.
Every day is the same dull, monotonous routine. His wife had died; his only comfort is a boy
who is forbidden to fish determination in holding onto a gargantuan fish, Santiago is plunged
into the adventure of his life, but will it bring meaning to his days? But it is the spirit of Code
Hero to support him fighting and living.
The chief point about Santiago is that he behaves perfectly and honorably, with great
courage and endurance. While losing to the sharks the giant fish he has caught, he comes with
the message that while man may grow old, and be wholly down on his luck, he can still dare to
stick to the rules, persist when he is destroyed, and thus by the manner of his losing to win his
victory. I also want to point out that the novel not only describes the fight between human and
nature and fate but also indicates Hemingway’s Code Hero getting to its summit. Although the
old man in the novel is weak and in the grim fate of pressure, he also shows the spirit of Code
Hero.
This paper will analyze the image of the old man, reveal the characteristics of Code Hero,
and advocate the spirit of never giving up.
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Chapter One The Background Information
1.1 About the Author
Ernest Hemingway (1896-1961) was a novelist and short story writer who became one of
the best-known American authors in his century. He was famous for his experience and unique
artistic style all over the world. According to The Old Man and the Sea (1952), Hemingway won
the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.
Hemingway centers his novels on personal experience and affections. According to his
works The Sun Also Rises (1926) he became the representative writer of “the Lost Generation”.
He could not cope with post-war America, and therefore he introduced a new type of character in
writing called the “Code Hero”. Hemingway is known to focus his novels around code heroes
who struggle with the mixture of their tragic faults and the surrounding environment.
Moreover, Hemingway’s creation not only originated from life true to life but superior to
life. Hemingway is a realism writer, consequently, copied something mechanically. He was also a
master of turning reality into fiction, representing not only what had actually happened but also
what logically might happen. He didn’t lay special emphasis by his inner beauty. So Santiago
leaved an indelible impression to us. Hemingway once said that The Old Man and the Sea could
be in a longer novel. In the novel, he could describe many other villagers and how they made a
lively life, how they were educated, how they bore children, and so on. But he omitted all those,
only describing, the old man and the process of fishing the Marlin and fighting the sharks.
Besides, Hemingway not only reflected real life but also expressed himself in his work. Or, we
can say, Hemingway’s creation is superior to life.
Santiago showed the spirit “undefeated” which Hemingway has. So Hemingway’s life
attitude has been widely recognized and imitated all over the world. Hemingway is worthy to be
called the Code Hero: he was born in an intensely middle-class family, Chicago, Oak Park. His
father, who was a doctor, devoted to hunting, fishing and influenced on Hemingway greatly
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when he was three years old, his father gave him a fishing pole for his birthday gift. When he
was ten years old, he got a hunting gun. As a boy of fourteen, he was encouraged to practice
boxing. Hemingway fought in the two world wars: in the first war as a medical soldier, and the
second as a reporter. He took part in World War I as an honorary lieutenant in the Red Cross. He
went overseas as an ambulance driver. He was wounded many times and experienced at least 12
operations which took out 227 pieces of artillery shells. Besides, he suffered a great deal from
aviation accident: his eyes injured while hunting and in African jungle he was in two airplane
accidents in the spaces of two days. All these didn’t defeat Hemingway. He was such a man who
turned down defeat. When he was old he was poor in health. Still he indulged himself in fishing,
hunting and bull-fighting from which he pursued thrilling scenes and enjoyed himself in fighting.
However there is a question, “Is Hemingway timid and pessimistic, so that he is committed
suicide?” The answer, of course, is “No”, Hemingway suffered much illness and injury and he
committed suicide at last. But his suicide cannot show he was timid and pessimistic. On the
contrary, he set upon image of braver because he regarded his illness and injury as his “enemy”
such as the sharks. He used his life as a weapon, in order to get rid of his “enemy”, he would
rather choose to die. He and his “enemy” ended in common ruin.
1.2 The Author’s View on the Novel and the Old Man
Hemingway defined the Code Hero as “a man with lives correctly, following the ideals of
honor, courage and endurance in a world that is sometimes chaotic, often stressful, and always
painful” (The American Tradition in Literature, Page78). He showed, in his famous phrase for it,
“grace under pressure”. The Code Hero measures himself by how well they handle the difficult
situations that life throws at him. In the end the Code Hero will lose because we are all mortal,
but the true measure is how a person faces death. The code believes in “Nada”, a Spanish word
meaning nothing. Along with this, there is nothing after life.
Hemingway’s view of human nature is that happiness is rare and is found within a man and
not in his outside circumstance or surroundings. Hemingway illustrates this in three ways. First,
he portrays the human nature of Santiago, the main character, as being one of humility and
compassion, full of strength and pride. He is shown not as a gleefully happy man, but one who
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meets life with a serene, quiet resilience. Second, Santiago’s fellow villagers are shown as
shallow, with a narrow view of life compared to his. Their focus on appearances is in sharp
contrast to Santiago’s focus on intrinsic values. Third, it will be shown that his rare brand of
happiness comes from within.
To Hemingway, the dignity of a man should be so important to that man that he is willing to
die for it. Most likely that is the reason Santiago went deep into that sea, following the Marlin,
tearing the skin off his hands as he held on to that line. This is also why Santiago risked his life
catching the Marlin. Finally, he caught the marlin, he was proud of himself that he so extremely
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 re-embodied 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”.
第4页

Chapter Two The Four Characteristics of Code Hero
2.1 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 eighty-four days he fished in a skiff without
taking a fish. Eighty-four days is a long period of time. Eighty-four days without a fish is very
unfortunate for a fisherman. For a weather-beaten, poverty-stricken 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
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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 of the pack that came. There
was nothing more for them to eat.
At last, he sailed back into harbor exhaustedly, with a skeleton of his fish and a broken skiff.
“She’s good, he thought. She is sound and not harmed in any way except for the tiller. That is
easily replaced” (The Old Man and the Sea, Page109). All what the old man sees are good side.
He failed, however, “he is not ‘defeated’, despite the fact that has been ‘beaten’, as he himself
admits, by his violation of the sacred code. He pronounces that nothing ’beat him really and that
his only fault was that he ‘went out too far’ ” (Elegant Demeanor under Heavy Pressure,
Page90).

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2.2 Daring Spirit for Facing the Challenge
The process of the old man’s fishing is just like the human’s whole life. Everyone in the
world lives a hard life and has to face the vast and vast sea, the greedy sharks with sharp tooth,
and along with himself is just a boat and his soul that support him live in the world. Facing with
the respected but fearsome nature, the human being is so insignificant. However the author has
raised such a question: by what the human being should have to live in the work? At the same
time, the author answered this question by portraying the way that the old man faces the sea and
deals with the sharks alone.
“Just then, watching his lines, he saw one of the projecting green sticks dip sharply.” (The
Old Man and the Sea, Page31) A big fish is hooked. At the first round of contest, the old man
suppresses his own desire and waits the fish to eat the hook quietly. The old man’s silent sounds
reflect his strong desire from the deep heart. “Eat them, fish. Eat them. Pleased eat them. How
fresh they are and …” “‘Come down,’ the old man said aloud. ‘Make another turn. Just smell
them. Aren't they lovely? Eat them good now and then there is the tuna. Don’t be shy, fish. Eat
them.’ ”(The Old Man and the Sea, Page31-32) With patient the old man faces the silent before
the battle.
Next is the contest of the strength. The old man “swing with each arm alternately on the
cord with all the strength of his arm and the pivoted weight of his body.” But “nothing happened.
The fish just moved away slowly and the old man could not raise him an inch.” The fish is so big
that can pull away the boat to the wider deep sea. At one side is a very old man, and at the other
side is unfathomable sea and unknown injuries, the readers can imagine the picture. Hegel ever
said, “The great personality and the degree of firmness can only be measured by those of the
opponents.” (The Image in Hemingway’s ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, Page24) The old man’s
admirable courage is also demonstrated by the opponent—the sea and the sharks.
On the returning voyage the old man suffers greater challenge: the Marlin’s blood draws the
sharks group. The author uses much ink to portray the sharks “wide, flattened, shovel-pointed
heads now and their white- tipped wide pectoral fins. 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
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of a boat. It was these sharks that would cut the turtle’s legs and flippers off when the turtles
were asleep on the surface, and they would hit a man in the water, if they were hungry…” (The
Old Man and the Sea, Page93) These portrays aim to describe the old man’s spirit. The harder
the fish and the sharks are to defeat, the taller the old man’s image is.
The essence of the old man is weak. “Unless sharks come,” he said out. “If sharks come,
God pity him and me.” “I wish it had been a dream now and that I had never hooked the fish and
was alone in bed on the newspapers.” (The Old Man and the Sea, Page89) But “man is not made
defeated,” he said, “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” (The Old Man and the Sea,
Page89) “‘Ay,’ the old man said. ‘Galanos. Come on, galanos.’ ” (The Old Man and the Sea,
Page93) “‘Fight them,’ he said, ‘I’ll fight them until I die.’” “Now they have beaten me, he
thought. I am too old to club sharks to death. But I will try it as long as I have the oars and the
short club and the tiller.” (The Old Man and the Sea, Page97) The old man challenges the age,
and challenges the physical limit. “He felt faint again now but he held on the great fish all the
strain that he could. I moved him, he thought. Maybe this time I can get him over. Pull, hands, he
thought. Hold up, legs. Last for me, head. Last for me. You never went. This time I will pull him
over.” (The Old Man and the Sea, Page78) These words and behaviors all originate from the old
man’s desire to the victory and strength. The old man can talk the baseball with the child happily.
And he often dreams of the lions, which can express this point strongly. Lions, in the western
world, were considered as a symbol of strength and power.
When the old man was young, his spirit of daring to be the number one has been
accumulated. The author portrays that the old man played the hand game with a great Negro
from Casablanca who was the strongest man on the docks, “they had gone one day and one night
with their elbows on a chalk line on the table and their forearms straight up and their hands
gripped tight. Each one was trying to force the other’s hand down onto the table.” “He had
unleashed his effort and forced the hand of the negro down and down until it rested on the
wood. ” (The Old Man and the Sea, Page57) “He decided that he could beat anyone if he wanted
to badly enough and …”(The Old Man and the Sea, Page59) It’s no doubt that, the age of being
full of energy and power has gone and the old man is not stronger than ever before. But from the
novel we can see that the old man is so eager to regain the power. He pursues what is called a
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eternal thing—dignity of the human.
2.3 Heroic Behavior in the Actual Battle
Definitely a midget in spiritual couldn’t become an actual giant. If a person has strong will
but he takes no actual action, he is still a midget. Santiago doesn’t only have spiritual power, he
also prove his power and strength by his action. By describing the process of his fishing the
Marlin and fighting with the sharks, Hemingway shows us another characteristic of Santiago as a
code hero. That is, to display great tenacity and to show the death—defying spirit in the actual
battle.
With his exceeding self-confidence he gets rid of his bad luck and catches the fish which is
longer than his skiff. The Marlin is immense and strong. Santiago and the Marlin, neither side is
ready to yield. The great fish is also a remarkable and respectable fish. The Marlin is actually
towing the skiff behind him. The fish moves steadily and they travels slowly on the calm water.
“The contest is to see who can endure longer than the other. By this time Santiago’s straw hat
cuts his forehead and he has been without nourishment for hours. But he just drinks a little water,
then he rested sitting on the sitting on the unstopped mast and sail and tried not to think but only
to endure”(The American Tradition in Literature, Page117). In the old man’s attitude to the fish
there is the type of gallantry and heroism that Hemingway admires. This gallantry, this heroism,
is paralleled by the stoical heroism of the great Marlin, like his opponent, neither gives up. In
addition, the force exerted by the old man is exactly counter—balanced by the natural force
being exerted at this time by the huge hidden fish. Just because the Marlin is as strong minded as
Santiago himself, Santiago begins to love and respect the Marlin. Although the Marlin has
swallowed the bait, he doesn’t admit his failure. “The fish made a surge that pulled him down on
his face and made a cut below his eye. The blood ran down his cheek a little way. But is
coagulated and dried before it reached his chin and he worked his way back to the how and
rested against the wood.” At this time if Santiago cut the line and lets the fish go, he can get rid
of the embracement, but that also means Santiago fails in the battle. Santiago doesn’t choose
such a solution. He even doesn’t think of it. When he is thirsty, he takes some water; when he is
sleepy, he lies forward cramming himself against the line with all of his body, putting all his
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weight onto his right hand. Even his left hand cramps and his right hand is cut by the line, he just
tries his best to endure. From the old fisherman’s point of view, any pain does not matter to a
man. He makes resolution to stay with the Marlin until he is dead.
Then Santiago meets with a more terrible disaster. The sharks spring on the Marlin and want
to take his prize away. The old fisherman doesn’t fold his hands and wait for destruction. Instead,
he bravely determines to fight them until he dies. Actually the old man’s head is clear and good
now. He is full of resolution to fight with them until the sharks. But he knows that there is little
hope for him to win since he is so weary and so tired. He knows the failure is inevitable. But he
should behave as a man in the battle field. With his blood mashed hands he rams the harpoon
down onto the biggest shark, but the shark takes his harpoon away. So he lashes his knife to the
butt of one of the oars. Then he takes up the oar with the knife blade snaps. In the dark, groups of
sharks spring onto the Marlin. He knows that his triumph is too good to last. But on the other
hand, “man is not made for defeat,” (The Old Man and the Sea, Page89) this declaration clearly
presents his characteristic as a Code Hero. “This fidelity to what he believes is part of his
quixotic gallantry.” In facing so many sharks, Santiago doesn’t show any fear. He pulls himself
together and fights the sharks more fiercely.
2.4 Loneliness Endurance in the Long Fighting
The author doesn’t tell us the origins of the old man, nobody knows where he comes from,
nor does no one know whether he has relatives. “He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff,”
only a child companies with him. But after 40 days, the child is also going away ordered by his
parents. The old man has to face the sea and the sharks. But these are not the most fearful thing,
the greatest fear is loneliness. The feeling of loneliness is more fearful than loneliness itself. The
only way the old man resolves it is to talk to himself.
The author has many portrays that the old man is talking to himself:
At the beginning, “he looked across the sea and knew how alone he was now.” But “he
could see the prisms in the deep dark water and the line stretching ahead and the strange
undulation of the calm. The clouds were building up now for the trade wind and he looked ahead
and saw a flight of wild ducks etching themselves against the sky over the water, then blurring,
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then etching again,” (The Old Man and the Sea, Page22)
“He did not remember when he had first started to talk aloud when he was by himself. He
had sung when he was by himself in the old days and he had sung at night, Sometimes when he
was alone steering on his watch in the smacks or in the turtle boats. He had probably started to
talk aloud, when alone, when the boy had left. But he did not remember.” (The Old Man and the
Sea, Page29) These portrays tell us that most of the old man’s life comes with loneliness. If the
boy was here, the old man is happy. When he is alone, he just talks to himself or sings loudly to
make fun. “If the others heard me talking out loud they would think that I am crazy,” he said
aloud. “But since I am not crazy, I do not care.” (The Old Man and the Sea, Page30) The old man
even says to the bird “Stay at my house if you like, bird”, “I am sorry I cannot hoist the sail and
take you in with the small breeze that is rising. But I am with a friend.” (The Old Man and the
Sea, Page44)
In the common time, the old man is always with the boy. But this time, the old man sails
alone. When struggling with the Marlin, the old man also says to himself, “I wish I had the boy.”
(The Old Man and the Sea, Page41). “I wish I had the boy,” the word appears many times in the
work. I don’t think the old man hope there was someone who can help him. “He decided that he
could beat anyone if he wanted to badly enough.” (The Old Man and the Sea, Page59) What he is
looking forward to is that someone can see his experience, his courage and his ability. The old
man is eager to be identified, and he pursues of the self- satisfaction.
Through talking to himself, he overcomes the loneliness, and “he knew no man was ever
alone on the sea.” (Elegant Demeanor under Heavy Pressure, Page31)
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Conclusion
In The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway vividly creates an image of Code Hero. Santiago
emerges as a hero who reflects the author’s own life attitude. That is, to fight through the failure
is inevitable and to show dignity and grace under pressure. Santiago has strong will,
self-confidence and resolution to overcome all kinds of difficulties in his life. Even though he
knows that he cannot win the battles, he still tries all his best to fight in order to show his dignity
and courage and bravery and skill. He is a failed hero in the battle, though with his fall and
failure, he wins our love and respect.
It’s important for us to have a deep understanding about Santiago’s famous saying, after he
killed the first shark: “Man is not made defeated”, “A man can be destroyed but not defeated”
(The Old Man and the Sea, Page89). It not only distinctly portrays the old man’s character: his
endurance, persistence and “undefeated” spirit but also expresses the novel’s theme. It is the
spirit but also expresses encourages for us to smile in the face of adversity.
We should not only appreciate the Code Hero but also try to be a man like Code Hero.
Especially in the present society, everyone may confront failure, from the study or from the work.
What we learn from the Code Hero can help us conduct ourselves well as “bad luck” is coming,
that, to show “grace under pressure” (Elegant Demeanor under Heavy Pressure, Page2). We
shall never give up hopes in any difficult conditions, keep daring spirit and never admit defeat in
the process of fighting; thirdly, behave heroically in the actual battle; and last, endure the
loneliness in the long process of the fighting. If we did that, we can behave like the old man, and
no longer be afraid of any difficult things. In our future studying and working, we will overcome
difficult problems with the confidence of bounding to win.







第12页

Acknowledgements
The paper is finished under the kind guidance and cordial solicitude of my tutor, An Mei.
She has exerted great energies and efforts from the selection of the subject to the forming of the
whole paper. Here I would like to express my sincere gratitude to her.
In addition, I want to express my thanks to all my teachers in the college for their teaching
and my thanks to my classmates and friends for their help and support.
At last, I want to thank my family for their everlasting understanding and support to my
study.
第13页

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