Author introduction ernest hemingway (1899— 196 1), an American novelist, was born in Oak Park, Illinois. His father is a doctor and likes fishing and hunting, which cultivated Hemingway's interest in outdoor activities. From childhood to old age, his love for bullfighting, boxing, fishing and hunting is enduring. These competitive activities help to cultivate his tough character, which is vividly reflected in his creation. He has rich experience all his life. He worked as a journalist in Europe for a long time and personally participated in two world wars. He supported republicanism and opposed fascism during the Spanish Civil War. War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, he came to China for an interview. Among them, World War I had the greatest influence on him. He realized the nature of imperialist war from what he saw and heard. He and a group of sensitive young writers lived in postwar Europe, and were confused about life and future after denying traditional values. They are called "the lost generation". His novel The Sun Also Rises (1926) and A Farewell to Arms (1929) is a masterpiece showing the trauma caused to the younger generation by the First World War. The novel For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) eulogizes the heroic struggle of the international column soldiers and the Spanish guerrillas against fascism. Hemingway is a master of language art. His career as a journalist in his youth and the influence of American woman writer Stan living in Europe formed his concise and vivid writing style. His rigorous writing attitude, careful choice of words and repeated thinking made his subtle and simple style mature and unique in the world literary world, which influenced many writers. 1952 published the novella The Old Man and the Sea. 1954, Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded the Science Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy, praising him for his "mastery of modern narrative art, powerful writing style and self-contained, which was proved in his recent book The Old Man and the Sea." He died of illness, depression and suicide in his later years.
Santiago, a Cuban fisherman, is an old fisherman who fishes alone in a small boat. He didn't catch a fish for 84 days in a row. In the first 40 days, a boy named Manorine stayed with him, but after a long time, Manoxiu's parents thought the old man was unlucky and ordered his children to take another boat to sea. Sure enough, they caught three good fish in the first week. Children are sad to see the old man go home by boat every day, and always have to help him with his things. Santiago is thin and haggard, with wrinkles on the back of his neck and zits on his face, but his eyes are as blue as the sea, without a trace of melancholy. He and his children have forgotten each other. The old man taught the children to fish, so the children liked him very much. Many fishermen in the village make fun of the old man because he can't catch fish, but the children think the old man is the best fisherman. They fish not only to make money, but as a common hobby. The children prepared meals for the old man and commented on the softball game with him. The old man especially worships the softball player DiMaggio. He is the son of a fisherman. Although there are bone spurs in the heel, I am full of energy when playing ball. The old man thinks he is old and his physical strength is not as good as his prime, but he knows a lot of fishing tricks and is determined, so he is still a good fisherman. He made an appointment with the children to go out to sea together the next morning. That night, the old man had a dream that when he was a sailor, he sailed to Africa and saw lions playing on the beach. After waking up, he stepped on the moonlight to wake up the children. They took two boats separately and sailed for the sea area of their choice after leaving the port. Before dawn, the old man had put down the bait. The belly of the bait is wrapped in the handle of the hook, and the protruding part of the hook is wrapped with fresh sardines. The bait is delicious and fragrant. While Santiago was staring at the fishing line, he saw a green pole emerging from the water and falling into the water. He gently pinched the fishing line with the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. Then the fishing line moved again, but the tension was not strong. The old man knew that a marlin was eating sardines on the hook at a depth of one hundred fathoms. He felt a slight pull on the bottom and was very happy. After a while, he felt something hard and heavy, obviously the weight of the marlin, and he decided that it was a big fish. He let go of the fishing line first, then shouted and pulled it up with all his strength, but instead of coming up an inch, the fish swam slowly. The old man carried the fishing line on his back to increase the tension on the marlin, but it didn't do much. He watched the ship drift northwest. The old man thought that the fish would die soon if he pushed too hard, but four hours later, the fish dragged the boat to the vast sea, and the old man still pulled the fishing line on his back tirelessly. Looking back, he found that the land had disappeared from his sight. The sun sets in the west and the sky is full of stars. Judging from the observation of the stars, the old man found that the big fish had not changed its direction all night. It was very cold at night, and the old man's sweat dried up. He felt cold all over. He put a sack under the fishing line on his shoulder to reduce friction, and then bent down and leaned against the bow. He felt much more comfortable. He said to himself loudly, "if only the child were here, so that he could help me and look at all this." It was very cold the day before dawn, and the old man leaned against the wood to keep warm. I can keep it as long as it wants. He said loudly in a gentle tone, "Fish, as long as I don't die, I will fight you to the end." After the sun rose, the old man found that the fish was not tired, but the inclination of the fishing line indicated that the fish might jump, which was exactly what he wanted. He said, "Fish, I love you and respect you very much. But I must kill you before dark today. " The fish began to get restless, and suddenly it rocked the boat. The old man touched the fishing line with his right hand and found that his hand was bleeding. After a while, his left hand began to twitch again, but he tried his best to stick to it. He ate several pieces of tuna meat to strengthen his strength against big fish. Just then, the fishing line slowly rose and the big fish finally surfaced. In the sun, it is bright and dazzling. Its beak looks like a softball bat and is as sharp as a slender sword. After its sickle-shaped tail sank into the water, the fishing line dropped rapidly. Santiago was surprised to find that the big fish was two feet longer than the small boat. He and the big fish have been arguing until sunset, and they have been arguing for two days and one night. The old man can't help recalling the experience of playing with a wrench with a black man in Casablanca when he was young. They put their elbows on the table with chalk lines drawn, their forearms straight and their hands clenched, so they embraced each other for a day and a night. After eight hours, there will be another referee every four hours, and they will take turns sleeping. Santiago and black people are bleeding under their fingernails. Once, after drinking liqueur, the black man tried his best to press Santiago's hand down nearly three inches, but Santiago pulled his hand back to its original position and tried to pull it down again at dawn the next day. Since then, he has become a hero in people's minds. The protracted war between the old man and the big fish lasts from night to morning. The big fish jumped a dozen times and began to circle around the boat. The old man was dizzy and saw black spots shaking in front of him, but he still clung to the fishing line tightly. When the fish swam to him, he put down the fishing line, stepped under his feet, then held the harpoon high and plunged into the fish. The big fish jumped up, fully demonstrated its beauty and strength, and then fell into the water with a bang, splashing all over the old man and wetting the whole boat. It leans up to the sky, its silver belly is up, and the blood flowing from its heart is red with blue water. The old man tied the big fish to the side of the ship and successfully returned home. But after more than an hour, the shark smelled the blood of the big fish and followed it to grab the fish. The old man saw the blue back of the first shark that swam over. He prepared the harpoon and tied it with a rope. When the shark approached the stern to bite the tail of the big fish, the old man grabbed the harpoon and plunged it into the shark's head. The shark tugged at the rope, lay quietly on the water for a while, and slowly sank. When the old man lost his harpoon, he tied the knife to the paddle handle as a weapon. The old man killed two invading sharks with a knife, but the knife broke in the subsequent struggle and he used a short stick instead. However, when sharks come in droves in the middle of the night, he can't deal with them. When the boat entered the alley, people saw the huge white fish spine beside the boat. The next morning, the child came to visit the old man, so tired that he couldn't wake up and couldn't help crying. When the old man woke up, the child brought him a steaming cup of coffee. The two agreed to go fishing together in a few days, and the child said that there was still a lot to learn. After the child left, the old man fell asleep. He dreamed of lions in Africa.
The Old Man and the Sea is Hemingway's masterpiece in his later years. In this novella, he successfully portrayed the heroic image of the old fisherman Santiago. Hemingway was brilliant when he was young and wrote many excellent works. However, after the publication of 1940 for whom the bell tolls, he was silent for ten years. It was not until 1950 that he published the novel Crossing the River into the Forest. The novel is nothing new in content and art, and critics don't think highly of it, thinking that Hemingway has exhausted his talents in Jiang Lang. However, The Old Man and the Sea regained Hemingway's respect and won him the honor of Nobel Prize in Literature. Some critics think that Santiago is the most perfect hero in Hemingway's works. It can be said that San Diego is a portrayal of the author himself, and his body is permeated with the spirit of refusing to accept the old. The author painted us an image of him as thin, wrinkled and acne. He is obviously old, but his eyes are as blue as the sea, full of wisdom, experience and determination. Although fate doesn't care for him, he hasn't caught a fish for 84 days, but he hasn't wavered in his belief in success. After the big fish took the bait, they felt that their opponents were strong, but they believed in their own strength. Finally, he subdued the big fish with rich experience and great patience. After the fish was swallowed by the shark, the old man was disappointed but not pessimistic. He still made an appointment with Manorine to go fishing again, and saw the lion in his sleep. When the old man sailed to Africa when he was young, people saw lions. They are the symbols of youth, vigor and courage, and reflect the heroic ambition of the hero in the novel. Santiago's heroism is also manifested in his fearless and calm attitude in the face of death threats, which is the common temperament of many heroes in For Who the Bell Tolls. Hemingway realized that World War I was a killing for the benefit of a few people, and began to doubt the western traditional values based on Christian teachings, and devoted himself to exploring new values. The protagonists in a series of novels he published after the war all embodied this new value. They no longer believe that people will go to heaven or hell after death, and think that "when people die, they are dead." Since death is the ultimate in life, they try to avoid death, seek the reward of this life, and behave as carpe diem in action. But they are not cowards who are afraid of death. On the contrary, they often fight face to face with death on various occasions. They are not timid in the face of death, but show "calmness under pressure". In the face of the most severe test, they live the most vivid life, and their inner temperament has been fully demonstrated. In The Old Man and the Sea, San Diego was dragged by a big fish to the vast sea far from the land. He is alone, old and frail, short of food and fresh water, changing nature, extremely strong opponents and firm will, any of which may lead to his death. But he kept calm, finally defeated death, conquered nature, caught big fish and achieved brilliant results. Perseverance in extremely difficult situations is also one of Santiago's heroic qualities. In the struggle with the big fish, his right hand was injured and bleeding, and his left hand cramped. Fatigue made him dizzy, but he persisted in his determination to deal with the big fish as long as he didn't die. Hungry, he ate raw fish regardless of the fishy smell. When he was thirsty, he saved some fresh water to drink. Strong will helped him through the crisis and ushered in victory. The author describes his concern for DiMaggio, a softball player, and recalls his psychological activities of playing wrenches with blacks when he was young, so as to set off his heroic behavior. DiMaggio has a bone spur, but he overcame this physical defect and played with great energy. Santiago worships him as a hero, and DiMaggio is obviously against old people. The old man recalled the glory of the past, proving that he has always been strong, and past victories are the source of his strength now. Santiago's fight with sharks added a glorious final stroke to his heroic image. When sharks came to compete for the meat of big fish, the old man was exhausted, but he still used all available weapons to destroy them, which showed his determination to fight to the end knowing that he would fail. Although the old man is alone, he is not alone. Manorine is his apprentice and will inherit his career. Their love between teachers and students is based on their disdain for materialism and their common love for fishing. In the novel, Hemingway's concise and implicit writing has reached the state of perfection. It is said that the author read the original novel about 200 times before going to press, and this meticulous writing attitude is a reliable guarantee for the success of the work.