The iceberg principle was first put forward by Hemingway in his monograph Death in the Afternoon published in 1932. He said, "If an essayist knows what he wants to write, he can omit what he knows. As for readers, as long as the author writes truly, he will feel strongly what he has missed, as if the author had already written it. The movement of icebergs in the sea is spectacular, because only one-eighth is on the water. " The novel The Old Man and the Sea faithfully embodies his iceberg principle. He condensed the story of 1000 pages into less than 30,000 words. He didn't write about everyone in the village, how they made a living, how they received education, and how they gave birth to children. He only wrote about an old man, a boy and a marlin. Hemingway wrote a simple story. An old man fed fish and fought with sharks, but it showed a complicated world. He put seven-eighths of his thoughts and feelings behind the image, and only one-eighth resorted to the pen. Through this iceberg with one-eighth exposed to the water, readers strongly feel the weight of seven-eighths hidden underwater. Readers read everyone in the village through old people and boys; Through the sea, marlins and sharks, I read about the natural and unpredictable world. I read my life through old people fishing and shark shooting. This is the genius of the iceberg principle.