英语论文网

enemy than have lots of hypocritical friends.”⑧ The shark may be symbolizing that kind of “honest enemy” that Hemingway liked. Maybe everyone of us has the same opinion that he likes to deal with the honest enemy---the clear difficult or hostile powers, but dislike to meet the hypocritical friends---the submerged rocks, the unpredicted hostile powers. So in my opinion, the description of the shark is a kind of symbolism that reflects Hemingway’s iceberg technique. 5. The Marlin—the Symbol of Achievement In contrast to the shark, which stands for a bad part of nature, the giant marlin also has its symbolic meaning in the novel. It becomes a symbol of the ideal in life that challenges those who is eager for it. For a large part of the book, Santiago is fighting with this giant, mysterious creature. In the beginning, his skiff is pulled out to the sea by the fish, and he does not even know what it looks like. He can only imagine its strength, size and determination, yet he does not give up fighting. When the old man actually sees the fish, he is even more amazed at its grandeur and size. “Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother, the old man thought He loves the fish as if it was his brother. But he still decides to kill it, because the marlin is his ideal in life. Only by killing the giant marlin, Santiago can show what a man can do and what a man endures and finish the task that he was born for.”⑨ The marlin symbolizes a man’s ideal in life. If one wants to prove himself, he must constantly struggle for his ideal in life. Only through actions conducted with dignity, he can prove his heroism and realize his life ideal. It is precisely through the effort to battle the huge marlin that Santiago proves his heroism and manliness. He finds the marlin worthy of a fight, and so he fights hardly. By realizing the life ideal, he proves himself a worthy fisherman. So a heroic and manly life is not self-sufficiency, it requires constant demonstration of one’s worthiness through noble action and struggle for the ideal in life. 6. Other Symbolical Factors The main protagonists in the works that the great writer uses reflects the writing style, some minor characters can brighten the use of the symbolism. The first minor character mentioned is the lion. The lion appears repeatedly, the old man has even dreamed “the lion”. Obviously, as another name of power and courage, it appears constantly, constitutes a symbol that its moral is very clear and definite, it symbolizes the vigorous vitality and the youth, even the struggle and strong spirit that reflects the unyielding man’s character. The eagle searching prey around the sea and the tuna which the old man eat all have certain moral, all of them have the special quality of the old man, they have relations with other personages and the environment. However, they are all symbols that Hemingway used to pass on “significance” to us. This is incompatible with the way of the symbolical writers who likes to pursue “subjective reality”. Maybe this is one of the reasons why Hemingway did not want to accept the symbolical laurels. III. Hemingway’s Philosophy of Life Reflected by the symbols in The Old Man and the Sea In this novel, Hemingway has used many symbols. All these symbols have very important and special meanings. By understanding them, we can better understand the writer's philosophy of life. A. Hemingway’s Philosophy of Life in The