TheOldManandtheSea

A Man Can Be Destroyed but Not Defeated “A man can be destroyed but not defeated”, this is what I learned after reading The Old Man and the Sea written by American writer Hemingway in Cuba in 1951 and published in 1952. The work revolves around an elderly Cuban fisherman fighting a huge marlin in the Gulf Stream far away from the shore to start the storytelling. Although the old man described by Hemingway is tragic, he has the qualities of Nietzsche’s “superman”, accepting failure calmly, and facing death calmly and bravely. These “tough guys” embody Hemingway’s philosophy of life and moral ideals, namely Human beings do not bow to fate, never admit defeat, and have a positive and optimistic attitude towards life. It established Hemingway's prominent position in world literature. This novel won the American Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. The old man went out to fish alone, and after 84 days of nothing, he caught an extremely huge marlin. This was a big fish two feet longer than his boat that the old man had never seen or heard of. The fish was so powerful that he dragged the boat for two days and two nights. The old man experienced an unsuccessful test in these two days and nights, and finally stabbed the big fish to death and tied it to the bow. However, at this time, he encountered a shark. The old man fought desperately with the shark. As a result, the big marlin was eaten by the shark. The old man dragged home only a bare fish skeleton. Why not let the old man won? In the words of the old man in the novel: "A person is not born to be defeated", "A person can be destroyed but cannot be defeated." This is the philosophy that The Old Man and the Sea wants to reveal. It is undeniable that everyone has defects.  When a person admits this flaw and strives to overcome it instead of succumbing to it, it doesn't matter whether it ends up catching a complete marlin or an empty skeleton, because the value of a person's life has been fully reflected in the process of hunting marlins. He has tried hard to pursue and fight for his ideal, so he is the winner. A person's material or body can be destroyed, but his spirit cannot be defeated. Life is an endless pursuit. The road is long, difficult, and full of ups and downs, but as long as you are brave and tenacious to meet the challenge with a confident heart, you will always be a winner. In fact, when we are in a predicament, it is not ashamed to feel fear, and it is not abnormal to feel fear, but once we have the idea of ​​giving up, the idea of ​​avoiding, and the behavior of compromise, that is the cowardly behavior. As long as you have the courage and confidence to challenge it, your heart is still filled with the pride of conquering yourself.