Tragedy or not
A book review on The Old Man and The Sea
When I was in high school, I have already read the Chinese version of this book. Until now, what impresses me the most is still that famous old saying “A man can be destroyed, but can not be defeated.”, which has been lingering over my mind for the past couple of years. But this time when I caught up on its English version, I felt more tragic consciousness of this work, instead of just individual heroism.
The main plot is as follows. An old but experienced fisherman named Santiago lives in Cuba. After 84 days of drifting in vain, he finally harvested a huge marlin, which was two feet longer than his small fishing boat. In order to conquer that huge prey, Santiago fought for it for three dreadful days and nights. Luckily for him, he finally killed the huge fish and tied it to the back of the boat. With a strong sense of accomplishment, he prepared to sail home. However, good news always traveled quickly. In the process of returning with a full load of prey, he was attacked by sharks, the old Santiago had to fight to the death with the sharks, and returned to the harbor in the end. It was a pity that the original rich huge marlin has been reduced to the head tail and a ridge.
Although in the end, the old fisherman did not get the whole marlin, in the process of fishing and sailing back, he never gave up because of difficulties. Each time, he rose to the occasion and persevered. Perhaps in the eyes of others, the fact that he didn’t have a full harvest was a failure. But from his point of view, he has achieved great success. There is no denying that his success lies in having a strong will and endless pursuit. This is just as Hemingway wrote in his work:“A man is not born to be defeated, you can destroy him, but never defeat him.” Perhaps this is why every time we finish reading this book, we can regain the courage and strength to get on top of all kinds of difficulties that we never think we could deal with and face life with a more positive attitude.
However, it’s not enough to just understand this work from this perspective, especially after I finished its English version and got a deeper insight into The Iceberg Theory. Hemingway is one of the greatest writers in the history of American literature. What’s worth mentioning, Hemingway’s works are characterized by extraordinary tragic heroism. The old man and the Sea is one of the outstanding representatives, showing both personal heroism and tragic consciousness(the hidden one). Based on this theory, it is necessary for us to realize that tragic consciousness is everywhere in the text:
At first, the tragic consciousness is presented by the character’s appearance. “The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. And none of these scars were fresh.” From these descriptions, we can see that Santiago is very old. And his haggard face and poor physical condition leave the reader with a deep sense of powerlessness, making it easier for the reader to understand that the tragedy at the end of the story is almost inevitable.
And then, the tragic consciousness is presented by the character’s psychology. Santiago always wanted to communicate with others, but unfortunately, his partner Manolin was forced by his parents not to follow him on the sea, he could only talk to himself. And nine times during the fishing process, he had said to himself,“I wish the child were right here.” However, his words could only be heard by the sea and the fish. It’s hard to imagine a lonely old man could fight a huge fish for such a long time.
At last, the tragic consciousness is presented by the background. Sitting in the restaurant with Manolin, Santiago can smell the fishy smell of the shark processing plant, and the town is filled with young fishermen, buying themselves more sophisticated boats and powerboats. People start to treat the sea as an enemy to conquer with all kinds of modern technology. This phenomenon of traditional fishing being gradually eroded by modern mechanized civilization is also the author’s regret for the continuous destruction of nature. Fishing is no longer a simple expression of personal value and the acquisition of basic needs of life, but a symbol of human conquest of nature. Isn’t that one of the tragedies?
Admittedly, from the point of The Iceberg Theory, we can see that in addition to the superficial meaning of individual heroism, we can also figure out the tragic consciousness hidden under the iceberg. Of course, there is more to explore under the iceberg, and this is also the fun of the exchange of ideas between the reader and the author.
Last but not least, I would like to talk about the artistry which impresses me a lot. Because I think whether a work is classic also depends on its artistry in addition to whether it can move people’s hearts and echo the trend of the era. Hemingway particularly makes good use of a variety of fabulous images and makes the whole novel more vivid with the help of the symbolism of images. For instance, the image of “Santiago” is not only a symbol of ordinary people at the bottom, but also a metaphor for “heroes”. His perseverance in the face of setbacks and dangers is a common quality presented by human beings in the face of fate and predicament. For another, the image of the “lion” can present the psychological process of Santiago incisively and vividly, making the plot more compact and coherent. For example, after the old man was attacked by a shark and fell into a dizzy state, the reappearance of the lion made the old man wake up in time and actively cope with the attack of the sharks. To some extent, the “lion” is a symbol of courage and faith, and also a symbol of the old man’s progress from decline to rise. Without doubt, symbolism is a significant means of implicitly expressing thoughts, personalities and feelings of characters.
Does the story end in tragedy? Admittedly, there exists plenty of tragic consciousness in the text. But from my point of view, the story doesn’t end in tragedy. It is because of the existence of wonderful tragic consciousness that the author can highlight the pride, courage and persistence of the old man who finally survived the desperate situation. After all, we all have moments of desperation, but if we can face them head-on, that’s when we would find out how strong we really are.
京公网安备 11010802032529号