An Analysis of Santiago’s Tough Guy Spirit in The Old Man and the Sea
Content
Introduction ................................................................................... 3 1 An Introduction to the Social Background and Hemingway’s Life Experience in Characterization of Santiago ............................. 4
1.1 The Social Background ............................................................ 5 1.2 Hemingway’s Life Experience ................................................. 6 1.3 The Birth of Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea ............... 7
2 The Reflection of Tough Guy Spirit in Santiago ..................... 8
2.1 Its Reflection in His Psychology .............................................. 8
2.1.1The Glory of Dignity ................................................................ 8 2.1.2 The Duty of Mission ................................................................ 9
2.2 Its Reflection in His Language .......................................... 10
2.2.1 Strong -will in His Dialogues with the Fish......................... 10 2.2.2 Gentleness in the Dialogues with the Little Boy ................. 11
2.3 Its Reflection in His Action .................................................... 13
2.3.1 Bravery and Endurance in Fighting with the Marlin ....... 13 2.3.2 Toughness in Fighting with Sharks ...................................... 14
3 Inner Spirit Sublimation ......................................................... 15
3.1 Fight against Nature ............................................................... 15 3.2 Fight against Inner Spirit....................................................... 17
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An Analysis of Santiago’s Tough Guy Spirit in The Old Man and the Sea
Conclusion .................................................................................... 18 Acknowledgements...................................................................... 20 Bibliography ................................................................................ 21
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An Analysis of Santiago’s Tough Guy Spirit in The Old Man and the Sea
Introduction
Ernest Hemingway was one of the most influential writers in the twentieth century. He played a major role in defining twentieth-century American literature. This was because he had such high standards and insisted on a certain type of intense truth in his writing. Since he often wrote about the sort of experience that tested a man’s mettle, he repeatedly risked his life in high-adventure situations. Hemingway served as a Red Cross ambulance driver in World War I, made reports on the Spanish Civil War and World War II, worked as a deep sea fisherman, and went on big game safaris throughout Africa. He was in two plane crashes while visiting Africa and was so badly injured in one that some newspapers reported he had been killed. All of this and more showed up in his writing.
The Old Man and the Sea was written by Hemingway in 1951.The book was so successful that it enabled Hemingway to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.This is clearly an almost perfect short story. It is also an unforgettable novel, not only because of the exciting plot but also because Santiago’s tough guy image. ―A man can be destroyed but not defeated,‖(Hemingway, 1951: 281) says Santiago. The statement is referred to throughout the novel. Santiago is physically destroyed in the end, but not mentally. Santiago’s courage and pride pushes him forward throughout the novel, even when it looks like hope is lost, but he is never defeated. It starts with 84 days of not catching anything. He is being crushed but his spirit and pride prevented defeat. During the fight with the Marlin, he hasthe choice to spare his life and let the fish go but he knows he has to overcome his destruction.So he keepson and catches the fish.Finally, the fight with sharks is his hardest battle. He is alone, in his own life battle. Fishingis his life, and sharks and other dangerous creaturesare actually all these that can destroy life in general. And this statement ―man can be destroyed, but not defeated‖ is one remarkable combination of words.The Old Man and the Sea is so famous that it evokes the critical attention all over the world.
Among these critics, Carlos Baker, Professor of Literature at Princeton University, is the first one who made athorough study of Hemingway and his works. In 1952, Hepublished
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An Analysis of Santiago’s Tough Guy Spirit in The Old Man and the Sea
abook Hemingway: The Writer as Artist, and it took him eight years to write another book Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story (1969). Many of the pages in the book of Ernest Hemingway: A Life Storyare copies of Hemingway’s correspondencethat Baker gets from various libraries, individuals and other sources. Thebiography not only consists of the author's life and works, but alsoconsists of correspondence between Hemingway and friends, publishersand family.Moreover, there are, at the same time, somereviewers' comments, magazine interviews, and materials concerning Hemingway's winning of the Nobel Prize for literature and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
Kenneth. S. Lynn, a professor of history at Johns Hopkings University in America, published Hemingway in 1987. Inthis book, he combines the author's biography with book reviews. Hethinks Hemingway is a myth of American literature. Besides, Philip Young wrotetwo
books:Ernest
Hemingway
(1959)
and
Ernest
Hemingway:
AReconsideration(1966).A Reconsideration studies Hemingway's worksfrom the angle of psychology. It is very valuable.
Apart from the studies abroad on Hemingway and his works as well, similarly there’s also a growing number of literature researches made in China. Some critics in China regard Santiago in The Old Man and the Seaas the epitome of the code hero, since he never gives in and maintainshis dignity as a human being when facing the negative forces.All of the above studies made either at home or abroad provide us with different angles, but few of them focus on tough guy spiritofSantiago. This thesis is a tentative research on the tough guy spirit represented by Santiago. Through this study, we will get a better understanding of the novel.
1An Introduction to the Social Background andHemingway’s Life Experience in Characterization of Santiago
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An Analysis of Santiago’s Tough Guy Spirit in The Old Man and the Sea
To analyse the tough guy in The Old Man and the Sea, it's important to learn of thebackground information, which influences the writer's attitudes towards life deeply.The followingthree parts give an overview of the social background, the writer’s life experience and the birth of Santiago as well.
1.1 The Social Background
After the civil war, the United States saw great development in industry, technology and agriculture. Besides, with the development of politics, economy and culture, American capitalism also developed and flourished.As the United States becoming the word’s industrial power, its economic boom appeared. The hopeful people believed that there would be more opportunities waiting for them. However, the rapid economic development and the big interest groups pushed the United States into the imperialist stage. Since those financial giants controlled capital, many social problems showed up such as poverty and class conflict.In the twentieth century, Two World Wars broke out,with death, blood and violence, exerting great influence on Americans’ life. The abundant material and advanced civilization, which Americans were proud of, now were totally destroyed by the World War.
After World War I,the power of many traditional beliefs was lost. Loss and disappointment seemed to have characterized the world. In thechanged situation, the task of artists was to discover new meaning and create new forms.
In such a situation, the whole United States experienced a great social change, from order to disorder, oversupply of goods leading to the rising of unemployment, strike happening in some big cities because of the industrial recession, farmers being forced to leave their land due to the poor harvest. The crash of the stock market marked all the beginning of the great economic depression in the 1930s. In addition, the political corruption, ethnic conflict and the change of moral codes and values plunged the society into a more unrest situation. The poor suffered a lot in such a cold and turbulent society. What’s worse, everything seemed to be disintegrating,and an ordered, rational existence was proved to be
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