从《老人与海》中谈海明威的冰山理论(英文)

“Fish”, he said softly, “I’ll stay with you until I am dead”.
“Fish”, he said, “I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends”. [11]

Those are two simple sentences said by the old man. but if we think it carefully, we can understand the deep-seated meanings. In the first sentence, the old man is not only dig up the hatchet to the fish, but also to the nature and destiny. What is more, he can cost his life for this fighting. From the simple sentence we can be aware of the old man’s long-suffering. So the deep-seated meaning is that no matter what we encountered, we should be suffer and confirmedly. The second sentence is very simple too. In this sentence, as a writing style, symbolism show itself perfectly. As the old man said that he love and respect the fish but he will kill them finally. As we all know, the fish stand for the trouble or problem, so the love and respect to the fish stand for the love and respect to the frustration. Nobody can evade challenges, the only thing we can do is face it bravely. We love and respect the challenges because those can make us stronger. From what had been discussed above, we can find the simple language contain deliberated and symbolic.

(1) “I wish the boy was here”
(2) “Aloud he said, “I wish I had the boy”.
(3) “I wish the boy were here and that I had some salt.” he said.[11]

The old man refers to the boy in this story many times. Why he do this? Because the boy who in this story is the symbol of hope and future. The old man miss the boy because he was afraid lose the hope. In other word, this hope just is life. Everyone’s life will end one day. More hopes we have, more worry about elapse of life. Although the writer hardly mention the word “hope” in the novel, one can understand that the old man never give up.  
In The Old Man and the Sea Santiago undergoes a sea journey (life) and encounters a giant marlin (treasure). He battles bravely to catch fish and fights the sharks (problems) to save it. The writer just uses the simple words such as sea, marlin, shark, and so on, but these words stands for so many things, which even suggests our life. The characteristic of Iceberg is that people just see one-eight of it floating on the sea, however, the greatest parts of it--- the other nine-tens which is under the sea need to be understand by themselves. So in the sea journey, marlin and shark are just the one-eight and the other seven-eights is life, treasure and problem. That’s the relationship between simplicity and symbolism. In addition to the main symbols mentioned above, there are many minor symbols in the story, for instance, the sea and the old man’s experience, and the old man struggle against the giant fish, can be regarded as the miniatures of the peoples’ life. The old man’s weatherworn face symbolizes his unlucky fate, and his particular eyes carry the symbol of his unconquerable willpower. The scar of his hands unfolds his miserable experience, and it is also the proof that he never give up forever. That the old man always dreamed the lions play on the beach symbolizes his exploring spirit, strength and bravery. This is his strength source when he is in danger and trouble. Also the bleeding hands of Santiago are the symbols of suffering of Jesus Christ, whose hands were equally wounded by the nails that used to crucify him. Another recurring symbol in the novel is Dimaggio, the partially handicapped baseball player, who often figures in the old man’s waking thought as well as in his dreams. Dimaggio inspired him with leadership qualities and the determination to win in spite of handicaps when his left hand cramps and he feels drained of his strength. The old man reminds himself of the painful bone spur that handicaps the Dimaggio; the image of the baseball hero playing in pain gives Santiago renewed vigor and stamina to put up with his own pain. Therefore the great Dimaggio is said to be a symbol of courage, endurance and success. There is also an under current of personal symbolism in the story that might help to account for it’s rapid development. Like Santiago, Hemingway had been a notable expert in his field but had seemed to decline as he aged. The long drought that followed the triumph of For Whom the Bell Tolls can be equated with Santiago’s eighty-four days without a catch. Hemingway could make a case for identifying him with Santiago in 1954. In his Nobel Prize acceptance statement he claimed that a writer’s task was to try again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that had never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed. With this book Hemingway had shown that he could still achieve a principle triumph, whether or not the reviewer and critics (sharks) or the public (the two tourists at the end of the book) could appreciate the true worth of his achievement. Maybe only another fisherman (Faulkner, who is a famous writer viewed Hemingway as his forerunner) could take the true measure of the mysterious world of the unknown that challenges everyone. For a large part of the book, Santiago is pulled by this giant, a mysterious creature, and yet he dose not know what is it or what it looks like. The old man can only imagine it’s strength, power, and determination. Yet he still identifies with it. Knowing it is the part of the natured order of existence, when the old man actually sees the fish he is even more amazed at it’s grandeur and size with the mystery solved. Santiago is determined to show what a man can do and what a man can endures.转贴于 酷文网-论文下载中心 http://www.coolwen.net