论海明威《老人与海》中的悲剧人物圣地亚哥

朱珩 赵谦

【Abstract】Ernest Hemingway is one of the greatest writers in American literature. His masterpiece， The Old Man and the Sea， shows us an idea that man could be destroyed， but not defeated. Santiago， the tragic hero in the novel， is a typical Hemingway hero with strong determination and willpower. His fighting against the treacherous nature， although defeated， shows people the great force of human spiritual power. Santiago serves as a typical Hemingway hero in American literature.

【Key words】Ernest Hemingway The Old Man and the Sea Santiago

I. A brief introduction of Ernest Hemingway and his masterpiece “The Old Man and the Sea”

Ernest Hemingway （1899-1961）， born in Oak Park， Illinois， is one of the greatest writers in American literature. When The Old Man and the Sea was published in 1952 to wide critical acclaim， it had been twelve years since Ernest Hemingways previous critical success when publishing For Whom the Bell Tolls. The Old Man and the Sea， however， was a popular success， selling 5.3 million copies within two days of its publication in a special edition of Life magazine. A few complaints about the stilted language of some of the Spanish transliterations came from critics. Some also found Santiagos philosophizing unrealistic. Nevertheless， the story won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1953. A year later， Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The Nobel committee singled out the stories “natural admiration for every individual who fights the good fight in a world of reality overshadowed by violence and death”. Although Hemingways writing continued to be published， much of it posthumously after the authors suicide in 1961， The Old Man and the Sea is generally considered by many to be his crowning achievement. The work was especially praised for its depiction of a new dimension to the typical Hemingway hero， less macho and more respectful of life. In Santiago， Hemingway had finally achieved a character that could face the human condition and survive without cynically dismissing it or dying while attempting to better it. In Santiagos relationship with the world and those around him， Hemingway had discovered a way to proclaim the power of love in a wider and deeper way than in his previous works.

Ⅱ. Santiago—a typical Hemingway hero

1. Analyze from the perspective of the characteristics of Santiago

This dualism is embodied in the old Cuban fisherman. Santiago is unique among Hemingway heroes. By chance， not by choice， is his manhood challenged. He is not on a battlefield or in a bullring or meeting a lions neither charge nor otherwise facing the likelihood of sudden death-nor is he recovering from a wound. With a long streak of bad luck behind him， Santiago at the start is more like， say， a farmer who has had a series of poor harvests. His predicament is that of average humanity in its day-to-day effort to keep going. That is why he is more broadly representative of the human race than any other Hemingway character. In fact， his is precisely the sort of figure so far absent from Hemingway's fiction. Of course Santiago demonstrates and lives the“code.”But， though sometimes his strife becomes violent and desperate， he is not a desperate man and is without inward violence. He is more or less at peace with himself and he is not at war with his world. His physical heroism is incidental to the routine need of earning his daily bread. Since what he endures is not edged by masochism， it never exacerbates our nerves. Naturally we feel with Santiago his hurts； but these occupy us， as they do him， more as practical impediments than badges of heroism. Besides， of all the Hemingway protagonists， Santiago is closest to nature-feels himself a part of nature； he even believes he has hands and feet and a heart like the big turtles. At first we think of him as a simple man， a primitive. Under such a guise， however， we have a wonderfully sensitive and contemplative person. He by no means lives-in Socratic phrase-the unexamined life. He asks the eternal questions. We can easily imagine another old fisherman undergoing Santiagos ordeal with equal physical courage and yet never having the surface of his mind or conscience troubled. On those vast blue waters Santiago is a speck of intense human consciousness. It is because he is so aware of himself and the world around him that he calls himself， more than once， “a strange old man. ” This is also why the boy， Mandolin， tells him，“There are many good fisherman and some great ones. But there is only you.”For the essence of Santiago's test is spiritual-a question of what shall a man believe. And the essential courage he demonstrates is moral--even intellectual--courage in his ceaseless self-examination.

2. Santiagos role from biblical perspective

By emphasizing Santiagos role as one who accepts the challenge of Jesus， we guard against making too much of the parallel at the end of the novella between Santiago and Jesus. It is true that we are pointedly reminded of Jesus crucifixion at the end of the work， but this likeness should be seen in terms of discipleship. Santiago becomes more like the Christ because he has dared to launch out into the deep. He thereby experiences tremendous victory-but also great loss. The Old Man and the Sea is a striking illustration of what is probably one of Frederic Henry's best thoughts in A Farewell to Arms：“It is in defeat that we become Christian.”4 Significantly， the young priest of that novel fails to grasp the truth of Frederics observation. The Church does not give to Hemingway's characters the direction many of them crave. The story of Santiago is an ironic counterpoint to the story of Simon Peter and the other fishermen. It is not that Christianity is irrelevant to man's needs； it is just that Hemingway came increasingly to believe that man must do what he can do alone.

3. Nietzschean interpretation of Santiago

We can begin our Nietzschean interpretation of Santiago by pointing out that Santiago， in going so far out， was participating in and therefore affirming life in the highest manner possible. Santiago is tied to the Dionysian throughout the book. Santiago knows that life itself is strange； he pays attention to the ambiguous. From the time he gets into his boat and heads `far out' his own understanding of life begins to appear more and more clearly. He thinks of the sea as feminine， expressing his love， and acknowledges the `bad things，' the hatred which he sees as necessarily tied to any true love. He also pays much attention to the second basic category of the Dionysian--the unity of all existence. The ideas of solidarity and interdependence are seen throughout the book.

Ⅲ. Conclusion

Santiago， the greatest Hemingway hero， is loved by readers from all over the world. The analysis of this character is diversified. Scholars from China and abroad analyze it from various angles. But one thing is agreed by all of them. That is， he is a typical Hemingway hero who reflects Hemingways Heroism at the most.

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