《老人与海》教案

教学目标:1、了解海明威及其创作情况。2、鉴赏老人的形象，学会从老人的行为和心理描写中把握人物形象，体会表现手法。3、学习老人的永不服输的顽强精神，培养不屈服于命运，凭着勇气、毅力和智慧在艰苦卓绝的环境里进行抗争的精神。

教学重点：1、引导学生对重点段落和人物的内心独白进行细读，揣摩小说的语言和行文特点。2、培养不屈服于命运，凭着勇气、毅力和智慧在艰苦卓绝的环境里进行抗争的精神。教学难点：由人物形象塑造理解海明威的艺术手法。难句的理解。 教学时数：2课时 教学步骤： 第一课时

一、导入新课：大家以前听过这样一句名言：“一个人并不是生来要给打败的，你尽可以把他消灭掉，可就是打不败他。”今天我们就来走进这句名言的出处《老人与海》。

二、整体感知

1、作者简介：海明威（1899—1961），一向以文坛硬汉著称。生于乡村医生家庭，从小喜欢钓鱼、打猎、音乐和绘画，18岁起进入报界，曾参加过两次世界大战，出生人死以致伤痕遍体。19xx年，他荣获诺贝尔文学奖。19xx年，因不堪老年病痛的折磨，他开枪自杀，走完了他辉煌的一生。对海明威的评价，正如约翰·肯尼迪总统的唁电所说：“几乎没有哪个美国人比欧内斯特·海明威对美国人民的感情和态度产生过更大的影响。”他称海明威为“本世纪（20世纪）最伟大的作家之一”。

海明威是美利坚民族的精神丰碑。要了解美国，你必须走近海明威，走到代表着美国民族坚强乐观的精神风范的文学长廊中来。海明威的成名作是19xx年发表的《太阳照样升起》。这部表现战后青年人幻灭感的作品成为“迷惘的一代”的代表作，其他代表作有《乞力马扎罗的雪》《丧钟为谁而鸣》（一译《战地钟声》）和以“精通现代叙事艺术”而获诺贝尔文学奖的《老人与海》。

海明威的文风一向以简洁明快著称，俗称“电报式”，他擅长用极精练的语言塑造人物。他创作风格也很独特，从来都是站着写作。以至他的墓碑上有句双关妙语：“恕我不能站起来”。他笔下的人物也大多是百折不弯的硬汉形象，尤以《老人与海》中桑提亚哥最为典型。用海明威的一句名言可以概括这类硬汉甚至其本人，乃至可涵盖美利坚民族的性格：“一个人并不是生来要给打败的，你尽可以把他消灭掉，可就是打不败他。”

2、关于《老人与海》：海明威是20世纪上半期美国著名作家和记者，也是当时“迷惘的一代”的代表作家。一方面他继承了马克·吐温的现实主义传统，一方面又在创作思想和创作方法上进行了革新，形成了独特的风格。19xx年发表的中篇小说《老人与海》是他后期的代表作，集中体现了他的创作特色。当年他获得普利策奖，两年后荣获诺贝尔文学奖。 《老人与海》的情节并不复杂。一个名叫桑地亚哥的老渔夫，连续84天没捕着一条鱼。后来，他独自一人出门远航，在海上经过三天两夜的搏斗，终于捕到一条足有一千五百多磅的大马林鱼。然而，在归航途中，一条条鲨鱼陆续围了上来，尽管老人奋力拼搏，但还是没能抵挡住凶猛鲨鱼的进攻，等他回到海岸时，大马林鱼只剩下了一副巨大的骨架。

3、重点字词

攮 颚 啐 鲭鲨 脊鳍 蚕噬 舵柄 船梢 蹂躏

拽掉 榫头 掌舵 桅杆 皮开肉绽

4、课文情节：课文节选的是老人与鲨鱼搏斗的情景，是小说临近结尾的部分，也是小说情节的高潮，约占全书的六分之一。从书中的描写，我们可以看到，老人与鲨鱼的搏斗共分五个回合。用鱼叉杀死一条灰鲭鲨，鱼叉被带走，大马林鱼被吃掉四十磅；用刀子杀死两条星鲨，大马林鱼被吃掉四分之一；用刀子杀死一条犁头鲨，刀子折断；用短棍击退两条

星鲨，大马林鱼半个身子都被咬烂了；用短棍劈打成群结队的鲨鱼，短棍丢掉又用舵把，大马林鱼再也没什么可吃的了，只剩下残骸??五个回合的搏斗结果却是一无所有，“他知道他终于给打败了，而且一点补救的办法也没有”。

第一次搏斗（详写） 第二次搏斗（详写）

迅速 星鲨 贪婪残暴

鲭鲨 漂亮 身手

脊鳍 老人 眼光

嘴唇 头脑

牙齿 智慧与勇敢

老人“可是一个人并不是生来要给打败的”

反衬手法

第三次搏斗（略写） 第四次搏斗（详写）

与鲨鱼的搏斗（略） 两条星鲨

老人自言自语（重点） 豪 迈

充满自信、充满勇气 老人 棍棒 舵

（跌宕起伏）

第五次搏斗

群鲨 群起而攻 老人 奋力搏斗 老人的高大形象 老人回到了港口

失败者？胜利者？

三、课文探究：本文的哲理和象征意味。

这是一场人与自然搏斗的惊心动魄的悲剧。老人每取得一点胜利都付出了惨重的代价，最后遭到无可挽救的失败。但是，从另外一种意义上来说，他又是一个胜利者。因为，他不屈服于命运，无论在怎么艰苦卓绝的环境里，他都凭着自己的勇气、毅力和智慧进行了奋勇的抗争。大马林鱼虽然没有保住，但他却捍卫了“人的灵魂的尊严”，显示了“一个人的能耐可以到达什么程度”，是一个胜利的失败者，一个失败的英雄。这样一个“硬汉子”形象，正是典型的海明威式的小说人物。在20世纪30年代以后发表的一些短篇小说里，海明威描写了一些拳击师、斗牛士、猎人等形象，在这些下层人物身上，他塑造了一种百折不挠、坚强不屈、敢于面对暴力和死亡的“硬汉子”性格，《老人与海》中桑地亚哥的形象就是这种性格的发展与升华。小说中的大海和鲨鱼象征着与人作对的社会与自然力量，而老人在与之进行的殊死搏斗中，表现了无与伦比的力量和勇气，不失人的尊严，虽败犹荣，精神上并没有被打败。可以说，这样一个形象，完美地体现了作者所说的“你尽可把他消灭掉，可就是打不败他”的思想。

第二课时

一、复述课文：提示：1、搏斗中的老人。2、搏斗中的大马林鱼。3、搏斗的结果。

二、难句探究：1、老人为什么说：“可是一个人并不是生来要给打败的”，“你尽可把他消灭掉，可就是打不败他”？

明确:这句话是桑地亚哥的内心独白，也是小说的核心精神，它生动地揭示了桑地亚哥的内心世界和人生追求，也是作者海明威的思想观与价值观的反映。这句话意味着，人生的使命是奋斗，是与命运做不懈的抗争。人生下来虽然面临种种自然与社会的挑战，也许这些挑战强大到足以把人的肉体消灭，但一个人只要保持旺盛的斗志和在任何艰难险阻面前不屈服的精神，人就永远是胜利者。小说中的老渔夫桑地亚哥虽然最终没能保住大马林鱼，但在与鲨鱼搏斗的过程中，他表现出无与伦比的力量和勇气，不失人的尊严，是精神上的胜利者。

2、老人在内心对大马林鱼什么态度？

明确:大马林鱼是作者讴歌的对象，文中在写老人扎死它的同时以赞扬的语气描写了它的高大和美丽。

3、文中的独白有什么特点?在文中起什么作用？

明确:本文除了有关老渔夫桑地亚哥与鲨鱼搏斗场面的描写，还有大量人物的内心独白，它们忠实地记录了桑地亚哥的内心活动，写出他在海上漂泊的这几天的心态，通过自由联想的方式，真实地再现了老人的思想与感受。这些内心独白不仅深刻揭示了主人公那内心的自豪感、坚毅以及寻求援助的孤独感，而且闪烁着深邃丰富的哲理光彩，丰富了小说的思想，构成小说的重要特色。海明威早期小说中的硬汉子多是“哑巴公牛”，言语不多，缺乏思想，而老渔夫桑地亚哥却具有丰富的内心世界，具有坚强的理性，是用思想支配行动的人，因此成为海明威小说中刻画最为成功的人物形象之一。

三、写作风格归纳：人们称海明威的作品具有“电报式风格”，在本文中，这种特点有哪些体现？

1、结构上的单纯性，人物少到不能再少，情节不枝不蔓，主人公性格单一而鲜明。本文中直接出场的人物只有老渔夫桑地亚哥一个，情节也主要是围绕大马林鱼的捕获以及因此而引来的与鲨鱼之间的搏斗，可谓单纯而集中。海明威曾经对《老人与海》的原稿进行了两百多次的校阅，正如他自己所说，“《老人与海》本来可以写成一千多页那么长，小说里有村庄中的每个人物，以及他们怎么谋生，怎样出生，受教育，生孩子等一切过程??”然而他砍伐了所有的冗言赘语，删去了所有别人写过的东西，删去了解释、讨论，甚至议论的部分，剪去了一切花花绿绿的比喻，清除了毫无生气的文章俗套，使小说单纯而集中。

2、避免使用过多的描写手法，避免过多地使用形容词，特别是华丽的辞藻，尽量采用直截了当的叙述和生动鲜明的对话，因此，句子简短，语汇准确生动。在塑造桑地亚哥这一形象时，他的笔力主要集中在真实而生动地再现老人与鲨鱼搏斗的场景上。鲨鱼的来势凶猛，老人的沉着迎战，机敏矫捷，都写得生动逼真。如写鲨鱼出现的情形，“当一大股暗黑色的血沉在一英里深的海里然后又散开的时候，它就从下面水深的地方窜上来。它游得那么快，什么也不放在眼里，一冲出蓝色的水面就涌现在太阳光下。”这段描写没有一个比喻句和形容词，但鲨鱼的凶猛、快捷，形势的紧迫却立刻展示在读者面前，清新洗练的叙述文字和反复锤炼的日常用语，使人读来有身临其境之感。文中对大海的描写粗犷简洁，犹如一幅水墨山水画，读来令人心旷神怡，美不胜收。

3、鲜明生动的动作描写和简洁的对话。海明威善于从感觉、视觉、触觉着手去刻画形象，将作者、形象与读者的距离缩短到最低限度，而且很少直接表露感情，他总是把它们凝结在简单、迅速的动作中，蕴涵在自然的行文或者简洁的对话中，由读者自己去体会。如写老人与鲨鱼搏斗的场面：“老头儿用鱼叉攮到鲨鱼头上的时候，他听得出那条大鱼身上皮开肉绽的声音。”这种描写本来都是老人的所见所闻，但读者读来便会过电一般油然而生出同样的感觉，同惊惧，同紧张，同喜悦。海明威“打定主意放手让读者去如实地吸取印象”，而“不挤到对象与读者之间去碍事”，他要让对象与读者直接沟通，这也是这篇小说的场景描写如此震撼人心的一个重要原因。

4、着力追求一种含蓄、凝练的意境。海明威曾经以冰山来比喻创作，说创作要像海上的冰山，八分之一露在上面，八分之七应该隐含在水下。露出水面的是形象，隐藏在水下的是思想感情，形象越集中鲜明，感情越深沉含蓄。另外，为使“水下”的部分深厚阔大，他还借助于象征的手法，使作品蕴涵深意。

四、拓展延伸：1、《老人与海》是一曲英雄主义的赞歌，故事中的老人已成为光辉的硬汉形象闪烁在人们的心中。他的“一个人并不是生来要给打败的”野人成为人们心中的一种图腾，你怎么看？获得了怎样的启迪？写一篇300字左右的议论短文。

2、作业：阅读原著《老人与海》，并写一篇600字左右的读后感。

第二篇：《老人与海》中的生态意识解读 ( 4.27 已修改)

上海电力学院

本科毕业设计（论文）

题 目 Ecological Interpretation of The 从《老人与海》看海明威的生态意识_ 院 系 外国语学院英语系 专业年级 英语专业2011级 学生姓名 学号 指导教师

20xx年 月 日

Ecological Interpretation of The Old Man and The Sea

By

Hu Rong

A thesis

Submitted to

English Department

College of Foreign Languages

Shanghai University of Electric Power

In partial fulfillment of the requirements

For the degree of Bachelor of Arts

Supervised by Chen Huilian

, 2015

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Professor both for his intellectual guidance and for his warm and constant encouragement during the process of writing this thesis. With patience and prudence, he labored through drafts of this thesis and pointed out defects in my theorizing. Therefore, I owe all the merits in this thesis, if any, to him, though I am fully aware that the thesis might still contain some mistakes, for which I bear the whole responsibility. lectures on discourse analysis lead me to a challenging yet fascinating domain of academic research. The profit that I gained from his profound knowledge, remarkable expertise and intellectual ingenuity will be of everlasting significance to my future research. ______ University, who kindly offered me relevant materials and whose innovative perspectives greatly assisted me in conceptualizing the present thesis.

I am also very grateful to whose careful and microscopic scrutiny of the manuscript resulted in the elimination of many inconsistencies.

Finally, big thanks go to my family, who have shared with me my worries, frustrations, and hopefully my ultimate happiness in eventually finishing this thesis

Ecological Interpretation of The Old Man and The Sea

Abstract: As the environmental crisis increases day by day, the study on the ecological works and ecological crisis of the relationship between human beings and the nature is becoming more and more valued by people. In Earnest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway displays his ecological cultural consciousness about his concern on human being’s living environment and his respect on the nature. The thesis tries to interpret Hemingway’s thoughts about the relation between human beings and the nature from the perspective of ecological literary critic and help people to abandon the human-centered value and establish correct ecological view.

Keywords: The Old Man and the Sea，ecological consciousness，human beings and nature

从《老人与海》看海明威的生态意识

摘要: 近几年来，由于环境危机的日益加剧，人们对一些关于人与自然的生态作品的重视程度也越来越高。在《老人与海》中，海明威通过他高超的写作手法向我们生动的展示了他对自然和环境的关注和尊重。本文作者试图从生态文学角度解读作品中体现的海明威对于人与自然关系的思考，从而呼吁人们摒弃以人为主的价值观树立正确的生态观念。

关键词：老人与海，生态意识，人与自然

318

Contents

Acknowledgements

Abstract

I. Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1

1.1 An Overview of Hemingway’s Life Story and Hemingway’s Works and Literary Status--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1

1.2 Background and Style of the Old man and the Sea--------------------------------------------2

1.3 The Ecological Influence of the Old man and the Sea-----------------------------------------3 II. The Natural Ecology of Hemingway in the Way of Santiago’s Living Conditions--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3

2.1 The Natural Ecology of Hemingway in the Way of Santiago’s Boat and House-------- 4

2.2 The Natural Ecology of Hemingway in the Way of Santiago’s Food --------------------4

2.3 The Natural Ecology of Hemingway in the Way of Santiago’s Clothing ----------------5 III. The Natural Ecology of Hemingway in the Way of Santiago’s Respect for Nature-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6

3.1 Santiago’s Respect for the Sea--------------------------------------------------------------------6

3.2 Santiago’s Attitude towards Fishes, Birds and Turtles-----------------------------------------6

3.3 Santiago’s Dependence on the Nature-----------------------------------------------------------7 IV. Ernest Hemingway’s Thought about Human Beings in the Old Man and the Sea-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8

4.1 Human Beings are always eager to Gain Something from the Nature and Do Something to Show Their Ability--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9

4.2 Nature is the Basic Place Where People and All Animals Live and Develop-------------10

4.3 Human Beings Need to Do Something to Protect the Nature-------------------------------11 V. Conclusion---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12

5.1 The Influence of Hemingway’s Living Background on His Works------------------------12

5.2 Hemingway’s Reverence on the Nature--------------------------------------------------------12

5.3 Hemingway’s Appeal to Protect the Nature---------------------------------------------------13 References

1. Introduction

Nowadays, our living environment is being increasingly destroyed by people, so people pay more attention to the ecological consciousness. In this case, there are numerous literary works which are related to this point appearing and The Old Man and the Sea is one of the typical works among these. This thesis will mainly interpret this work from the perspective of ecology and the author divides the thesis into three major chapters. Chapter one mainly gives importance to the analysis of Hemingway’s spiritual ecology from the perspective of Santiago’s original living environment. In chapter two, the author lays emphasis on Hemingway’s natural ecology from the point view of Santiago’s respect for nature, while in chapter three the author reveals that excessive human activities can cause damage to the natural environment and appeal for protection for the nature.

1.1 An Overview of Hemingway’s Life Story and Hemingway’s Works and

Literary Status

As an American author and journalist, Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899. He was raised in Oak Park of Illinois and both of his parents, who gave top priority to Hemingway’s early education, were better-educated. After the high school Hemingway began to report for The Kansas City Star, a local newspaper, for a short period before leaving for the front to enlist with the World War I to work as a ambulance driver. Unfortunately, he was seriously wounded in 1918 and returned home later. At the same time, it should be noted that his wartime experiences helped him form the basis for his novel A Farewell to Arms. After over two decades, Hemingway published his masterpiece The Old Man and the Sea, which gained great success at that time and also has triggered the profound thinking about the ecological environment. More importantly, his understated writing style had a significant impact on the fiction of the 20th century, while his life of adventure and his tough guy image influenced later generations deeply. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s and won the American Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954 because of the huge success of The Old Man and 1

the Sea. In general, he published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works. Also, there are some additional works of Hemingway, which were published posthumously. Most of his works are considered to be classics of American literature and have captured the interest of researchers from around the world. This is particularly the case for one of his great works The Old Man and the Sea, through which people begin to lay emphasis on the relationship between human beings and the nature.

1.2 Background and Style of the Old man and the Sea

Hemingway is a writer who writes many ecological works and The Old Man and the Sea is a typical example. He finished this work in his late lifetime and recognized it as the best work that he had written in his lifetime. In fact, the famous work derives from Hemingway’s life experience: In his early life, Hemingway and his good friend went to Cuba together and on their way to Cuba they came across an old man and a little child who were catching a blue marlin. This everyday scene left a deep impression on him and after coming back home Hemingway wrote down the experience with his imagination into a story and entitled it as The Old Man and the Sea. This story described an old fisherman called Santiago who lived on fishing on the sea and went to the sea to catch fish for successive 84 days without catching any fish; however, he didn’t lose confidence and continued to go fishing on the sea. Finally, he caught a big marlin with his desperate struggle against the fish. Nevertheless, on his way back home the sharks coming to chase the big marlin and bit it savagely so that when Santiago went back to the port the fish was left nothing but a skeleton, although he had hit those sharks with all his strengthen exerted. The plot of this story is simple but its meaning is profound. Through a detailed description of the battle between Santiago and the big Marlin, it actually reveals the indestructible spiritual power of human beings and also the powerfully destructive force of nature.. In this work, Hemingway exerted on contemporary style and avoided complicated syntax which means that he chose to use everyday words which are appropriate and vivid. About 70 percent of the sentences in this story are written in simple sentences 2

to simplify his type of writing. This helps to portray the character of Santiago of few words and exaggerate the tension of the fight between the old man and the big Marlin, which highlights the theme of the novel.

1.3 The Ecological Influence of the Old man and the Sea

In The Old Man and the Sea, Earnest Hemingway describes nature with his unique writing skills. Hemingway’s natural ecological consciousness can be easily seen through the interpretation of this work from the ecological aspect. Hemingway has such a long-term view that he has appealed people to protect our nature in the long past. In the current society, globalization is the necessary trend and under the influence of commercial economy, the environment is severely polluted and the ecology is severed damaged. Therefore, Hemingway’s work makes people think a lot. For a long term, people always seek for things from the nature and they change it according to their own will and hope that nature can serve people at its largest scale. However, this has brought the nature’s punishment to us. Based on the analysis of the ecological interpretation of The Old Man and the Sea, it is easy for us to find out the ecological influence of this masterpiece. Hemingway is telling us that human beings and the nature are equal, they are closely connected to each other, people can live without nature and they are sure to be punished if they disobey the natural rules. Therefore, the ecological interpretation of The Old Man and the Sea has a profound influence on people’s behaviors and on the literary works later on.

Chapter 2 The Natural Ecology of Hemingway in the Way of Santiago’s Living Conditions

At the beginning of the 20th century, the industrial revolution got to its climax in America, a plenty of autos moved to the countryside, hills, forests and fields to make up the road net and the natural environment was severely damaged. “Our forebears went to America because it was a place worthy to be”, Hemingway writes in his Africa Hills: “That used to be a good place, but we destroyed it into a mass.” (Hemingway 1952) As Santiago mentions in The Old Man and the Sea in order to 3

save the natural resources: “One can be destroyed, but can’t be defeated” (Hemingway 1952), it makes readers feel his brave and resistance. Santiago is a man who has strong will but he is satisfied to live a simple life.

2.1 The Natural Ecology of Hemingway in the Way of Santiago’s Boat and House

In The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway pays closer attention to the description of the minimalist living condition of Santiago and describes his living conditions as the follows: first of all, it is about his fish boat. He is a common old man living alone on the flat bottom boat living on fishing, and there are some patches on the flour bags which seem to symbolize his failure. This is due to the fact that although the old man killed the big Marlin, his fruit of success was eventually destroyed by sharks, which represents the power of nature. Secondly, it is about his house. The little boy walks towards the house of the old man and enters it through the open door. The old man leans his poles surrounded by sails against the wall, the boy carries the wood box and other furniture besides it and the pole is as long as the single house, on the gray wall which is made of unfolded cast leaves, there is a colorful picture of Jesus and a Kefulai Madonna figure, which is the inherit of his wife. On the wall, there is always a picture of his wife. Through these descriptions of the old man’s house, it is not difficult to find out that he is living in an extremely original environment. All of the detailed descriptions of protagonist’s poor fishing equipment and the shabby house not only reflected his frugality but also revealed his ecological consciousness, as the people in the same town with him have already replaced the old items with the advanced ones and also lived with a high quality of life through extensive fishing. By contrast, Santiago always catches a small quantity of fish due to his ecological consciousness and respect for the nature.

2.2 The Natural Ecology of Hemingway in the Way of Santiago’s Food

Other aspects of Santiago written by Hemingway can also reflect the protagonist’s spiritual ecology. In the following, it is about Santiago’s diet. When he is at home, it is his appetence Mandolin who sends him some black bean rice, fried 4

banana and some other dishes. Before Santiago goes to the sea, he will enjoy the hot coffee and it is the diet of him for the whole day, so he knows that he should drink it up. For a lone period, he feels bored on eating, and therefore, he never takes lunch with him. He deposits a bottle of water on the head of the boat and for the entire day, he only drinks the bottle of water. In the process of his catching fish, when he needs to add up to his vigor he eats the raw tuna. He often takes up half of the tuna and puts it into his mouth chewing slowly. The tuna tastes delicious and he chews it carefully and swallows up all the liquor. He thinks that it would be better if he adds up some orange juice or some lemon juice or some salt.

2.3 The Natural Ecology of Hemingway in the Way of Santiago’s Clothing

The natural ecological consciousness of Hemingway can also be viewed from the clothing Santiago wears in the novel. As for his clothes, it should be noted that the patches on his shirts are numerable which are lie his sail, however, all these patches are shined by the sun making them different colors. Santiago cares little about his clothes; on the contrary, he pays closer attention to the inner cultivation.

At the beginning of 1950s, six or seven years after the Second World War, America was walking towards a flourisher and stronger future. Some Americans begin to pursue luxury, they spend money without limits and they are fascinated into enjoying the living way. The hero image that Hemingway creates, the protagonist named Santiago in the story lives a life which is similar to the original life, but he never complains about the simple and poor life he lives. It is not difficult to find out the intention of Hemingway through his description of Santiago. Hemingway hopes that through his description on the simple life of Santiago, he advocates people to live a simple and saving life and at the same time, he resists against people’s endless pursuit from the nature and pursuits a harmonious co-existence between human beings and the nature. The natural resource is rich but it is also limited, in the past, people took it as an honor to enjoy luxury life and they do not have the consciousness to protect the ecological balance, to some extent, it is limited by the historical conditions of the thoughts of the former people, and what’s worse, this wrong thought 5

leads to the habitual thought of people. Human beings’ over-consumption of the natural resources leads to the disasters and pains to modern people. Therefore, the ecological consciousness that Hemingway expresses in his works in the early time is advancing, it is an advancing consciousness which has foresight and significant meaning.

3. The Natural Ecology of Hemingway in the Way of Santiago’s Respect for Nature

In The Old Man and the Sea, the protagonist Santiago expresses his ecological consciousness which respects the nature through several aspects, and this helps to enhance the theme of the novel.

3.1 Santiago’s Respect for the Sea

Ecological holism is the core idea of ecological literature. The nature is a whole, and all the species in this system are bound together. Therefore, it is necessary for people to tackle problems from the perspective of whole ecological interests. In The Old Man and the Sea, the vast sea is colorful and attractive, and it is a place where countless lives, including human beings and marine creatures, coexist and integrate with each other. The old man loves the ocean deeply and always regards the ocean as a female who gives or sometimes are unwilling to give people benefits, and if she does anything that is immoral to human beings, then it is because she is unwilling to do it. At the same time, it is worth noting that the old man could deal with all these changes caused by the sea peacefully without being angry with it. At night, the moon influences it to a large extent which seems like treating a woman. The ocean is kind and beautiful so the old man appraises the ocean with all his heart. The sea just symbolizes the nature and the old man expresses his deep understanding and knowledge of the natural world.

3.2 Santiago’s Attitude towards Fishes, Birds and Turtles

It is due to his correct understanding to the natural world that he is full of love to 6

all the living things in it. The old man loves fishes very much since fish is the main friend that he has on the sea. Sometimes, he is sad for birds, especially those weak black sea gulls that are flying all the time looking for food but hardly had they find one. Therefore, Santiago thinks that the birds are living a much harder life than us except those big terrible and powerful birds. He is sad for all the turtles, even including those big turtles that are as long as the boats and weight more than a ton. Most of the time, people are cool to turtles since once a turtle is killed and anatomized, its heart will keep on beating for several hours. Santiago thinks that among all the crimes, to kill someone is the most severe crime and among all the virtues, no killing is the most important. Nevertheless, the old man considers that he has such a heart but he also has the same cruel hands and feet as them. In the night, there are two dolphins swimming to the boat, when Santiago hears their writhing and spraying sound, he can distinguish whether it is a female dolphin or a male dolphin. “All of them are heroes” says he. “They play, fight and love each other. They are our brothers just like the flying fish”. Then a little bird flies to the boat to take a rest. The old man asks it “how old are you? Is this the first time that you go out? Take a good rest, my little bird.” (Hemingway 1952)

Santiago is a man who respect all the non-human lives, he treats all these creatures as of the equal importance as his own life and the human beings’ life. In his opinion, the flying fish, the turtles, the dolphins, the little birds and the sea gulls as well as the marlins are all the brothers and sisters of human beings. Human is only a part that consists the natural living circle and it is not superior or inferior to any other living things, therefore, people have no right to destroy the living circle. Santiago’s thoughts subvert the traditional people-centered thought. All of these descriptions reveals Santiago’s sympathetic attitude towards these creatures.

3.3 Santiago’s Dependence on the Nature

As mentioned before, the old man often regards fish as his brothers that have the same status with him. He hopes that he can feed that big marlin because it is his brother. However, he feels sad to kill his brothers and sisters on the sea because he 7

has to do that. The old man’s view of nature is original, and he admits that the nature is great and numbers between species are equal distributed and human’s survival depends on the material exchange between men and the nature. Paradoxically, he believes that no one has the right to eat the big fish and destroy the nature. In this case, during the process of killing the big Marlin, his heart was filled with the sense of guilt continuously. However, he also kept excusing himself “Do not think about sin…, you were born to be a fisherman as the fish was born to be a fish…everything kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it kills me alive.” (Hemingway 1952) In the process of struggling, the old man regards the big marlin that he has caught as his real competitor. “It is two inches longer than this little boar” says the old man. “It is such a calm and strong fish which seems to fear nothing and very confident.” “Oh, my dear fish, you are dead meat. Are you going to kill me, too?” That big fish starts to struggle and although it is dying, it still jumps high into the sky from the sea showing completely of its amazing length and width as well as its power and beauty. “I am a tired old guy but I kill this big marlin, it is my brother and now I have to do hard job.” (Hemingway 1952) It is true that the old man has to make a living by killing fish which belong to the nature although he pays high tribute to the natural environment at the same time. In order to gain his dignity and get good prices from the big Marlin, he tried his best and nearly lost his live, but there is noting to criticize. Apart from the substance dependence on the nature, Santiago also showed his psychological dependence on it. It is easy to find out that he always feels satisfied and happy when staying with these non-human lives, such as fish, birds and turtles. In a word, Santiago depends on the nature both materially and psychologically.

Chapter 4 Ernest Hemingway’s Thought about Human Beings in the Old Man and the Sea

No matter in America during the 20th century or in the globalizing society today, the advanced ecological protection consciousness has a significance effect on the whole nature and the economic growth. However, people-centrism considers that human being is the master of the earth all the time and human beings grasp all the 8

rights to kill creatures, which proves to be a fault at last.

4.1 Human Beings are always eager to Gain Something from the Nature and Do Something to Show Their Ability

In general, human beings take all the non-human animals as their food and even begin to chase the close relatives of people, which are monkeys and they feed on Paguma larvata. These human beings intend to do it to show they have the ability to dominate the world. However, this kind of behavior is not only inhuman but also have a detrimental effect on the ecosystem, because it is well-known that the nature is a whole comprehensive integrity, and once the ecological balance is broken, there will be numerous disasters appearing. Even worse, the nature’s revenge towards people can come one by one. For example, AIDS virus permeates the globe rapidly, and SARS takes away thousands of people’s lives in a short time. Don’t human beings deserve these? Hemingway respect human beings’ life in his subconscious and the reverence of lives is the basic guarantee for human to sustain the duration of the creature and it is also the key to protect the ecological balance. Natural environment is the best nourishing product for human’s spirit, just as French writer Moiré says “the broadest and most humane refuge is the nature.”(Wang 2003)

In this story, when the old man is being attacked by the sharks, he finally realized that he has made a mistake that he has been gone so far that he enters into the field that does not belong to him. It is a big mistake to offend the nature and thus man will be punished by the nature; as mentioned earlier, here the nature refers to the sharks, which destroyed the old man’s big fish cruelly. According to this phenomenon, Engels once said that: "We should not be too reveled in our success over the nature since each time we achieve a success, the nature will take revenge to us. Each time we achieve success, in the first step, we get the expected result. Nevertheless, things get quite different in the second and third steps. Unexpected results occur and they take place of the first result". (Zhu 1997) Also, in the point of view of Hemingway, human beings and the nature have their separate fields, and therefore human beings should not surpass their own field to offend the nature; otherwise, they will be punished and 9

swallow up their evil consequence.

4.2 Nature is the Basic Place Where People and All Animals Live and Develop The nature is an independent unity, all the living things have connection with the unity, and therefore, we should view human beings and the creatures in the world from the perspective of the entire ecological interest. People can find out the implied meaning in the struggle between the old man and the sea. The old man kills the huge marlin which symbolizes that human beings can overcome the nature through their wisdom and power, and the attack of the sharks symbolizes the revenge of the nature to human beings and eventually, human beings are sank into a dangerous situation. Marxist philosophy tells us that: "Human beings can use the nature, reform the nature but they can not conquer the nature." The protagonist Santiago holds the attitude that man can be destroyed but can not be defeated. The widely used saying may be accepted in individual cases under the social background and it shows Hemingway's tragic spirit. Santiago is unyielding man that Hemingway creates which is the so called Hemingway Hero, however, since it is meaningful, the saying is not only personally, viewing it through the relationship between human beings and the nature, it is ridiculous. Now that the man has been destroyed, how can he not be defeated? Therefore, we should remember that the nature can be ruined, but it can not be conquered. The nature breeds everything so each individual should follow the rules of nature. In the novel, the old man makes a deep exploration on the reasons that lead to his failure: "What do you think defeats you?" "Nothing, I have been too far on the sea." (Hemingway 1952) He says that "too far" for four times. The famous American literary scholar Miller once points out that: "In a novel, words that have been mentioned for two or more than two times may not be true, but readers can suppose that it is meaningful broadly." The sentence occurs in the novel several times and it is not by accident and it is the writer's intention. Although the sentence is simple, it shows the natural ecological view of Hemingway. The old man goes to the sea for successive eighteen days without getting anything, which is not a failure by accident. In fact, human beings are defeated by the nature and they are a part of the nature. All 10

the things in the world are mutually connected, if people destroy the natural environment that is connected to their lives and of vital importance, then people will walk to a breakdown of the ecological system. As Engels says that we should not be over reveled in our success over the nature since the nature takes revenge to us on each success we achieve. In The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway implies that the tragedy of the struggle between human beings and the nature as well as human beings and the environment is warning us that destroying the nature will lead to strict punishment. In this way, it is necessary for people to realize the dire consequence of conquering the nature excessively. Establishing mutually respectful relationships with the nature can be beneficial to the natural environment and also the human society. It is also called a win-win relationship.

4.3 Human Beings Need to Do Something to Protect the Nature

The Old Man and the Sea is one of Earnest Hemingway’s famous works which describe nature. In this novel, although Santiago dared to catch the big fish which is a symbol of nature, he also showed his respect for the nature during the struggle. For instance, on the first day when struggling with the big Marlin, the old man kept saying”...respect you very much.” With the further battle between Santiago and the fish, he began to show stronger respect for his rival, and he said “You are killing me, fish…, but you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or nobler thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who cares who”. In the process of killing fish, Santiago expressed his feeling of guilt but also showed his tough guy image. However, in the end, the marlin he caught was eaten by the sharks only leaving its skeleton. He had to take the skeleton back home although it was a symbol of his failure against the nature. Faced with the eventual failure, the old man repeated “I went too far out.” (Hemingway 1952) Through this story, it is easy for readers to realize that the consequence of conquering nature can be horrible and even destructive. Therefore, one of Hemingway’s aims to write this story was to appeal human beings to treat the creatures in the nature equally and protect them. Only in this way can human beings achieve a harmonious status with the 11

creatures as well as the nature.

Chapter 5 Conclusion

The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway’s famous works that describe nature, through the analysis of this novel from the perspective of ecological consciousness, it is easy for readers to find out Hemingway’s ecological consciousness. The paper mainly analyzes Hemingway’s natural ecological consciousness through his description of Santiago’s respect for nature and through Santiago’s living conditions, then the author analyzes Ernest Hemingway’s thought about human beings in his work, Hemingway is a great writer since he has the ecological consciousness in his ear, which is advanced. His living background has a great number of influence on his works, therefore, Hemingway has reverence on the nature, he appeals people to protect the nature in order to construct a harmonious living environment for people.

5.1 The Influence of Hemingway’s Living Background on His Works

Hemingway was born in the Oak Town located in the suburbs of Chicago. Due to his living environment, he has natural connection with the nature all his lifetime, so most of his works have something to do with nature. Therefore, nature means a lot to him, during his lifetime, Ernest Hemingway creates a great number of works related to nature. The Old Man and the Sea is one of the representatives of Hemingway's Iceberg Theory and has triggered comprehensive thinking.

5.2 Hemingway’s Reverence on the Nature

This masterpiece has a profound influence on people and it has a rich connotation. It is worthy to explore and interpret its thought and spirit. Santiago, the unyielding guy that Hemingway creates dares to face challenges, hardships and dangers and never yield to difficulties is only the small part that is discovered of the iceberg. The thesis explores the deep meaning of the novel from a new perspective. In the Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway expresses his reverence on the nature by 12

describing the process of the old man struggled with a big fish. In this story, Santiago represents human beings, while the big Marlin and other creatures constitute the nature. After a hard fight against the big fish, the old man killed it. However, his fruit of victory was finally destroyed by sharks, which represent the revenge from the nature that derives from human greed and destruction. Although the old man has to seek material assistance from the nature, he pays high tribute to the nature at the same time. His simple lifestyle and psychological activities while fishing all show his sympathetic attitudes towards these creatures. He also strictly implies his ecological consciousness to establish a harmonious society where non-human creatures have equal status with human beings, and his reverence on all the non-human creatures has surpassed others' reflection about it.

5.3 Hemingway’s Appeal to Protect the Nature

As for people of today, Santiago's reflection is enlightening. In the modern world, people only lay emphasis on the economic growth while ignoring the protection of the natural environment, which leads to the resource shortage, environmental pollution and even human diseases. In order to build a healthy society for a long run, human beings should save resources and respect all the living things in the world, because all of the living things on the earth are equal. After all, it is too late to tackle problems when the widespread damage caused. Therefore, it is significant to raise human beings’ environmental awareness to achieve a better result. Only in this way can people live harmoniously with the nature and protect themselves. To summarize, for the good of the whole society, both of the individuals and authorities ought to take steps and the situation is more likely to change for the better.

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