Symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea
文學評論
作者：嚴耀洲 倪家如
摘 要：本文是關於《老人與海》中的象征主義。內容非常簡單， 但是海明威運用簡單的詞彙，簡單的句子結構和簡單的邏輯關係顯示了一個基本的尊嚴—人可以被毀滅，但不能被打敗。大海被視為老人居住的環境，鯊魚被視為邪惡的力量，馬林魚是老人的成就和夢想。還有其他的因素，如獅子，鷹和金槍魚都分別具有象征的意義。基於上述分析，最後一部分得出結論——通過《老人與海》中象征主義的運用揭示了其中蘊含的樂觀主義精神。
關鍵詞：象征主義；老人；大海；樂觀主義
[中圖分類號]：I106 [文獻標識碼]：A
[文章編號]：1002-2139（2012）-21-0-02
While the sea is regarded as the environment and the society that the old man lives in， with the shark， as the evil force and the marlin， as the old man’s achievement and dream. Also other factors such as the lion， eagle and tuna have symbolical meaning respectively. Based on the above analysis， the last part comes to the conclusion that—The spirit of optimism is revealed by the employment of symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea.
Ⅰ. Introduction
The Old Man and the Sea is a novel written by the American writer Ernest Hemingway in 1952， which again confirmed Hemingway’s unshakeable status as a novelist in the United States. The protagonist is Santiago， an old fisherman. This novel is highly praised. Especially the symbolism in this novel is widely talked about.
.No wonder that The Old Man and the Sea， which is considered as the most excellent simple article in this generation， is a masterpiece of the unyielding man—Hemingway. But with regard to symbolism， it has been talked differently. The Protagonist， the living environment， the sea， the shark， the marlin are not themselves but something with significant symbolical meanings. So the most important factor to be discovered in this thesis is its symbolism.
Hemingway lived in a society that was full of wars and uncertainties. He had suffered cold shoulder and attack almost ten years in the commentary field. In order to prove his dissatisfaction with the world， Hemingway wrote a novel， that is The Old Man and the Sea. At that time， symbolism is expanded from circle of poem into the field of literature. So the distinctive writing style of Hemingway’s works is his symbolism. Here its symbolism will be analyzed thoroughly through some aspects.
Ⅱ. Definition of Symbolism
Like romanticism， classicism， symbolism also has a broad meaning. Originating in France in the 19th century， symbol is an art of expressing thoughts and feelings， but describes them indirectly.1