The old man and the sea.doc

The old man and the sea Contents 1. Author2. Background3. Plot summary4. Comment5. Our feeling【About the author】Ernest Hemingway (July 21, 1899 July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. He was part of the 1920s expatriateeksptrieit community in Paris, as well as the veterans of World War One later known as the Lost Generation迷惘的一代, as described in his posthumous pstjums （死后出版的）memoirmemw: (自传，回忆录)A Moveable Feast流动的圣餐. He received the Pulitzer Prize(普利策奖)in 1953 for The Old Man and the Sea and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.Hemingways distinctive writing style is characterized by economy and understatement, in contrast to the style of his literary rival William Faulkner(威廉福克纳). It had a significant influence on the development of twentieth-century fiction writing. His protagonistsprutgnist（主人公） are typically stoic stuik (坚忍的) men who exhibit an ideal described as “grace under pressure”. Many of his works are now considered canonical knnikl （权威的）in American literature.【Writing Background】 The Old Man and the Sea is based on a true story. After World War II, Hemingway moved to Cuba, and met an old fisherman who named Gregorio Fuentes（格雷戈里奥富恩特斯）. In 1930, Hemingway was in danger because of the storm and Fuentes rescued him. Since then, they strike up a profound（深厚的） friendship, and often took a skiff far onto the sea together. In 1936, Fuentes went far onto the sea and catches a big fish, but the fish was too large, so he was hard to tow it from the sea. When he went back, the fish was attacked by sharks and then just left only a skeleton. In the blue sea在蓝色的海洋上which published in Classic magazine老爷杂志 by Hemingway had reported this experience. At that time it gave a deep touch to Hemingway, and he realized that it was a good novel material, but he had no chance to write it. Shortly after Christmas in 1950, Hemingway had a strong creative desire. Then in the villa of the Viewing Club“观景社” in Havana, Cuba, he began to write The Old Man and the Sea (originally called the existing sea现有的海). By the end of February 23, 1951, he just spent eight weeks in completing the first draft. In April, Hemingway sent the manuscript：mnjuskript（原稿） to his friends to read who came to Cuba to visit him, and Hemingway won unanimousjunnims （一致的）praise. Hemingway also thought that this was the best work which he could write of his whole life. 【Plot summary】 The Old Man and the Sea tells an epic epik （壮丽的）battle between an old, experienced fisherman and a giant marlin. It opens by explaining that the fisherman, who is named Santiago, has gone 84 days without catching any fish at all. He is so unlucky that his young apprentice(学徒), Manolin, has been forbidden by his parents to sail with the old man and been ordered to fish with more successful fishermen. However, the boy visits Santiagos shack each night, getting him food and discussing American baseball and his favorite player Joe DiMaggio. Santiago tells Manolin that on the next day, he will venture far out into the Gulf to fish, confident that his unlucky streak is near its end.Thus on the eighty-fifth day, Santiago sets out alone, taking his skiff far onto the Gulf. He sets his lines into the sea, then by noon of the first day, a big fish that he is sure is a marlin takes his bait（饵）.Then on the third day of the ordeal:di:l（严酷的考验）, the fish begins to circle the skiff, indicating his tiredness to the old man. Santiago, uses all the strength to pull the fish onto its side and stab the marlin with a harpoon, ending the long battle between the old man and the tenacioustineis (顽强的)fish. Santiago straps the marlin to the side of his skiff and heads home, thinking about the high price the fish will bring him at the market and how many people he will feed.While Santiago continues his journey back to the shore, sharks are attracted to the trail of blood left by the marlin in the water. The first, a great mako shark, Santiago kills with his harpoon, losing that weapon in the process. He makes a new harpoon by strapping his knife to the end of an oar（桨） to help ward off the next line of sharks; in total, five sharks are slain and many others are driven away. But the sharks keep coming, and by nightfall the sharks have almost devoured the marlins entire carcass k: ks（尸体）, leaving a skeleton. Finally reaching the shore before dawn on the next day, Santiago struggles on the way to his shack, carrying the heavy mast(桅杆) on his shoulder. Once home, he slumps（倒下） onto his bed and falls into a deep sleep.A group of fishermen gather the next day around the boat where the fishs skeleton is still attached. One of the fishermen measures it to be 18feet (5.5m) from nose to tail. Tourists at the nearby cafe mistakenly take it for a shark. Manolin, worried during the old mans endeavor, cries upon finding him safe asleep. The boy brings him newspapers and coffee. When the old man wakes, they promise to fish together once again. Upon his return to sleep, Santiago dreams of his youthof lions on an African beach.【Comment】Like most great stories, this novel can be read on more than one level of meaning. On one it is an exciting but tragic adventure story. On another level the book is a fable of the unconquerable spirit of man a man how to snatch spiritual victory from circumstances of disaster and material defeat. On still another it is a parable of religious significance, its theme supported by the writers unobtrusive nbtru:siv（不引人注目的） handling of Christian symbols and metaphors.【Our feeling】To be honest, we dont like to read the book, because its a little boring. But we learn much truth from the book. For example, the protagonistthe old fisherman shows us his precious spirit. When he fought against the sharks, he behaved very valiant. He neve