Abstract

The Old Man and the Sea, one of Hemingway’s best known works, has a far-reaching influence on the world literature. Hemingway successfully shaped the image of Santiago with complexity. The paper is to focus on his elegance, maturity, heroism as well as bravery, praising his strong desire for victory and success when facing the setbacks and adversity in which ordinary people could not bear and acclaiming the unyielding spirit of human beings confronted with the misfortune. The thesis will firstly introduce briefly Hemingway, the social background of his life, and The Old Man and the Sea. The second part will give a full coverage of the protagonist’s different images---as a code hero and a tragic figure. In the third part, other aspects of Santiago’s character, such as his image of a Christ-like figure and a sexist will be discussed. Finally, the conclusion is made that the character of Santiago had great complexity. 

Key words: complexity of character, different images, adversity

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

I. Introduction-1

1.1 Introduction to Ernest Hemingway-1

1.1.1 Life of Ernest Hemingway-1

1.1.2 The social background of his era-2

1.2 Introduction to The Old Man and the Sea-3

II. Different Images of Santiago-4

2.1 Santiago as a “code hero”-4

2.1.1 Grace under pressure-4

2.1.2 “A man can be destroyed but not defeated”-5

2.2 Santiago as a tragic figure-6

2.2.1 Solitary circumstance-6

2.2.2 Unfortunate fate-7

Ⅲ. Diverse Aspects of Santiago’s Character-8

3.1 As a hero-8

3.2 As a Christ-like figure-9

3.3 As a sexist-10

Ⅳ. Conclusion-10

References-11