book review on old man and the seaWord文件下载.docx

1、After his first success in the literary world, Hemingway married and divorced three times. His fourth wife was Mary Welsh. During the 1930s he spent time in Spain and Africa and resided in Key West, Florida, where he gained a reputation as a sportsman and athlete. He fought bulls in Spain, hunted in

2、 Africa and fished in Florida. The main character of Santiago in Old Man and the Sea was based on someone he encountered during his fishing adventures on the Gulf Stream. While on his boat, he and his friend Carlos Gutierrez （the first skipper of his boat the Pilar） encountered a fisherman and a boy

3、 being dragged through the sea in a rickety boat, struggling against a big fish. The old man refused any help from Hemingway and his skipper. The story first appeared as an anecdote in an article in Esquire called On the Blue Water, in April 1936.The tale of the old, courageous fisherman is also sai

4、d by critics to reflect the author himself. Gary Brenner described Santiago as the aging author Hemingway and the Marlin as his noble and beautiful published works. Others recognize Hemingways love of gallantry. Sean O Faolain is quoted by Carlos Baker as saying that Hemingway trotted the globe in s

5、earch of the flame of the spirit in men and beasts. In Old Man and the Sea, this flame is a characteristic of both Santiago and the Marlin.In 1942, Hemingway volunteered himself and his fishing boat for Navy projects off the west coast of Cuba - a suicide mission to destroy U-Boats there for two yea

6、rs. He was also a correspondent on the loyalist side in the Spanish Civil War. In 1944 he went to England, where he worked as a correspondent and went on missions with the RAF （Royal Air Force）. After D-Day, he joined the First Army. He suffered several injuries during World War II. After the War, H

7、emingway lived in Havana until Fidel Castros revolution forced him out of the country. Old Man and the Sea （1952） was Hemingways last published work, and he received the Nobel Prize in 1954. After being kicked out of Cuba, he returned to Spain for one last rendezvous at the bullfights. Towards the e

8、nd of his life, Hemingway suffered a lot of pain - high blood pressure, enlarged liver and faintness, depression and withdrawal. He bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho in 1961 where he planned to finally settle down. Ultimately, he was unable to endure his pain. Ernest Hemingway was driven to suicide o

9、n July 2, 1961. BibliographyBaker, Carlos. Hemingway: The Writer as Artist. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1952.Brenner, Gerry. The Old Man and the Sea: Story of a Common Man. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1991.Fuentes, Norberto. Hemingway in Cuba. New Jersey: Lyle Stuart Inc, 1984.Hemingway,

10、 Ernest. Old Man and the Sea. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1952.Unger, Leonard （Ed.）. American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies, vol. 2. New York:s Sons, 1974.The Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 14. Danbury CT: Grolier, 1995.Plot SummaryIn a small fishing village in Cuba, Santiago, an

11、 old, weathered fisherman has just gone 84 days without catching a fish. On the 85th day, he is determined to catch a big, impressive fish. For years, Santiago has been fishing with a young boy named Manolin. Manolin started fishing with the old man when he was only 5 years old. Santiago is like Man

12、olins second father, and has taught the young boy everything about fishing. Manolin is extremely loyal to Santiago and makes sure that the old man is always safe, fed and healthy. Manolins parents, however, force the boy to leave Santiago and fish on a more lucrative fishing boat. Manolin does not w

13、ant to leave Santiago, but must honor his duty to his parents. On the new boat, Manolin catches several fish within the first few days. Santiago, meanwhile, decides to head out on the Gulf Stream alone. He feels the 85th day will be lucky for him. He sets out on his old, rickety skiff. Alone on the

14、water, Santiago sets up his fishing lines with the utmost precision, a skill that other fisherman lack. Finally, he feels something heavy tugging at one of his lines. A huge Marlin has found Santiagos bait and this sets off a very long struggle between the two. The Marlin is so huge that it drags Sa

15、ntiago beyond all other boats and people - he can no longer see land from where the fish drags him. The struggle takes its toll on Santiago. His hands become badly cramped and he is cut and bruised from the force of the fish. Santiago and the Marlin become united out at sea. They are attached to eac

16、h other physically, and in Santiagos case, emotionally. He respects and loves the Marlin and admires its beauty and greatness. He sees the fish as his brother. Despite this, Santiago has to kill it. He feels guilty killing a brother, but after an intense struggle in which the fish drags the skiff ar

17、ound in circles, Santiago harpoons the very large fish and hangs it on the side of his boat. He feels brave, like his hero Joe DiMaggio, who accomplished great feats despite obstacles, injuries or adversities.After enjoying a few moments of pride, a pack of sharks detects the blood in the water and

18、follow the trail to Santiagos skiff. Santiago has to fend off each shark that goes after his prized catch. Each shark takes a huge bite out of the Marlin, but the old man fends them off, himself now bruised, but alive. He sails back to shore with the carcass of his Marlin. He is barely able to walk

19、and slowly staggers back to his hut, where he falls into bed. The next morning, the boy finds his mentor and cries when he looks at Santiagos bruised hands. He promises he will reject his parents wishes and vows to fish with Santiago again.Major CharactersSantiago: The hero of the story. He is an ol

20、d Cuban fisherman who is a perfectionist when it comes to fishing. Despite his precise methods, he has no luck at sea. Santiago wants to be unique: a greater and stranger person than his peers out at sea. He loves baseball and dreams of lions. He is alone, except for the company of Manolin. He is de

21、termined to catch one big fish.Manolin: The young boy who is a disciple of Santiago and who takes care of him. His parents prefer that he work with more successful fishermen, but as he becomes his own man, he chooses to be loyal to Santiago.Marlin: The Marlin is the big fish that Santiago desperatel

22、y wants and needs to catch. It is an awesome fish that impresses the old man. Because of the fishs greatness, he becomes like a brother to Santiago Minor CharactersManolins Parents: The parents of the young boy. They want their son to abandon Santiago and fish with fishermen who are more successful

23、and will earn more money. Manolin is torn between his duty to them and his loyalty to the old man. Local Fishermen: The fishermen in town who either laugh at or pity Santiago. They are not as precise in technique as the old man, but they catch more fish.Objects/PlacesSkiff : The old, rickety boat on

24、 which Santiago sails.Joe DiMaggio: Santiagos idol. A New York Yankee （whose father was a fisherman） who always performed his best, despite injuries and obstacles.lions: The great creatures on the beaches of Africa about which Santiago dreams. Santiago loves great and majestic animals and considers

25、them as his peers.sea: Santiago thinks of the sea as a feminine creature because it is temperamental and emotional. Santiago is at one with nature.sharks: Creatures that attack Santiago, his skiff and the Marlin as they head back towards the shore. They tear up the flesh of the Marlin and take some

26、of the glory of victory away from the old man.QuotesQuote 1: Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated. Page 10Quote 2:There are many good fishermen and some great ones. But there is only one you. Page 23Quote 3:He no longer

27、 dreamed of storms, nor of women , nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy. Page 25Quote 4:But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as