The Spirit of the Unyielding Warrior in American Literature — Take “The Old Man and The Sea” for Example开题报告

1. 研究目的与意义

There are two reason why I choose this topic. On one hand, The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway#8217;s representative work, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. Santiago, the main character of the book, became his typical literary image. This novel was so successful that it aroused interest of a lot of readers and critics. This novel gave readers a real man who is brave, strong-willed through a seemingly simple process of Santiago''s fishing. He dares to accept any challenge and has a noble faith. In face with difficulties, he sticks to his philosophy of life: the meaning of life lies in keeping fighting instead of success or failure. Fighting is the best embodiment of the spirit of tough guy When facing failure or even death, a man should still believe it firmly that a man can be destroyed physically but can never be defeated mentally. Death, as part of the chain of life which cannot be avoided, is human''s eternal fate. Human beings are in pursuit of life all the time, but they also have to accept the trial of death. As one of the greatest writers in the twentieth Century, Hemingway has a different feeling to death. He turned his life experiences into words, and once clearly said: life is a process towards death, but the one who are pursuing the original meaning of life was sure to be able to face the death, and can respond to it with dignity. In The Old Man and the Sea, the old fisherman Santiago is a good representative of the author''''''''''''''''s spirit. In face of voidable death, Santiago still believes: a man can be destroyed, but not defeated. From the previous studies, it is seen that though critics have studied Hemingway and his novel The Old Man and the Sea in various perspectives, few of them have studied the never-say-die spirit of Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea. On the other hand, through Santiago''''''''''''''''s image, it is learned that it is extremely important to find an appropriate way to pursue life in the world and live a rich and noble unshakable determination, unbeatable spirit and immortal spirit life. In modern times, it can not be avoided that there will be a lot of difficulties. Some may come from work, and others may be from daily study. It can provide the modern people with spirit of encountering difficulties bravely and actively as Santiago does.

2. 研究内容和预期目标

The thesis consists of three parts: the introduction, the body and the conclusion. The introduction gives a brief introduction to Hemingway and the present studies on The Old Man and the Sea. The body consists of The first part of this paper analyzes never-say-die spirit of Santiago shown by fighting with the life when encountering obstruction through his psychology, language and his fighting with the fish. In the struggle with life, the old man is feeling and experiencing death again and again. The second part of this paper analyzes Santiago''s attitude towards death. At the very beginning, just like others, he is afraid of mysterious death and encounters it bravely and directly. Then, he gets to know death. Gradually, his attitude to death change to transcend himself to achieve a spiritual eternal. The old man''s attitude towards life and death undoubtedly has a positive social significance. Failure and death are inevitable, so a real man is supposed to fight for his own value of existence instead of just for the results. The existence of death should be the reason why we cherish life and love life more. There is no doubt that the spirit embodied by Santiago has great instructive significance to other'' s life now and then. However, it also has its limitation nowadays. The last part is conclusion, which focuses on the significance and limitation of the never-say-die spirit.

3. 国内外研究现状

the studies of hemingway and the old man and the sea are diverse around the world. kenneth. s. lynn is a professor studying history at johns hopkings university in the united states, who wrote hemingway in 1987. in his book, he integrates the author''s personal experience with book reviews. he assumed that hemingway is a myth in the united states. furthermore, philip young published two books: ernest hemingway (1959) and ernest hemingway: a reconsideration (1966). a reconsideration studies hemingway''s works from the perspective of psychology, which is of great value. besides, a reader#8217;s guide to ernest hemingway (1972), whose author is waldhorn arthur, is also greatly vital for studying hemingway. delbert. e. wylder in hemingway#8217;s heroes says that the old man and the sea is the final novel in hemingway''s whole life. hemingway regarded the old man and the sea as a new-type form. the protagonist of the old man and the sea brings to full circle hemingway''s utilization of the mythical hero, for santiago is a hero with a distinctive characteristic who is an adaptation of the saint or ascetic of the time.

the old man and the sea is viewed as hemingway#8217;s representative work. it has received more criticism. critics not only include some in the english-speaking countries, but also in other continental nations.

carlos baker believed that as hemingway explained the secret about the old man and the sea was that there wasn''t any symbolism, sea equaled sea, old man was old man, the marlin was itself, and the sharks were no better and no worse than other sharks. samuel shaw and arvin. p. wells view santiago as saint or christ character. they believe that the torturing christ is the same as hemingway''s tragic vision.

4. 计划与进度安排

1. introduction 2. literature review

2.1. literature review at home

2.2. literature review abroad

2.3.the creativity and significance of the thesis

5. 参考文献

[ 1 ] alshammari j n m. analyzing arabic translation methods of english similes: a case study of the old man and the sea by ernest hemingway[j]. theory amp; practice in language studies, 2016, 6(3):485.

[ 2 ] aslam h, khattak n j. santiago: a lop-sided character in the old man and the sea[j]. journal of humanities amp; social sciences, 2014, 22.

[ 3 ] bharadwaj a, bhuyan n. understanding the character of santiago in the old man and the sea, within the framework of aristotelian virtue ethics and its contemporary relevance in ethical management[j]. decision, 2013, 40(3):223-233.