On Ernest Hemingway’s Heroism and Tragedy

刘璐

【Abstract】The paper tries to make an exploration on human value of struggle for the artistic concentration of Hemingways view of life based on The Old Man and the Sea which shows an issue on Humans existence and destiny with profound philosophical heroism and tragedy.

【Key words】human value； heroism； tragedy

Ernest Hemingway was a famous modern American novelist.He was well known for the representative of “the Lost Generation”.His style of writing and type of literature are very ingenious and popular in Europe and America.In 1954，he got the Nobel Prize for Literature because of his the greatest work The Old Man and the Sea.From the description of Santiago，The author thinks highly of the spirit of unyielding man.“A man can be destroyed but not defeated” is the core of the humans essence.On the other hand，the only value and way-out of mankind is to struggle bravely and persistently.Santiago，an optimistic hero，a tragic character is the artistic concentration of Hemingways view of life.The Old Man and the Sea shows an issue on Humans existence and destiny，which contains profound philosophical significance.

Santiago was qualified with remarkable courage of risking his life in the farther sea area and strong willpower of struggling against difficulties bravely.Courage is absolutely necessary to a hero.Santiago was out of the ordinary.He had tremendous courage to seek his success in spite of danger and solitude.Willpower is the core of the humans essence.First，the novel put the protagonist in the environment filled with great trouble：bad luck，loneliness，and poverty，especially the malicious shark.All were the symbol of life plight.To our surprise，Santiagos willpower remained strong as a whelming power to fight against the difficulties even if facing the death threat.His willpower conquered the frightened mind.The existence of life is not the first，the existence of great mans dignity is the first.Santiagos willpower warned him how to be a great man.He had the famous motto：“Man is not made for defeated.A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” Man will eventually fail in the struggle with the outside，but man should show special stamina and face the failure bravely without losing dignity.This is the essence for the humans spirit.Willpower generates courage，and together with it.The combination shows the dauntless heroic spirit.

Hemingway grew up in the age of “the Lost Generation”.His discussion about tragedy covered with the atmosphere of mans lack of power and inevitability of failure.Santiago went fishing with good hope，but he disillusioned.In front of the cruel reality，failure seemed to be inevitable.Santiago thought his failure came from going out to the sea too far.Avoiding risking，fishing in the near sea area，he got nothing.Risking his life in the farther area，he still couldnt get anything.It shows that human being is powerless.Facing the cruel society and reality，Santiago had no choice but failure.The result is a revelation of Hemingways true emotion.In the novel，the old man dreamed of the lion for several times in different situations.Its purpose is to show the old mans agony and tiredness.He wanted to gain the power and help in the struggle to conquer the enemies by dreaming of the lion.He was a winner spiritually in his dream.Once he woke up，failure was coming.

The Old Man and the Sea is a medium-length novel，which presents old age facing life and death with courage，hope and wisdom.The work contains rich social contents and profound philosophy of life.What it wanted to express is mankinds destiny and existence.The realistic description about the image of Santiago，his suffering at sea and the tragic ending were a symbol of mankind.In the authors mind，life was a tragedy.Facing the harsh reality，failure seemed to be inevitable，the only value and way-out of mankind is to struggle against destiny.Heroic spirit gave us overwhelming courage to overcome all the difficulties.Santiagos the famous motto “A man can be destroyed but not defeated” is the core of humans essence.

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