The Image of Fish in Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea

【Abstract】：Ernest Miller Hemingway is the spokesman of “the lost generation”， and his The Old Man and The Sea is “the best work of his life”. In this novel， fish has been described as fierce， big， and almost monstrous. It stands as the nature， the hardship beyond conquering and the great hope and aspiration for the protagonist figuratively.

【Key words】： tough guy； fish

I. Fish in Different Cultural Background

Fish as the most important part of Chinese Traditional Cultural， plays an important role in Chinese history. The history of Chinese culture has been five thousand years. From the first kind of life on the earth， fish appears to have promoted the generation of a series of mammals， taking the place of mammals. In culture， it has several figurative images traditionally.

1. Fish in Traditional Culture--Meat on the Chopping Block

After nearly a hundred years of evolution， human beings began to have their own tribe， but also learned the words and the fire， people gradually learn to take a day to the wall， stone， it gradually has Oracle， murals and decorative patterns. The legend of the Western Han Dynasty， Be meat on someone’s chopping block means that reins in the hands of others mentioned in Si Maqian’s records of the historian， Xiangyu’s biography， himself in either the oppressed status， after not a metaphor about your life， today this statement is widely spread. Later， after continuous development and evolution， people established the state， with their own fields， most of the people to the fish as a symbol of good luck， prosperity and good luck， people put the fish’s pattern design in all aspects of folk and art， later more ancient poetry， scholars have given the image of the fish， in order to luck.

2. Fish in Western Culture --The Bewildering Fish God

Once， the American University of Michigan psychologist Professor Richard Nesbitt has done an experiment， he asked a group of Americans and a group of Japanese look at the picture， and then write down their description of the picture， and later found that the East Asian people used to view objects in the background， the environment is more dependent on the environment， and Westerners are more concerned about the present， more independent. Various investigations have indicated that the westerners and the eastern people see things differently， and the things that they see are not the same. Chinese people put the fish seen is lucky and auspicious， and some Westerners use their imagination and religious thought to the deification of fish as a symbol of God， thereby Mermaid story has gradually evolved to them.[1]

Both Mermaid and Poseidon have their own family. A lot of mythological figures or elves are closely linked with the water， but they are not necessarily the mermaid. These creatures， including water fairy temptress etc. Although people often think they be confused with a mermaid， but they actually have own characteristics. [2]

3. The Marlin in Hemingway’s Novels-- Symbol of Nature

In Hemingway’s novels， there have been several times for his heroes to mention fishing as the sport and marlin has always the target for them to get and show. So， without any exaggeration， marlin has been the image of nature for men to conquer， just like ox in his novels for men to challenge， kill and show courage.

In most of his novels， Hemingway portrayed men as the ruler of the world， human or nature. In this way， he portrayed a world of masculine activities， fishing， boxing， bull-fighting and most of all， war. As a result， animals in his novels always stand as the most challengeable foe—nature.

II. The New Image of Fish in The Old Man and The Sea

1. The Image of Success and Hope

In the article， the old man over 60 year named Santiago never put himself as a middle-aged man but rather a young human being with fighting spirit. He regarded the sea and the activity of fishing as a driving force， a competitive and life experience， a pleasure， and the courage of overcoming difficulties. In Santiago， persistence and not being afraid of losing the spirit is the essence of value needed in face of the insecurity of the social reality. This kind of description shows the author’s own view of social value， man is master of the world， and man is conqueror of the nature.

2. The Strong Desire of Conquering the Nature

In the novel， fish plays a role as the representative of the strong desire of human being. It appears as a material object， repeatedly chased， conquered， and finally killed. In it， the old man’s desire gets satisfied. Fishing in the choppy water is the old man’s desire， “This kind of circumstance which is cut off from the outside world is suitable for the typical character that Hemingway has written----Santiago’s hope.” [3]

Fish is a simple and small creatures， but he can give us a lot of life experience， this is not the nature to give us a valuable test it？ Uncanny workmanship of nature， let human better understanding of their own， a clear understanding of their own， it for all of our methods is natural on our test， we have to do is to seize the opportunity， know yourself， recognize themselves and continue to encourage yourself， put all the difficulties and hardships as a life experience. At the beginning of Hemingway’s negative， confused， once he felt nothing in the world， to create The Sun Also Rises， the farewell， weapons can demonstrated one by one.

References：

[1]Dannie .On Hemingway's Tough Guy [D].Moscow University. 2011：18-19.

[2]Felicia. The Old Man and The Sea the Pathos and Heroism [J] writer in 2013：12.

[3]葉憲.海明威的《大二心河》與《迷惘的一代》[M].外國(guó)文學(xué)研究，1987（9）.