【正文】 his task. The old fisherman is defeated, but he finds himself in handing the failure. His attitude and manners are successful. Here, Santiago?s characteristics of determination and fortitude are shown vividly and thoroughly in the sea. It is shown in fighting against the big Marlin, against the school of sharks. Just like what Santiago himself says, “Man is not made for defeat.” 6 So relying on his own power and strength, Santiago triumphs over the nature, over the failure, and showing the man?s nobleness and greatness. So long as he is alive, he will struggle to the end. B. Santiago’s Courage and Bravery 1. Sailing out Away from the Land Alone Santiago is an old Cuban fisherman living on fishing. Life has not been easy. He has caught no fish at all for 84 days continuously. In the beginning, he has the pany of a little boy out in the sea, but because of his bad luck the boy is forced by his parents to leave and go out to the sea with other fishermen. Now the old man is alone and helpless. Yet he is surprisingly strongmind. The contrast is between his old limp appearance and his ambitious minded. “The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea, were on his cheeks. The blotches ran well down the sides of his face and his hands had the deepcreased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords. But none of the scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert.” 7 Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated. In The Old Man and the Sea, great tension is created from the two counter checking forces, and such tension intensifies the readers? expectation of the guy. One is the contrast between the wretched sail that is like a flag of permanent defeat and his undefeated eyes. Another is the contrast between wounded body and his pleasant eyes. Santiago still believes that he will have good luck again. He will be able to catch a big fish with his rich experience and great skill. The old man said, “ I may not be as strong as I think. But I know many tricks and I have resolutions.” 8 Hopefully, the old man sails silently on the black sea. It is very quiet all around. He decides to sail out far away from the land, and goes out into the clean early morning smell of the ocean, hearing the trembling sound as flying fish left the water and the hissing that their stiff set wings made as they soared away in the darkness. He was rowing steadily. He enjoys the beauty of nature, without considering the disappointment of previous days. To him, a new day is a new start. This is a kind of pure doctrine which ever flourished in ancient times. Also, it takes a rather important position in American literature. This kind of philosophy was popular in the 20th century, especially among American writers who went through the two world wars. The old man believes in simplicity. He is simply dressed and sails alone on the sea, not using modern tools, neither a map nor a pass. “ This kind of circumstance which is cut off from the outside world is suitable for the typical character that Hemingway has written—Santiago?s hopefulness.” 9 He depends on his own experience to show values of existence. 2. Fighting Against Sharks Nevertheless another crisis is waiting for Santiago on his way home. This time it is a fiercer fight than the one with Marlin—it is the fight with sharks. His fights with sharks develop in four stages. At the first stage, a Mako shark strikes the marlin and the old man resolves to kill it。 He hit it with his blood mushed hands driving a good harpoon with all his strength. He hit it without hope but with resolution… “But I killed the shark that hit my fish”, he thought. 10 He kills the Mako shark finally, but it tore off about forty pounds of flesh. In the killing, the old man loses his harpoon and all the rope too. And now his fish bleeds again and there will be other sharks attracted by the scent and trail of blood in the water. But the old man inspires himself by saying aloud, “ But man is not defeated. A man can be destroyed but not defeated…The dentuso is cruel and able and strong and intelligent. But I was more intelligent than he was.” 11 Earlier the second stage, two golanos e, They were hateful sharks, bad smelling, scavengers as well as killers. Santiago kills one with his knife that is lashed to an oar。 it is not for that he does not catch any fish, but for he has continued to ply the waters for eightyfour days. Though he used to be a very skillful and successful fisherman, now he is a loser. This time he has two roads: to give up fishing or to keep on trying. He has to choose one from them. Under such situation people usually think that he should choose giving up fishing because of his bad luck. But which one does he choose actually? Santiago refuses to be discouraged. To him the first fruitless eightyfour days means nothing, and his optimism and hopefulness have never gone. In his mind he never abandons the chance of success.