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| Hemingway is the spokesman of the Lost Generation . The generation was “lost” in the sense that its values were not relevant after the war. “His works have sometimes been read as an essentially negative commentary on a modern world filled with sterility, failure, and death. Yet such a nihilistic vision is repeatedly modified by Hemingway’s affirmative assertion of the possibility of living with style and courage(Wu, 1990: 243). Hemingway shows this kind of style and courage by the example of the old man. Santiago shows Hemingway’s courage, which is, in Hemingway’s mind, “grace under pressure . To Hemingway, man’s greatest achievement is to show ‘grace under pressure’” (Wu, 1990: 243). Unity, heroism, manhood, pride and success are the themes of The Old Man and the Sea. Of these themes, “grace under pressureis the soul. It is the soul of the novel, of the old man’s life, and of Hemingway’s attitude towards life. Each of Hemingway’s books is an experiment. In the speech written to acknowledge the Nobel Prize, Hemingway said: For a true writer, each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed. (Baker, 1962: 293) Obviously The Old Man and the Sea has great luck. IV. Conclusion Generally speaking, Hemingway’s life was full of change, hurt, sadness, and violence. The general public never did know Ernest Hemingway, who was a human with a human’s problem. Burgess wrote in his study of Hemingway: He’s a good writer, Hemingway. He writes as he is. He’s a big, powerful peasant, as strong as a buffalo, a sportsman, and ready to live the life he writes about. He would never have it if his body had not allowed him to live it. But giants of his sort are truly modest; there is much more behind Hemingway’s form than people know. (Hays, 1990: 39) The pressure throughout Hemingway’s life was very great. It was so great that he himself even could not afford it. So he shot himself to end his life. However, during his lifetime, especially the time he met troubles, he never gave up easily. Hemingway was proud of his manhood, his capacity for drink, and his talents as a fisherman. He believed in art, in sport and in nature. All these gave Hemingway courage, which was “grace under pressure . For him, “loss was inevitable: fate, circumstance, something always dwindled, youth and vitality crumbled through the years; life itself was nothing more than an unpredictable feast of the senses. His philosophy is both stoic and existential: one should not complain, one should show grace under pressure’” (Hays, 1990: 41). Perhaps, The Old Man and the Sea is not Hemingway’s best novel, but it is the best novel to show his “grace under pressure . This theory is actually an attitude towards life that Hemingway had been trying to demonstrate in his works. Zhang Boxiang, an expert in studying American literature, stated in his work: |
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