Abstract.............................................................I
Key Words............................................................I
摘要.................................................................II
关键词...............................................................II
Introduction.........................................................1
I. Background........................................................3
A. The Author——Earnest Hemingway...................................3
B. The Medium-Length Novel...........................................3
1. Summary........................................................3
2. The Social Background of This Work.............................4
II. The Tragic Color in The Old Man and the Sea......................5
A. Definition of the Tragic Color....................................5
B. Tragic Color Represented in the Novel.............................5
1. Titanic Fish’s Tragedy...........................................6
2. The Old Man’s Tragedy............................................6
III. Perfectionism...................................................7
A. Definition........................................................7
B. Santiago’s and Hemingway’s Perfectionism.......................8
1. Santiago’s Perfectionism.........................................8
2. Hemingway’s Perfectionism........................................9
3. Sum up............................................................10
C. Dealing with Perfectionism.......................................11
1. Comprehension of the Imperfection.................................11
2. Learning to Abnegate..............................................12
Conclusion...........................................................14
Acknowledgements.....................................................15
Bibliography.........................................................16
Abstract
Through ages, human beings have always been in pursuit of the perfection of everything. Not all things, however, are perfect in the world. Both Hemingway and Santiago, the hero in his famous work The Old Man and the Sea are perfectionists. In their daily lives, perfectionists have endless sadness since they always demand more and more. When a person wants more and his present situation could not satisfy him, he is bound to involve in a strange circle, which will make his mentality full of contradictories. It is uneasy for him to let himself free. Perfectionists could not be easily understood by others. Though an analysis of the tragedy of the old man and Hemingway, this thesis mainly discusses the tragic color in The Old Man and the Sea, and draws a conclusion that their perfectionism leads to their tragedy. In that way, the paper challenges perfectionism. Just like an old saying goes: “No one is perfect”. There is no absolute perfectionism in the world. In fact, pursuing perfection is a good medicine for those who are vacuous to remedy, but on the premise that they know their potential well in pursuit of perfection. If a person does not know his potential of perfection and over-pursues it, not only does he live without happiness, but he gets nothing in the end as well. The world is imperfect. Therefore, it is essential to accept the imperfection of the world and learn to abnegate some unrealistic pursuits. This thesis tries to elucidate the truth that people who over-pursue perfection cannot but hurt themselves in the end.
Key Words
tragic color; perfection; perfectionism; Hemingway; Santiago