He is an old man who drives a small boat alone and fishes in the Gulf Stream. I've been out at sea for eighty-four days and haven't caught even a single fish. For the first forty days, there was another boy following me. But after not catching any fish for forty days, the child's parents said that the old man was really unlucky and unlucky. The boy obeyed the instructions and got into another boat. He caught three good fish in the first week. Seeing the old man returning home in an empty boat every day, the child felt very sad. He often went down to help the old man, unloading coils of fishing line, or hand hooks, harpoons, and sails wrapped around the mast. The sail was patched with flour sacks, and when rolled up it looked like the flag of a defeated general.
The old man was skinny, with deep wrinkles etched on the back of his neck, and his face was marked by brown patches caused by benign skin tumors, caused by sunlight reflecting off the tropical ocean. Brown spots covered his cheeks, and his hands were scarred with deep scars because he often grabbed the fishing line to pull up the big fish. But none of the scars were new; each was as old as the weathered sand of a fishless desert.
Except for his eyes, his whole body is very old. Those eyes were optimistic and never give up, the same color as the sea.
"Santiago," the child said to him as they climbed ashore from where the boat was moored, "I can go with you again, we have made some money."
The old man taught the child how to fish, and the child loved him very much.
"No," the old man said, "You are on a lucky boat, and you have to stay."
"But remember, once you had eighty-seven days We didn’t catch any fish, but later, for three weeks, we caught big fish every day.”
“I remember,” the old man said, “I know you didn’t leave because you doubted my ability. ."
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Reading Thoughts
"A ship crosses the end of the world and sails towards the unknown sea, with a weather-beaten flag hanging on the bow. The flag has been eroded by wind and rain but is still extremely beautiful. On the flag, there are four words like dancing clouds and dragons shining brightly - beyond the limit! "The author Hemingway commented on his work "The Old Man and the Sea".
"The Old Man and the Sea" creates a classic tough guy image. An old fisherman named Santiago in Cuba went fishing alone and caught an extremely huge marlin after 84 days of catching nothing. This was a big fish that the old man had never seen or heard of that was two feet longer than his boat. The fish was so big and powerful that it dragged the boat drifting for two days and two nights. During these two days and nights, the old man went through a difficult test he had never experienced before, and finally stabbed the big fish to death and tied it to the bow of the boat. However, he encountered a shark at this time. The old man fought with the shark to the death. As a result, the big marlin was eaten up by the shark. In the end, the old man dragged home only a bare fish skeleton.
Why didn't Hemingway let the old man win in the end? In the words of the old man in the novel: "A person is not born to be defeated." "People can be destroyed, but they cannot be defeated." "This is the philosophy that "The Old Man and the Sea" wants to reveal. It is undeniable that everyone has flaws. When a person admits this shortcoming and strives to overcome it instead of succumbing to it, it does not matter whether he catches a complete marlin or an empty skeleton in the end, because the value of a person's life has been It was on full display in that pursuit of the Marlins. He has worked hard to pursue and fight for his ideals. Isn't he a winner? The old fisherman is the winner who dares to challenge his own shortcomings and his own courage and confidence. From the perspective of the secular view of victory, the old fisherman was not the final winner, because although he defeated the big marlin at first, the big marlin was eaten by the shark in the end. He only took the white skeleton of the big marlin with him. Back on shore, that is to say, the shark is the winner. However, in the eyes of idealists, the old fisherman is the winner because he has never compromised or surrendered to the sea, the big marlin, or the shark. As the music master Beethoven said, "I can be destroyed, but I cannot be conquered."
Human nature is strong, and humans have their own limits, but it is precisely because people like the old fisherman challenge the limits again and again and surpass them that this limit is expanded again and again. Putting greater challenges before mankind. In this sense, heroes like the old fisherman Santiago deserve our eternal respect no matter whether they succeed or fail in challenging the limits. Because what he brings us is the most noble self-confidence of mankind!
Life is an endless pursuit.
The road is long, difficult, and full of ups and downs, but as long as he is brave and tenacious to meet the challenge with a confident heart, he will always be a real winner!