『老人與海』中的「人可以被摧毀，但不可以被擊敗」

‘A MAN CAN BE DESTROYED BUT NOT DEFEATED’ IN “THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA”

海明威（Ernest Hemingway， 1899-1961）是二十世紀美國文壇上成就最偉大的作家之一，為一九五四年諾貝爾文學獎得主。他的作品以原始自然主義向現代人類的墮落文明進攻；面對不可抗拒的力量要有勇氣挑戰，教給現代人必須面對現實而不必有任何畏懼的心理。 本論文寫作的主要目的，在於剖析「老人與海」中的致勝之道，它強調的是人類不屈服的、可貴的意志力。書中描述了人與大自然的抗衡，「老人」象徵了人類不屈服的力量。尤其重視的是人在奮鬥過程中顯現的價值，而非最後的具體的物質報酬。海明威不僅對老人的耐心、信心、毅力、勇氣與決心等佩服不已，而且也對大魚的百折不回、不屈不撓的精神發出讚賞。老人和大魚博鬥的過程，老人充分表現其經驗和毅力。老人與大海抗爭的結果及其奮鬥的過程卻反應了整個人生，他的努力告訴我們，不管命運如何，我們都得坦然的面對，即使狡詐與邪惡暫時得逞，我們仍不放棄希望，因為透過失敗，更可清晰的看到自我。確實，人藉著奮鬥使生活更進步，藉著奮鬥使理想更能實現。正如書中老人所說：「人不是為失敗而生的，一個男子漢可以被消滅，但不能被打敗。」 國父曾說：「吾心信其可行，移山填海之難，終有成功之日。」安德斯．奧斯特靈（Anders Ostering）博士亦說：「勇敢是海明威的中心題旨──是人的忍受，他被試煉，他使自己無情地面對這冰冷的殘酷，這樣做時，他不排斥這偉大而強烈的危機。」總之，真正的致勝之道乃在於信心、毅力、勇氣、博愛、耐心、寬容、謙虛、樂觀及決心等。

My thesis explores Santiago’s struggle alone for authentic? existence. To struggle is painstaking, but he intends to achieve the possibility of living to the hilt in spite of failure of death. Even if he is bound to destruction, he insists on being destroyed on his own terms. He sticks to his own codes in order to exist authentically and die with dignity. His insistence on authentic significance and “grace under pressure” in a God-abandoned universe bears resemblance to atheistic existentialism. Man and beast are contrasted as intelligence and nobility. What distinguishes man, apart from his intelligence? The capacity for hope, probably. ‘But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated’. Hope is a duty of man. Without it his intelligence would merely be balanced by the beast’s courage and strength, and he would suffer defeat as frequently as achieved victory. He must regard the capacity for hope as one of his most precious possessions. But he must not be arrogant or unchivalrous.