1、2010-2011-1 美国文学史期末论文作者：方亮班级：英071学号：15论文题目：Analysis the Dreams of Santiago in The Old Men and the Sea论文字数：论文摘要：This report is a study of the famous book The Old Men and the Sea. It mainly focused on the discussion of Santiagos dream. The discussion goes in three points: the background information, t
2、he symbolic in the dream, and the relation about the dream and the actual life. Through the discussion the author found the relationship between the old mens life and the features in the dream, especially the lion, the lion reflected the old mans situation and desire. The report comes into a conclus
3、ion that the dream is a reflection of ones experience and desire.教师评分：_The Old Men and the Sea is the masterpiece of famous writers, Nobel Prize winner, Hemingway. It was written in 1952, the following year appeared the obtaining of the Pulitzer Prize, and then the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954
4、. Over these years, many research has been done on it, but often focus on researching the old mans butch character, few had pay attention to the dreams. Dream, as a kind of literary figure repeated throughout the image, actually contained some connotation and denotation. It depicts the themes and ex
5、plains the old mans image.Background information of the dream: experience of the old menThe hero of the novel, a Cuban old fisherman Santiago, continue to go out for 84 days without caught a fish, everyone says he was in bad luck. Yet he keeps doing so. At the 85th days, he decided to go to someplac
6、e where fishermen have never visited in order to prove his ability and courage. In the boundless sea, the old man found so big a marlin that he had never seen. He overcame lots of difficulty. Finally, on the morning of the third day his harpoon stabs into the marlin heart. But things are not so simp
7、le, on the way of returning, the old man met the shark attack five times, he fight with harpoon, paddle and knives all things he can found, yet finally lost. When he had driving the boat back to port, there left only the head, tail and spine of the marine.During the period the old men had had severa
8、l dreams, and the dream made up a line of the story. According to Freuds Analysis of Dream: The dream is a bizarre phenomenon, dream is a suppressed desire satisfaction.Describing the dream: symbolic of the features in the dream1. The first dreamThe first dream happened the night before he goes out
9、for the 85th day. In the dream, he dreamed about childhood in Africa. He was asleep in a short time and he dreamed of Africa when he was a boy and the long golden beaches and the white beaches, so white they hurt your eyes, and the high capes and the great brown mountains. He lived along that coast
10、now every night and in his dreams he heard the surf roar and saw the native boats come riding through it. He smelled the tar and oakum of the deck as he slept and he smelled the smell of Africa that the land breeze brought at morning.Usually when he smelled the land breeze he woke up and dressed to
11、go and wake the boy. But tonight the smell of the land breeze came very early and he knew it was too early in his dream and went on dreaming to see the white peaks of the Islands rising from the sea and then he dreamed of the different harbors and roadsteads of the Canary Islands. He no longer dream
12、ed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy. He never dreamed about the boy.
13、He simply woke, looked out the open door at the moon and unrolled his trousers and put them on.Children symbols vitality, pure, this symbols the old mans current state of mind. He dreamed about that beaches and mountains, this is pieces of his lives, he once lived in such a place, so the dream will
14、appear.The old man no longer dreamed storm, storm symbolizes strong emotions, such as anger, no longer dreamed of women, symbolizing sex, no longer dreamed of great events, symbolizing the real, or conscious desire, no longer dreamed of fish, fish is the symbol of inner desire, fight symbolizes conf
15、licts, wrestling symbolizes strength of rival, the wife symbolizes emotion, now, these are no longer appear in the protagonists dream, that is to say, the old mans heart now is of no emotion, no desire, even the most basic emotions has faded out from the old mans mind, and now he only dreamed that a
16、 few places and lion. The old man is like the lion. He used to be strong and have a very interesting experience. But now old as he is, people only have a sense of mercy towards him. He didnt like that kind of feeling, so he wants to prove it. Just like the lion, alone and waiting for an opportunity
17、to prove his strength.2. The second dreamThe second dream is after the big fish bite the hook and pull the old mens boat for nearly a day. The old man was fighting for nearly two days and two nights without a sleep.He did not dream of the lions but instead of a vast school of porpoises that stretche
18、d for eight or ten miles and it was in the time of their mating and they would leap high into the air and return into the same hole they had made in the water when they leaped. Then he dreamed that he was in the village on his bed and there was a norther and he was very cold and his right arm was as
19、leep because his head had rested on it instead of a pillow. After that he began to dream of the long yellow beach and he saw the first of the lions come down onto it in the early dark and then the other lions came and he rested his chin on the wood of the bows where the ship lay anchored with the ev
20、ening off-shore breeze and he waited to see if there would be more lions and he was happy. The moon had been up for a long time but he slept on and the fish pulled on steadily and the boat moved into the tunnel of clouds. He woke with the jerk of his right fist coming up against his face and the lin
21、e burning out through his right hand.He didnt dreamed of a lion, but dreamed of a large group of dolphins, jump up highly, and then fall back to the water in the water.This is mainly because he had caught a dolphin, and also this is the dolphins mating time, the dream is partially real. At this time
22、 the old men was not really asleep, but have awake.Then he dreamed about the village, lying on his bed, prevailing north winds, he felt very cold, and his right arm numbness. Then there comes the lions.The old man lying in the village dreamt of his bed, feeling cold, his right arm numbness; this is
23、due to the bodys physiological condition. The old man has fighting for two days without rest, the night of the sea is very cold, and in his hand was still holding fishing rope.As for the lions, this time there are more than one, and they are feeling happy. This is because the fish is in his control,
24、 after he had bring the fish bad he would prove himself and win peoples aspect. This would be the turning point of his life. He would found himself in the society again.3. The last dreamAt the end of the novel, the author described the old mans third dream in one word.Up the road, in his shack, the
25、old man was sleeping again. He was still sleeping on his face and the boy was sitting by him watching him. The old man was dreamingWhat will the lion do? Is it alone or not? Does it feel happy? All depend on your understanding. Just like the old mens situation.Analysis the dream: experience and desi
26、reIn the dream Africa appeared for several time, by this we can see that the old mens is so dotes on Africa, When I was your age I was before the mast on a square rigged ship that ran to Africa and I have seen lions on the beaches in the evening. That period is the most impressing time of the old ma
27、n.The old man misses Africa, because Africa is the glorious memories of the ole men. When the old man was young he had had a match with a black man who was believed to be the strongest one at the wharf, the game lasted day and night, and finally the old man is winning. After that, people call him th
28、e Winner Santiago. He was sure, as long as he is willing to, no one would be his defeat. But now, he became an ole gay need someone to sympathize with. A lot of people are taking joke on him. He doesnt feel angry but lonely, he wants to prove himself, he wants to be respect again. So in his dream, w
29、hen he is unconscious, he thinks about Africa.There is a figure goes through the dream: the lion. Lion is the king of the prairie in Africa. Though it will stay alone there still goes the need of a society. And this fits the old mans situation, so the old men can be regarded as the reflection of the
30、 old men in his dream. As I have write in describing the dream, the lions feeling and situation change as the old mans feeling and situation change. The lion was alone because the old man was along, so he wants a chance to prove himself. Other lions come because the old men had got the chance. Thoug
31、h the old man lost the fish at last, he had tried his best and he had proved his braveness. In the dream the lion comes. No matter alone or in companied, lion is still king of the prairie.In fact the old man is also a reflection of Hemingway, I spent a lifetime to write The Old Men and the Sea, it i
32、ncluding the real world and a persons spirit in all dimensions . Hemingway compared The Old Men and the Sea as the largest and most beautiful lion he had hunt in his life. This not only showed his love towards this book, but also that he had found something important in it. Therefore, the dream of A
33、frica and the lion reflect Hemingway desire unconsciously.Hemingway advocates the butch spirit, so he thought up lion, someone in the top among all the animals. This in fact showed his desire for the top status: longing for others recognition. But to get the approbation one need to pay the price. In
34、 order to get the leading statue the lion lost friends. As the old man, in order to get the fishermans identity, even when he go out for 84 days without fish, he must go alone again for the 85th days voyage for fishing, he have to fight the big marlin and shark. As Hemingway, in order to prove his w
35、riters identity, he needs to continuously writing, enjoying loneliness while getting the identity. The pressure is that you know the situation but still you have to fight hard. Just like the old man, though he know that he was born to be a fisher, still should he do his best to fight the marine and
36、shark, he had to make a living besides winning the respect. When he found that he had lost almost all of the fish he knows that he was defeated by the shark. Just like the dream, no matter haw hard you try in the dream, when you wake up things goes out as usual, the difference is the attitude you have towards dream, knowing the truth while still fighting hard, or lost in the dream. The old man keeps on fighting, yet Hemingway chooses the shooting gun.
