Name: Nupur VyasRoll No: 34

Paper-10 American literatureYear:-2015-17

M.A. Sem-3Email id: nupurvyas1995@gmail.com

Submitted to M.K.B.U.S.B. Gardy Department of English , India, Gujarat

(Bhavnagar).Topic: The Old Man and the Sea is a novel of

affirmation.

Introduction about writer• Ernest Miller Hemingway(July 21, 1899-

July 2,1961) was an American novelist, short story writer and Journalist.

• In 1954, Hemingway was awarded the Nobel prize for literature , it was for “his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style”.

• His famous works: ‘The sun also rises’, ‘A farewell to arms’, ‘For Whom the bell Tolls’ etc.

What is negation of life?• Modern literature as whole is very much negative

towards life.• Because Modern literature is witnessed by two

world wars, terrorism, Hitlerism etc. Example: Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, The waste land by T.S. Eliot.

• Negation of life means hopelessness and absurdity towards life.

• Hemingway shifting us to the affirmative side of literature through his novel “The Old Man and the sea”.

What is the meaning of affirmation and what does it mean the novel of affirmation?

• The affirmation means something declared to be true; positive statement or judgment and a statement intended to provide encouragement, emotional support, or motivation, especially when used for the purpose of autosuggestion.

The old man and the Sea – a novel of affirmation

• The tone of the novel is life- affirming and positive attitude towards life.• In the novel, Santiago is characterized

as someone struggling against defeat.• The old man exhibits an unflagging

determination to catch the marlin and bring it to shore.

Continue..• The old man meets every challenge with the same

unwavering determination: he is willing to die in order to bring in the marlin and he is willing to die in order to battle the feeding sharks.

• He is very much determined to catch a big fish.• It is this conscious decision to act, to fight, to never

give up that enables Santiago to avoid defeat.

Quotes from the text

• “You better be fearless and confident yourself, old man”, he said• “Be calm and strong, old man,” he

said.• “Fight them,’’ he said. “I’ll fight them

until I die.’’• “Man is not made for defeat…. Man

can be destroyed but not defeated”.

Thank you