《老人与海（纯爱·英文馆）》读后感_100字

《老人与海（纯爱·英文馆）》读后感100字

“Man is born to live, to suffer, and to die, and what befalls him is a tragic lot. There is no denying this in the final end. But we must deny it all along the way.” ― Thomas Wolfe
Despite having heard of this book long long time ago, I have been reluctant to start reading it, coz I mistaken it to be a boring novel with single theme and plain plot. Until recently, I have been stuck in overtime work and I desperately needed something to refresh me.That’s when I noticed the original English version of the book and opened it.
It took me more than six hours to finish reading and it turned out that I used to belittle it. It is not purely a book about fishing. Written in simplest language, it yet interprets philosophy of life, attitude and spirit of living, and you just cant stop reading it.
It tells the story of a battle between Santiago, an aging and experienced Cuban fisherman, and a giant marlin (& a school of sharks) far out in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Cuba. Without catching a fish for as long as 84 days, Santiago is being labeled as the symbol of unluckiness. His young and true-blue apprentice, Manolin, has thus been prohibited by his parents to sail with him. Santiago decides to venture far out into the Gulf Stream to fish a truly big fish and end his unlucky streak. Fortunately, he did successfully hook a big marlin on the eighty-fifth day of his unlucky streak. But he has instead been pulled by his rival for two days and two nights since it is too giant to be hauled in. Worn out and in pain, Santiago never gives up struggling and manages to encourage and convince himself to keep fighting for the glory of mankind. Eventually, Santiago kills the marlin with a harpoon. It is yet followed by the attacks of sharks in succession which are attracted to the marlin’s blood. To defend the marlin’s carcass (he calls it brother for several times), Santiago uses all his remaining strength to fight with the sharks along all the way back home.Finally, only a skeleton of the marlin is left and Santiago knows that he is defeated.
But he is not! As he says, “A man can be destroyed but not defeated”. He is a victorious loser. We are all doomed to die (and in this sense we are all doomed losers), but we dare to struggle all the way to death. That’s true spirit of living. I fight therefore I exist.
The sea as referred to in the book seems symbolizing our fate. When she is generous, she grants us precious gifts and endless possibilities; when she turns malicious, she deprives everything from us. It is even unfortunate that no one could guess and predict her temper. Like a lonesome boat in boundless ocean, we are born to fight until we reach the coast.
“Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same colour as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.”