ABSTRACT

Ernest Hemingway is an excellent contemporary American literary writer. This short novel, The Old Man and the Sea, was written in Hemingway’s later writing career, which brought him popular fame again. In this paper, the author employs the method of psychoanalysis to present a new interpretation of Santiago’s loneliness. The core contents of humanistic psychology are human being’s responsibility; here and now; judging individuals from the perspective of phenomenology and human’s development. This thesis chooses four trivial events about the old man Santiago’s loneliness in the original work: Santiago’s rejection for clothing and vernacular; nostalgia for the hometown; independence and pursuit for the big fish on open seas, to make a deep research about the cause of the Santiago’s loneliness through humanistic psychology. This study shows that Santiago himself should take a part of responsibility for his lonely life. 

Key words: The Old Man and the Sea; loneliness; humanistic psychology

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

CHAPTER ONE  INTRODUCTION-1

1.1 About the Author-1

1.2 About the Book-2

1.3 Significance of This Study-3

CHAPTER TWO  LITERATURE REVIEW-4

2.1 Domestic Researches on The Old Man and The Sea-4

2.2 Overseas Researches on The Old Man and The Sea-5

2.3 Researches on the Method of Psychoanalysis-5

CHAPTER THREE  ON THE LONELINESS OF SANTIAGO-6

3.1 Theory-6

3.1.1 Definition of humanistic psychology-6

3.1.2 Significance of humanistic psychology-6

3.2 Interpretation of the Loneliness-7

3.2.1 Responsibility and the hero’s loneliness-7

3.2.2 Not now, not here and the hero’s loneliness-9

3.2.3 Independence and the hero’s loneliness-10

3.2.4 Human development and the hero’s loneliness-11

CHAPTER FOUR  CONCLUSION-13

WORKS CITED-15