《老人与海》最经典的句子出现在老人战胜第一条鲨鱼之后。老人是这么说的： A man can be destroyed but not defeated. 这句话被很多人引用过，以证明老人具有“硬汉”精神。用汉语表达，它的意思是：一个人可以被毁灭，但不能被打败。
第三次冲向大鱼的是铲鲨。它有一张巨大的嘴巴，老人先让它咬住大鱼，而后用绑在船桨上的刀子刺进它的脑袋。这一次，战斗很快结束了，但老人的刀锋也出现了卷刃。
此后的一段时间里再没有出现鲨鱼。不过，老人已经累坏了：‘You're tired, old man,' he said. ' You're tired inside.' (“老家伙，你累了，”他说。“连里面的骨头都累了。”)
黄昏降临，又有鲨鱼向小船游过来。这次是两条：
The old man saw the brown fins coming along the wide trail the fish must make in the water. They were not even quartering on the scent. They were headed straight for the skiff swimming side by side.
He jammed the tiller, made the sheet fast and reached under the stern the tern for the club. It was an oar handle from a broken oar sawed off to about two and a half feet in length. He could only use it effectively with one hand because of the grip of the handle and he took good hold of it with his right hand, flexing his hand on it, as he watched the sharks come.
The two sharks closed together and as he saw the one nearest him open his jaws and sink them into the silver side of the fish, he raised the club high and brought it down heavy and slamming onto the top of the shark's broad head. He felt the rubbery solidity of bone too and he struck the shark once more hard across the point of the nose as he slid down from the fish.
The other shark had been in and out and now came in again with his jaws wide. The old man could see pieces of the meat of the fish spilling white from the corner of his jaws as he bumped the fish and closed his jaws. He swung at him and hit only the head and the shark looked at him and wrenched the meat loose. The old man swung the club down on him again as he slipped away to swallow and hit only the heavy solid rubberiness.
'Come on, ' the old man said. ' Come in again.'
The shark came in in a rush and the old man hit him as he shut his jaws. He hit him solidly and from as high up as he could raise the club. This time he felt the bone at the base of the brain and he hit him again in the same place while the shark tore the meat loose sluggishly and slid down from the fish.
The old man watched for him to come again but neither shark showed. Then he saw one on the surface swimming in circle. He did not see the fin of the other.
(老人看见棕色的鲨鱼鳍沿着鱼在水里必须留下的宽阔痕迹游过来。他们甚至没有为寻找气味而停顿过。他们并排朝小船直奔而来。
他控制住舵柄，系好帆脚索，把手伸到船尾拿出棍子。这是一把从断桨上锯下来的桨柄，长约两英尺半。由于能握的部分太短，他只好用一只手有效地使用它。他一边看着鲨鱼游过来，一边用右手紧紧地握住桨柄。
两条鲨鱼紧逼过来。当他看见离他最近的鲨鱼张开大嘴，咬向银色的鱼腹，就高高地举起棍子，狠狠地打下去，砸在鲨鱼宽大的头顶上。他感觉到了橡胶般坚韧的鲨鱼骨。趁鲨鱼从鱼身上滑下来，他又一棍打到鲨鱼的鼻尖上。
这功夫，另一条鲨鱼窜过来又溜走了，现在又张着大嘴杀回来。他直撞到鱼身上，合起嘴巴，老人可以看到白色的鱼肉从他的嘴角冒出来。他朝鲨鱼挥动桨柄，只击中了他的头部。鲨鱼看着他，把咬在嘴里的肉硬扯了下来。在他转身离开吞食鱼肉时，老人再次挥动桨柄，打在他身上，却只打在了那像橡胶层般厚重的表面。
“来呀，”老人说，“再过来。”
鲨鱼冲了过来。老人在他合上双颚之际击中了他。他打得很结实，桨柄尽举得很高。这一次，他感觉到了鲨鱼大脑底部的骨头，在同一个地方又打了一下。鲨鱼缓慢地把肉撕开，从鱼身上滑了下去。
老人等着他再来，可是两条鲨鱼都没有露面。后来他看见有一条鲨鱼在水面打起了圈圈。而另一条，连鳍也没看到。)
老人与鲨鱼的搏斗到此依然没有结束。到了第三天夜里，更多的鲨鱼成群结队而来。老人根本看不清它们，只能凭借它们的游动和吞咬声判断它们的位置，用手里仅有的桨柄进行几近绝望的击打。最后，桨柄竟然被一条鲨鱼咬住，掉进海里，使老人完全失去了武器。
在随后的航行中，由于鱼肉已经被鲨鱼撕扯的所剩无几，老人放弃了继续跟鲨鱼周旋：
He sailed lightly now and he had no thoughts nor any feelings of any kind. He was past everything now and he sailed intelligently as he could. In the night sharks hit the carcass as someone might pick up crumbs from the table. The old man paid no attention to them and didn't pay any attention to anything except steering.
(他现在航行得很轻松，没有任何思想，也没有任何感情。他现在已经把一切都抛在脑后了，只尽其聪明所能地航行着。夜里仍然有鲨鱼袭击大鱼尸体，就像有人从餐桌上捡取面包屑一样。老人对他们毫不理会，除了掌舵，他已经对任何事情都不感兴趣了。)
《老人与海》属于悲剧。它描写的是一个孤独的老人，他面对的是贪婪凶残的鲨鱼。尽管他拼尽所有，展示出面对惊险时个人所具有的高贵品格，但最终的结局，却是不折不扣的失败。
有评论者说，《老人与海》具有深刻的象征性，其中老人象征人类，鲨鱼象征磨难。这样说有一定的道理。但对于文学作品的解读从来就不能搞一言堂， 你可以这样解释，别人也可以那样解释，正所谓：一千个读者就有一千个哈姆雷特。
所以，我用这么长的篇幅介绍了《老人与海》，却对里面的描写手法和意象背后的含义言之甚少，主要原因，就是希望读者自己去发现，免得被我误导。
突然想起美国作家福克纳的一句名言：我从不看评论家的文章。他们头头是道，却从来就写不出一篇像样的小说。
我可不希望成为被海明威鄙视的评论家。
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