论文总字数：30562字

摘 要

海明威被认为是美国历史上最出色的小说家，短篇故事作家和记者之一。《老人与海》是一件影响广泛，寓意深刻的世界文学瑰宝。在这部优秀的文学作品中，他塑造了一个具有英雄气概的硬汉形象。 不少学者都对海明威有着极大地兴趣，尤其是他的《老人与海》，这部作品获得了普利策奖和诺贝尔文学奖。他们已经对这本书的故事情节，人物性格和社会影响方面做了不少研究，而本文则另辟蹊径，在企业价值观的视野下，分析《老人与海》中的英雄主义。本文尝试将文学作品与现代企业价值大胆联系。

这篇论文主要以企业价值系统下的核心价值为框架，分析老人身上展现出来的英雄主义品质，与企业核心价值的联系以及对现代人的启示。本文分别从老人在重压之下之下展露的英雄魅力---执行力，与小男孩的团结互助---协作力，以及他在最棒棒球员的争论中流露的团队领导者气质---领导力这三方面分析英雄主义，并探究该品质与现代企业核心价值观的相符之处。英雄主义代表着人所不可征服的力量——一个人如何从灾难和实际失败的环境中攫取精神上的力量。精神的力量既可鼓励自身，也可相互传递，这在企业价值观中，显得尤为重要。

在企业价值的框架下了解英雄主义，对于我们如何全面地看待英雄主义和在工作与生活如何运用，具有较深的意义。

关键词：《老人与海》 英雄主义 企业核心价值

• 1. Introduction
  2.  Research background

Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899-1961) was one of the most outstanding novelist, short-story writer and journalist in American history. He was born into a well-educated family as the second kid and the first son. His father was a successful physician, loving fishing and hunting, and mother, a music teacher. Hemingway’s economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure influenced later generations. He published seven novels, six short story collections, two non-fiction works and some other works published posthumously. Many of his works are considered classics of American literature. He wrote The Old Man and the Sea in 1951 in Cuba, which was published in 1952. The story centered upon Santiago, an aging fisherman who struggled with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Hemingway said that it was “the best I can write ever for all of my life” ( Desnoyers 12). After receiving the Pulitzer Prize for this novel in the same year of its publication, Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 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” (The Nobel Prize in Literature 1954).

Hemingway became a war driver and got injured in World War I. He also hunted in Africa and acted as a war correspondent in Spanish Civil War. He visited China and supported the Anti-Japanese War. Later, he became involved with the expatriate literary and artistic circle surrounding Gertrude Stein when he was working in Paris as a correspondent for the Toronto Star, His works during the 1920s were representative of “the Lost Generation”. Then he settled in Cuba in 1945. After his expulsion from Cuba by the Castro regime, he moved to Idaho.

He was increasingly plagued by ill health and mental problems, and in July, 1961, he committed suicide by shooting himself. All these war experiences had great influence on his works. Hemingway was known to focus his novels on code heroes who struggle with the mixture of their tragic faults and the surrounding environment.

The Old Man and the Sea was based on a real story. The story went that in the late 1940s, upon return from an early morning fishing trip, Fuentes (Hemingway’s friend) and Hemingway saw a small boat 10 miles out to sea. Hemingway asked Fuentes to approach the vessel to see if they needed help. Inside the boat were an old man and a boy. As the vessels closed, the old man began yelling at them with insults indicating that they had scared away the fish. Fuentes and Hemingway looked at each other in surprise. Just the same, Hemingway asked Fuentes to lower them some food and drinks while the old man and the boy glared at them. Without another word exchanged, the two boats parted ways. According to Fuentes, Hemingway began immediately to write in his notebook and later asked him to find the old man. But he never was able to find the fisherman that had made such an impression on Hemingway. A few years after The Old Man and the Sea was published, residents of Cojimar believed that the old fisherman that Fuentes and Hemingway ran into at sea was a humble local fisherman they called el viejo Miguel; some described his physical appearance as a wiry Spencer Tracy.

The major figure in The Old Man and the Sea was a weather-beaten old fisherman who had no gain in Cuba in consecutive 84 days, but still went on to fishing on the 85th day and finally caught a big marlin. However, on his way home, he encountered a large shark of the siege. The old man Santiago rushed, with a three-day battle with sharks, and finally he returned to shore when he left a fish skeleton. Santiago symbolized bad luck in the struggle with sharks, but he did not yield in the face of doom. Although people can fail temporarily , but the human spirit and will are never beatable. “A person is not born to give the beat, you can make him destroyed, but I could not beat him.”( The Old Man and the Sea 89)

1.2 Need for the study

Practically speaking, The Old Man and the Sea can provide numerous inspirations for the modern generation. Hemingway is good at exploring the image of code hero in that he successfully tells a story of an old fisherman’s long and lonely journey of struggle with a fish and the sea. Therefore, Santiago’s final victory in defeat can be referred to by modern generation, who should know what they really aspire after and try to seek success, courage and self-value.

Theoretically speaking, this heroism can give scholars more hints at studying The Old Man and the Sea from new research perspectives. They may pay attention to the correlations between victory and failure in a code hero. However, this paper takes a different approach to research into the impact of heroism in Santiago on business practitioners.

• 1. Literature review

2.1 Previous studies on The old man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea was the best among Hemingway’s lifetime works, which aimed to stop the decline reputation after ten-year cold reception and attack. It has always been the object of researchers’ favor. The old man’s tough guy image and invincible fighting spirit were so thoroughly hit off in this novel and brought a strong spiritual shock, which has been the example of learners. Since then, a lot of Chinese scholars have done tremendous research from their perspectives. There are about two perspectives on the theme.

Quite a few scholars show their praise to Santiago. They think this old man is a great hero and a winner in competing with nature. Wulao (2012) makes multilevel analysis of the story plot in his Chinese version The Old Man and the Sea, and He claims that this story is a representative of heroism paean. In the novel, the old man was at distinct disadvantage at the beginning but he still did not give up. Although he used up all his fishing tools when fighting against the marlin and sharks, he finally won whatever in struggle and results. Huang Yuanshen（2010）also shares his idea with readers that Santiago is a great winner whose spirit and quality can be implied in his appearance description “The old man was thin and gaunt, with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks. The blotches ran well down the sides of his face and his hands had the deep creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords. But none of the scars were fresh. They were as old as erosion in a desert without a single fish”(The Old Man and the Sea 5). From these words, we may feel sympathetic toward the old man and think that he is too weak to catch a big fish. But “Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.” (The Old Man and the Sea 3). In spite of his old and weak appearance, his eyes are not stuffy but as cheerful as the young men’s eyes through which we can see his unyielding spirit. This contrast clearly shows Santiago’s real personality. Yu Guangzhong (2010）regards the old man as a winner. He mentions in the preface in his translation that the image of winner of Santiago can be seen from the little boy’s eyes. He analyzes that the dead fish debris were eighteen inches long from nose to tail in the little boy’s eyes. The boy sighed with feeling how great the old man was. When the boy saw the tools and discussed on the plans of fishing, he always looked at Santiago in an worshipful mind.

However, some scholars thought of Santiago as a loser, who is a tragic figure. Hu TiEsheng (2010) claims that Santiago is a repeat of Greek Tragedians, which reveals how small and weak when human is in the face of fate. The broken old fisherman ventured far out into the Gulf Stream and there hooked the biggest marlin ever seen in those waters. Then, alone and exhausted by his struggle to harpoon the giant fish, he was forced into a losing battle with marauding sharks. They left him nothing but the skeleton of his catch. Cao Jimin (1996）holds that Santiago is a loser, which in fact is the martyr Jesus Christ in Christian. He analyzes that in this novel, there are two scenes that the old man was been crucified. When the old man caught the big fish, it towed the boat and him. He felt pain when the rope strangled his back. This was a metaphor that Jesus Christ carried the Latin Cross on the shoulder to Calvary. When the sharks began to attack, it caught the old man great loss . In the course of harpooning fishes, Santiago shouted “Ay”, which was a feeling that one’s hands seemed to be pricked with harpoons. It also a metaphor that the old man, as a incarnation, was crucified again.

Today, when we analyze the novel from the perspective of corporate values, we can compare heroism in the protagonist of literary works with enterprising spirits of the employees. In this paper, I want to explore the essences of the heroism in The Old Man and the Sea and investigate heroism as the corporate values. This paper shows diverse facets of heroism in Santiago, which can also guide the managers in fine execution of their vocational duties, prompt them to act virtuously and rationally, and make them internalize the value of working with a clean conscience, materializing a vision and accomplishing a mission in a way that can inspire all people.

2.2 Corporate Value Systems

A value system is a set of consistent ethic values (more specially the personal and cultural values) and measures used for the purpose of ethical or ideological integrity. A well defined value system is a moral code.

Enterprise value (EV), Total enterprise value (TEV), or Firm value (FV) is an economic measure reflecting the market value of a whole business. It is a sum of claims of all claimants: creditors (secured and unsecured) and equity holders (preferred and common). Enterprise value is one of the fundamental metrics used in business valuation, financial modeling, accounting, portfolio analysis, etc.

Wenstop, F. and A. Myrmel (2006) have proposed a structure for corporate value systems which consist of three value categories. The first category is Core Values, which prescribe the attitude and character of a person. These are considered complementary and juxtaposed on the same level if illustrated graphically on for instance an organization’s web page. The philosophical antecedents of these values are virtue ethics, which is often attributed to Aristotle. The second is Protected Values, which are protected through rules, standards and certifications. They are often concerned with area such health, environment and safety. The third category, Created Value, is the values that stakeholder, including the shareholders expect in return for his contributions to the firm. (Wenstop, F. and A. Myrmel. “Structuring organizational value statements.” Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopdia online. 29 May 2015.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_system.)

A crucial task of companies, big and small, is to define their core values. In The Art of Demotivation, E.L. Kersten (Despair, Inc. July 4, 2010) defines these as “the values that are most important to the direction of the organization and the decision-making within it”. Management consultants Francis Goullart and James Kelley (2010) regard core values as the essence of the corporate culture and an expression of its personality, respectively.

Core values are basically what you believe as a company. Companies that are good at this (the ones we’re featuring here) understand that these values need to be worked in to day-to-day workflow.

Which core values a company adopts (and how consistently they are adhered to) influence the future of that company and how customers, employees and stakeholders come to perceive it. Unfortunately, it is all too common for companies to profess allegiance to their core values while behaving in utter disregard of them. Consequently, many entrepreneurs now regard “core values” as synonymous with TPS reports, synergy and other Dilbert-esque platitudes.

3. The Heroism in The Old Man and the Sea: Corporate Core Value Interpretation

3.1 Executive capacity

Santiago is an old man who has suffered from the exhaustion of physical strength. But his mental strength makes him a hero, which is manifested in his fishing feat. He is a man of executive capacity.

The old man is scarred, wounded and crippled while he is a typical example of  indomitable will. He succeeds in fighting with the Marlin and sharks, who are his adversaries with power. Santiago is a man of more intellectual heroism than physical heroism. He is not as strong as those powerful flesh equipped opponents but he is wise to employ fishing expertise as a strategic fisherman. Finally he manages to keep the balance between himself and the powerful adversaries. When Santiago runs out of his energy, he tries to compensate for it by reminiscing his youthful days. When he wins a fame of a champion, he can regain new funds of energy. In addition, he often recalls African lions, which can symbolize the strength that helps Santiago in resurrecting his heroic ideals.

It is inevitable to bear sustaining numerous wounds and cuts in his fighting with marine creatures. But his recovery helps him renew its youthful spirit and propel him to be courageous.

All these wounds and continuous struggle with pains prove him a stature of code hero. To preserve his dignity and pride as a man of great strength, he disguises confidence and valor, which weaken the exultation of his powerful opponent with muscular defense mechanism.

When he runs out of his energy, he compensates for it by his cleverness. In addition, he tries to regain his energy by reminiscing his youthful days. He once won as a champion by his steel will. When he is alone and doing nothing, he always imagines the image African lions which are very grand. Actually, it is his subconscious dreaming which can rejuvenate his spirit as a young man and propels him to be courageous. It is spiritual powers of determination and endurance that make him keep on fighting with all opponents.

He jumped almost as though to show me how big he was. I know now, any way, he thought. I wish I could show him what sort of man I am. But then he would see the cramped hand. Let him think I am more than I am and I will be so. I wish I was the fish, he thought, with everything he has against only my will and my intelligence.(The Old Man and the Sea 50)

From these words, we can conclude that Santiago refuses to be beaten down by his wounds. Though he has cuts both on his head and in his right hand, even his left hand severely cramping “into a claw.”(The Old Man and the Sea 49) he still wishes the boy would rub the cramp out of his arm and to wet the coils of lines that burns and cuts his hands.

To demonstrate that he deserves the worship as a hero, he brings the skeleton of the Marlin with strenuous effort though he has lost the flesh of the fish due to competitive battle with ferocious sharks. He proves his master stroke, especially after the eighty-four-day failure with no catch. It seems that all his failure and misfortune have been removed by his endurance and appearance of wonders.

We can easily pick up the canon of beliefs and some core values from the principles by which the old man lives. It is of great importance for business practitioners to explore the tenor of characterization. Courage is a virtue everywhere, especially in a corporate which is beset with fierce competition and in desperate need of courageous practitioners.

To behave with grace under heavy pressure in the competitive arena of corporate world, business practitioners must become the man who is armed to the teeth with courage. Only the integrity of both physical heroism and intellectual heroism can qualify business practitioners for the real triumph.

3.2 Cooperation spirit

Santiago’s relationship with Manolin is also worth our studying. Santiago is an old man alone. In another world, he should have been a lonely fighter in hard environment. But the existence of the little boy, Manolin, makes things completely different.

Santiago’s relationship with Manolin sustains his hope and confidence. From the sentence “The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.”(The Old Man and the Sea 10) we can find Santiago enjoys Manolin’s company. He can enrich his life by undertaking some purposeful tasks.

Fishing has taught the boy lessons about being in nature and the power of faith. The little boy, who has his own family members, loves the old man faithfully and loyally. However, the faith should be cultivated habitually. The boy knows faith is not blind but based on memory and knowledge of the old man’s skills. Santiago’s love makes the little boy a faithful kid in hard environment.

Manolin’s help for Santiago can be reflected both spiritually and materially. Having gone eighty-four days without any fish, Santiago is actually in lack of necessities of life. Manolin initiatively provides him with clothes, water, and soup. From the sentence “If I cannnot fish with you, I would like to serve you in some way.”(The Old Man and the Sea 11) we can see that the boy is really a kind boy. His service includes hauling Santiago’s gear, catching his sardines, feeding him and serving him coffee, indulging the old man in his fictions and flattering him. Actually, it is the material help that keeps alive the spiritual inspiration to a large extent, especially for a man in fighting. When Santiago hooks the great Marlin, which he is waiting for a long time, he wishes the boy were with him. He is eager to share his joy with the boy. When he hesitates to kill the sharks, he thinks “everyone kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me as it keeps alive.” (The Old Man and the Sea 66) But then he remembers that it is not fishing but the love and the care of another human being that keep him alive now. “the boy keeps me alive. I must not deceive myself too much.” (The Old Man and the Sea 66) Manolin’s care for him leads to his heroic behaviors on the sea.

We may distill a few qualities from the relationship between them. One is a skilled adult while the other is a kind child. One is poor while the other is richer in life. The practice of developing each other’s advantages and learning from each other’s strong points to offset respective weakness has benefited both sides. Their cooperation guarantees a win-win result. It weakens the loneliness of the old and promotes the faith of the young. It is also an inspiration to practitioners when they have hesitation in decision making. In addition, anyone who is on the margin of disappointment, even despair, will be extremely emboldened.

3.3 Management ability

Santiago’s relationship with his apprentice has gone beyond guiding, but they still have some debates on baseball, which reflects his management ability.

Santiago and Manolin discuss who was the greatest baseball team manager of all time. Manolin says his father regards John J. McGraw as the greatest player. Santiago claims to have been drinking at the Terrace cafe and placing bets on heroes when Manolin asks Santiago for details about McGraw. Santiago tells the little boy that if Leo Durocher visited Cuba as many times as McGraw, his father would favor Durocher.

John Joseph McGraw was a Newer Yorker. He pitched for another team before joining the Baltimore Orioles and quickly built his reputation as an aggressive player. But he, later, moved to the Giants as manager and even led the Giants to the second place in the League. The Giant sustained their position as the most successful National League team for thirty years under McGrow’s management.

Leo Durocher, nicknamed “The Lip”, started his career with the major leagues in 1925. After a stint with the Yankees, he was traded to the Reds, then he played for the Carclinals during their successes of the 1930s. Over the course of the next five years, Durocher continued to win as a sound manager.

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