白鲸简介 Moby-Dick

Hello everyone

Today

the

story

I

am

going

to

share

is

about

a

man----Capitan

Ahab

and

a

mammal---- white whale Moby-Dick. Maybe some of you are not familiar with this

novel yet, so before entering the topic we can recall another novel first----

The old man

and the sea.

Both as the well-known American novels

Moby-Dick

and

The old man

and the sea

share a lot of similarities and difference. They both tell the story of man

and nature, as well as sea hunting. But unlike the fortitude character Santiago, Ahab is

cold lonely stubborn selfish and he is shaped into the embodiment of evil.

With these first impressions of Moby- Dick, let

’

s start to read this novel.

My

presentation

is

divided

into

three

parts:

the

synopsis;

the

author

and

the

theme.

First is the synopsis. I just choose a very very brief version today to help you to

get

familiar

with

this

novel.

You

can

find

a

more

detailed

version

in

our

textbook,

page 188.

Captain Ahab, who, having lost a leg in an earlier battle with White Whale, is

determined to catch the beast and destroy it. He and his sailors live a dramatic life at

sea.

They

kill

lots

of

whales

but

Ahab

refuses

to

turn

back

until

he

has

killed

his

enemy. Eventually, the white whale appears, and they begins doomed fight against is.

On the first day, the whale overturns a boat, on the second it swamps another. when

the third day comes, Ahab and his sailors manage to plunge a harpoon into it, but the

whale carries the Pequod

（

the boat

）

alone with it to its doom. All on the board the

whaler get drown, except one, Ishmael, who survives to tell the truth.

Then is something about the author Herman Melville.

Life

Born in New York City in 1819, Melville

’

s childhood was very happy until he

was 11 years old when suddenly his father died in debt. He dropped early and tried all

kinds of jobs---- banking, farming, clerking, and teaching. When all this failed to offer

him a decent livelihood, he went to sea.

There are three things which deserve to mention in his life and going out of sea is

one of them. (The other two is his marriage and his friendship with Hawthorne).

Restless and venturesome by temperament, Melville shipped as a cabin boy on a

merchant

vessel

to

England

in

1839,

when

he

was

only

twenty

years

old.

At

twenty-two

he

signed

for

a

voyage

on

the

whaler

Acushnet.

This

voyage

did

not

prosper and he with another youth named Tobias deserted the ship in a remote pacific

island. His adventures led to his literary career.

His experience on the sea furnished

him with abundant material for fiction. Here are some of his famous works.

Typee

（< /p>

1846

）

was a romanticized account of his stay among the Polynesians.

Omoo

（

1847

）

the sequel of Typee was about his adventures on Tahiti and other

islands.

Redburn

（

1849

was based on his first voyage to England

White-Jacket

（

1850

）

and Billy Budd< /p>

（

1891

）

were based on his brief career in

the navy.

People always say it is these works lay a strong foundation for Moby-Dick.

Style

Herman Melville was influenced by several writers and I will focus on two who

we have learned before: James Fenimore Copper and Ralph waldo Emerson.

Copper is the author of

the last of the mohicans

. An distinguished feature of his

works

is

Grand

scene

narrative

which

was

also

well

reflected

in

Moby-Dick.

As

Melville himself said in

Moby-Dick

“

to write a mighty book you must have a mighty

theme.

”

Here

he

had

it----the

rebellious

struggle

of

Captain

Ahab

against

the

overwhelming,

mysterious

vastness

of

the

universe

and

its

awesome,

sometimes

merciless force.

Melville was deeply influenced by transcendentalism. He advocates natural and

natural

religion.

According

to

transcendentalism,

nature

is

god;

god

is

unbeaten;

nature needs human

’

s fear. In his novel the sea and Moby-Dick are the symbols of a

mysterious supernatural power and can be considered as the physical manifestation of

God's presence.

In this novel a priest

repeatedly chanting

“

But the Lord provided a

great fish to swallow Jonah

”

which shows the transcendentalism thoughts of author.