-
Abstract
Moby-
Dick
is regarded as the masterpiece of
Herman Melville. It contains plenty
of
symbolism. Understanding the symbolic meanings of
the characters and subjects in
the
novel
is
important.
This
paper
analyses
the
symbolic
meanings
of
different
individuals
in
order
to
make
a
better
understanding
of
the
novel.
Moby
Dick
represents God owing to
his godlike characters and his awfully severe
beauty. Ahab
symbolizes the league
human with evil. In the whaling trip,
we can see his bravery
and
patience, as well as his madness and stubbornness.
The third symbolic element is
the idea
of the “counterpane” that is woven throughout the
story as a symbol of the
world’s
multiculturalism.
Melville
develops
the
symbol
proving
that
the
world
is
indeed
a
counterpane
of
diverse
cultures,
races,
and
environment,
in
which
we
are
always connected by our humanity.
Key
words:
symbolism; Moby Dick;
Arab; counterpane
摘要
《白鲸
》被看作是赫尔曼
·
麦尔维尔的杰作。它包含了大量的象征主义
。在
这部小说中，
理解人物事物的象征意义是非常重要的。
为了更好的理解这部小说，
这篇论文将分析不同个体的象征意义。<
/p>
其中的白鲸被描写成无处不在，
无所不能
的万能的上帝。
埃哈布船长为复仇远涉重洋捕捉白鲸，
最后自己
，
同伴与白鲸同
归于尽的事迹，
既表现
了人类的勇敢与忍耐，
也反映了他们的偏执与疯狂。
另一
个贯穿全文的象征就是“床单”
，它象征世界不同文化的混合与交织，
世界就像
一块由多种布拼凑而成的床单，由不同的文化、种族、背景交织而成，人们在一
起相互依靠，相互依存，小说中来自不同国家的船员就是最生动形象的体现。
关键词：象征主义；白鲸；
埃哈布
;
床单
Introduction
1851, Herman Melville had his novel
Moby Dick published, which was not a stir
at that time. However, a half century
later, in 1920s, this book has been recognized as
one of the most significant works in
American literature.
Moby-Dick
is
regarded as
the first American prose
epic. It is a naturalistic story of whale-hunting.
The story tells
that a captain named
Ahab led his crews to hunt a white whale who
sheared off his leg
on
a
previous
voyage.
Finally
all
people
on
board
drown,
except
Ishmael,
who
survives to
tell
the story. Moby-dick is
so
popular not
only because of the
exciting
whale-hunting scenes and the
exploration of the internal world of human beings,
but
also
the
skillful
use
of
symbolism.
What
does
make
him
become
a
master
of
symbolism? It relates to
his life experience and culture background.
Herman Melville began working on his
epic novel
Moby Dick
in
1850, writing it
primarily
as
a
report
on
the
whaling
voyages
he
undertook
in
the
1830s
and
early
1840s. Many critics think that his
initial book didn’t contain characters such as
Ahab,
Starbuck,
or
even
Moby
Dick,
but
the
summer
of
1850
c
hanged
Melville’s
wri
ting
and
his
masterpiece.
He
became
friend,
with
author
Nathaniel
Hawthorne
and
was
greatly
influenced
by
him.
He
also
read
Shakespeare
and
Mil
ton’s
Paradise
Lost
.
Their
influences
lead
to
the
novel
Moby
Dick
completed
and
published
in
1851.
Although ignored by
critics after its release,
Moby
Dick
took an important place in the
world literature.
In
Moby
Dick
,
Melville’s
imagination
has
achieved
its
great
peak
through
employing every
means and technique he can reach, among which
symbolism is the
most thought-provoking
and well-studied one. The symbolism of the white
whale can
be interpreted in
many
ways.
The
paper concerns
that Moby Dick is
the symbol of
God.
Ahab,
the
captain
of
the
ship,
represents
the
league
human
with
evil.
He
questions the fate that God sends upon
him and wants to challenge him. The idea of
“counterpane” is the third symbolic
element, which is woven throughout the story as a
symbol of the world’s multiculturalism.
I. The Symbolic Meanings of
Moby Dick
The
white whale is one of the best known symbols in
the novel. What it represents
depends
entirely
on
who
is
noticing.
To
Starbuck,
it
is
just
another
whale
while
is
more dangerous. To Ishmael, it suggests
the demonism in the world. To others, the
white whale symbolizes mysterious and
powerful nature. But one significant question
is
what
the
white whale to
Ahab is?
According
to
the captain
Ahab’s comments
in
Chapter 36, there, he says he sees Moby
Dick as a “mask”, behind which lies a great
power.
It
can
be
concluded,
to
Ahab,
the
white
whale
represents
that
power
which
limits
and controls
man. Ahab sees
it as
evil. Melville uses many other
symbols to
make the white
whale a symbol of divine power. Moby Dick is
thought to be immortal.
He is the
collective whale soul, the essential, eternal
whale of which all other whales
are
only
ephemeral
manifestations.
The
sacred,
special
character
of
Moby
Dick
is
indicated
by
his
whiteness.
His
awfully
severe
beauty
is
godlike,
as
is
his
titanic
power
and
his
pyramid-
like
white
hump.
His
color,
white,
has
signified
a
special
sanctify:
Melville
portrays
Moby
Dick
in
nearly
human
terms,
endowing
the
great
whale a
sense of intelligence, strategy and grandeur. The
whale is more than a match
for Ahab,
despite his dogged persistence, and in fact
appears altogether unconquerable.
From
the beginning of the novel, we are confronted with
the image of the whale as the
personification of power and strength.
II.
The Symbolic Meanings of Captain Ahab
Ahab
is
the
central
character
and
the
primary
focus
of
the
novel,
despite
his
mysterious
and
long-delayed
appearance.
Long
before
Ahab
actually
interacts
with
Ishmael and the other
characters, Melville establishes him as an
impressive and tragic
figure, deserving
of sympathy. Ahab is a very complicated man with
heroic and evil
qualities at the same
time. What does he stand for? A hero fights
against evil? Or an
evil himself takes
revenge on the nature or god? He starts with a
noble intention to
crush malignance of
the universe. But he is out of control as he rants
about attacking
the force behind the
mask of the white whale. He wants to kill the
whale in order to