论《白鲸》中的象征意义

《白鲸》中有两大线索吸引着人们的眼球，即

主人公（船长）亚哈与莫比 迪克，他们可以说是小说中的两大对立阵营：人与自

然的对立。偏执，自私的亚哈为报失 腿之深仇大恨，誓死追击白鲸，直至最终的

灭亡，这也象征着人类社会与自然地最终命运 。

文章中，

作者娴熟地运用象征手

法，

使得各个要素在作品中的象征意义活灵活现。

本文将通过分析小 说中具有不

同象征意义的人物、重要线索、意象和重要事件，从而向人们展示《白鲸》中 的

象征意义，希望能进一步丰富人们对这部小说及其主题的理解。更重要的是，

我

希望借助白鲸这部作品，

人们能够真正领会人 与自然地关系，

能与自然和睦相处。

而不像亚哈那样，一心就想 冲破自然界的力量，

两败俱伤，

何必呢？在自然界面

本文结合《白鲸》中的象征主义手法的运用，把文章共分为五个章节，第一

< br>章节简要介绍作者与作品及时代背景；

第二部分讲述象征和象征主义；

析亚哈在《白鲸》中的象征意义；第四章节通过作者对白鲸的描写 ，从而揭示白

鲸的象征意义；第五章展示捕鲸船皮阔得号象征意义，最后得出结论。

关键词：

白鲸 ；赫尔曼

·

麦尔维尔；亚哈船长；象征，象征主义

3

Contents

Abstract

in

English

………………… ……………………………………………

Abstract

in

Chinese

………………… ……………………………………………

Introduction

…………………………………………………………………………

Chapter 1 A Brief Introduction of Author and Work

……………………

1.1 The Introduction to Herman Melville

……………………………………………

1.2 Plot Overview

…………………………… …………………………………

1.3 Background Information

…………………………………………………

Chapter 2 Symbol and Symbolism

……………………………………………

2.1 A Brief Introduction to Symbol

……………………………………………

2.2 A Brief Introduction to Symbolism

………………………………………

2.3 The Function of Symbolism

………………………………………………

Chapter3 The Symbols in

Moby Dick

…………………………………

3.1 Ahab Himself

……………………………… ………………………………

3.2 Ahab

’

s Spirits

……… ………………………………………………………

3.2.1 Exploring the Final Truth

……………………………………………

3.2.2 The Spirit of Self- identity

……………………………………………

3.2.3The Spirit of Heroism

…………………………………………………

3.2.4 The Embodiment of Revolutionary Spirit

……………………………

3.3 The Symbol of Ahab Hunting Moby Dick

…………………………………

3.4The Symbol of Moby Dick

…………………………………………………

3.4.1 Moby Dick itself

……………… ……………………………………………

3 .4.2

The

Symbol

of

Whiteness

…………… ………………………………

3.4.3The Symbol of Capitalism Mode of Production

………………………

3.5 The Symbol of Ship

’

s Name: Pequod

………………………………………

3.6OtherObjects

’

Symbol

………………………………………………………

Conclusion

……………… ……………………………………………………………

Bibl iography

…………………………………………………………………………

4

Introduction

Herman

Melville,

American

author,

best-known

for

his

masterpiece

of

the

sea

Moby Dick

.

“

I have written a wicked book and feel as the lamb,

”

Melville wrote to

Hawthorne

.

Maybe Melville is right. When this novel was published, it did not bring

Melville the fame he had acquired in the 1840s. However,

Moby Dick

is popular with

the readers and critics after 1919. It is said that this book is the reflection of Melville

’

s

time.

And

this

novel

was

honored

as

“

The

most

abundant

expression

of

American

imagination

”

.

Moby

Dick

is

a

story

about

Ahab.

Whale

ship

Pequod,

was

commanded

by

Captain

Ahab.

Ahab

made

a

living

by

whaling.

Moreover,

he

was

sophisticated

in

sailing,

and

sailing

for

more

than

forty

years.

Once

he

lost

a

leg

accidently

when

fighting with an enormous and ferocious white whale. From then on, Ahab vowed to

revenge. He abandoned his wife and children, and put all his egg in one basket, that

was revenge. Then Ahab

’

s burning desire for revenge really was the center of the story.

At the end of

Moby Dick,

Ahab found and attacked Moby Dick. On the first day, the

whale overturned a boat;

on a

second day, it swamped another.

When the third day

came,

Ahab

and

all

his

crew

managed

to

plunge

a

harpoon

into

it,

but

all

of

the

remaining whaleboats and men are caught in the vortex created by the sinking Pequod

and pulled under to their deaths expect Ishmael, who survives to tell the tale.

Moby Dick

could be read as a thrilling sea story, an examination of the conflict

between human and nature- the battle between Ahab and the white whale is open to

many interpretations. It is a pioneer novel but the prairie is ocean, or an allegory on

the Gold Rush, but now the gold is whale. And the readers are deeply impressed on a

plurality

of

linguistic

discourses,

philosophical

speculations,

and

Shakespearean

rhetoric and dramatic staging. Mysterious Captain Ahab, a combination of Macbeth,

Job and

Milton’s

Satan, devoted his life to his revenge.

And Ahab reveals to his

crew the purpose of the voyage is to hunt and kill Moby Dick, who had cost Ahab

’

s

leg on a previous voyage.

There

are

two

reasons

to

Moby

Dick

’

s

popularity.

Firstly,

Herman

Melville

describes more details

about

whaling spectacle;

secondly,

it’s

enduring fascination

and

predominant

literary

value

lies

in

the

application

of

all

kinds

of

complicated

symbolism wholly expresses Melville

’

s ideas towards temporal culture, religion and

social development. In brief, symbol can express particular significance and interpret

some kind of ideas by the specific images.

5

Thus

it

can

be

seen

that

symbolism

plays

a

vital

role

in

literature

and

we

are

available to realize that predictable perfect symbolism in

Moby Dick

. Let

’

s turn into

the world of symbolism of

Moby Dick

6

Chapter 1 A Brief Introduction of Author and Work

1.1 The Introduction to Herman Melville

Herman Melville, (August 1, 1819

–

September 28, 1891) who was born in New

York, was an American novelist, poet, and writer of short stories. He was the third of

eight

children

born

to

Maria

Gansevoort

Melville

and

Allan

Melville,

a

prosperous

importer of foreign goods. When the family business failed at the end of the 1820s,

the

Melvilles

relocated

to

Albany

in

an

attempt

to

revive

their

fortunes.

However,

because of a string of future bad luck and overwork, his father drove to an early grave.

And the young Melville had to start to work for his family when he was only thirteen

years old.

After a few years of formal education, Melville was forced to leave school and to

become an elementary school teacher. From that time on, Melville

’

s career began. At

the age of nineteen, Melville made his first sea voyage, as a merchant sailor on a ship

bound for Liverpool.

In the summer of 1842, Melville and one of his fellow

sailors

got in Marquesas Islands. While Melville became separated from his companion and

lamed a bad leg, he spent a month alone in the company of the natives. With the

help

of this experience, Melville created his first novel

Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life,

published in 1846. Melville set out to write a series of novels detailing his adventures

and

his

philosophy

of

life

with

the

voluminous

knowledge

obtained

from

the

sea.

After

Typee

Melville

wrote

Omoo

and

Mardi

and

A

Voyage

Thither.

In

1849,

he

published

Redburn.

His next novel,

White- Jacket

; or

The World in a Man-of

–

War.

Through

the

points

of

literary

history,

Melville

’

s

first

five

novels

above-mentioned

are all seen as an apprenticeship to what is today considered his

masterpiece,

Moby

Dick.

And

Moby

Dick

is

a

tremendously

ambitious

novel

that

functions at ever as a documentary of life at sea and a vast philosophical allegory of in

general. As Herman Melville satirizes by turns religious traditions, moral values, and

the literary and political figures of the day, no sacred subject is spared in this bleak

and scathing critique of the known world.

Melville was strongly inspired by the achievements of Hawthorne and Melville

changed

Moby Dick

from a story into an allegorical novel with the encouragement of

Hawthorne.

And

Melville

had

long

admired

Hawthorne

’

s

psychological

depth

and

gothic

grimness.

Melville associated

Hawthorne

with

a new, distinctively American

7

literature.

Although

the

works

of

Shakespeare

and

Milton

influenced

Moby

Dick,

Melville

didn

’

t

look

exclusively

to

celebrate

cultural

models.

He

drew

on

sources

from popular culture. For example, in 19

th

century whaling narratives were extremely

popular. However

Moby Dick

was misunderstood and remained largely ignored until

1920s,

when

it

was

rediscovered

and

promoted

by

literary

historians

interested

in

constructing an American literary tradition.

for psychological elucidation. Here the

author

having

no

intentions

of

this

sort,

does not show his characters in a psychological

light

and

thus

leaves

room

for

analysis

and

interpretation,

or

even

invites

it

by

his

unprejudiced

mode

of

presentation

…

I

would

also

include

Melville

’

s

Moby

Dick,

which

I

consider

as

the

greatest American novel, in this broad class of writings.

”

(Carl Jung in The Spirit in

Man, Art and Literature,1967) From these words we can see

Moby Dick

’

s value.

1.2 Plot Overview

Ishmael,

the

narrator,

announces

his

intention

to

ship

aboard

a

whaling

vessel.

He has made several voyages as a sailor but none as a whaler. When he travels to New

Bedford, Massachusetts, w

he stays in a whalers’ inn.

As the inn is pretty full, he has

to share a bed with a harpooner from the South Pacific who is named Queequeg. At

first

repulsed

by

Queequeg’s

strange

habits

and

shocking

appearance

(Queequeg

is

covered with tattoos), but with time goes by, Ishmael eventually comes to appreciate

this

man’s generosity and kind spirit, and the two decide to seek work on a whaling

vessel

together.

So

they

take

a

ferry

to

Nantucket,

the

traditional

capital

of

the

whaling

industry.

At

there

they

can

secure

berths

on

the

Pequod,

a

savage-looking

ship

adorned

with

the

bones

and

teeth

of

sperm

whales.

Peleg

and

Bildad,

the

Pequod’s Quaker owners, drive a hard bargain in terms of salary. They also mention

the ship’s mysterious capt

ain, Ahab, who is still recovering from losing his leg in an

encounter with a sperm whale on his last voyage.

The Pequod leaves Nantucket on a cold Christmas Day with a crew made up of

men

from

many

different

countries

and

races.

Before

long,

the

ship

is

in

warmer

waters, and Ahab makes his first appearance on deck, balancing gingerly on his false

leg, which is made from a sperm whale’s jaw. He announces his desire to pursue and

kill Moby Dick, the legendary great white whale who took his leg, because he sees

this

whale

as

the

embodiment

of

evil.

Ahab

nails

a

gold

doubloon

to

the

mast

and

declares that it will be the prize for the first man to sight the whale. As the Pequod

8

sails toward the southern tip of Africa, whales are sighted and unsuccessfully hunted.

After

Pequod

rounds

Africa

and

enters

the

Indian

Ocean,

a

few

whales

are

successfully caught and processed for their oil. From time to time, the ship encounters

other whaling vessels. Ahab always demands information about Moby Dick from their

captains.

One

of

the

ships,

the

Jeroboam,

carries

Gabriel,

a

crazed

prophet

who

predicts

doom

for

anyone

who

threatens

Moby

Dick.

His

predictions

seem

to

carry

some weight, as those aboard his ship who have hunted the whale have met disaster.

While

Ahab

does

not

care

about

his

predictions,

he

continues

hunting

Moby

Dick.

During

another

whale

hunt,

Pip,

the

Pequod’s

black

cabin

boy,

jumps

from

a

whaleboat

and

is

left

behind

in

the

middle

of

the

ocean.

Not

long

afterwards,

Queequeg falls ill and

has the ship’s carpenter make him a coffin in anticipation of his

death.

He

recovers,

however,

and

the

coffin

eventually

becomes

the

Pequod’s

replacement life buoy.

Ahab

orders

a

harpoon

forged

in

the

expectation

that

he

will

soon

encounter

Moby Dick. He b

aptizes the harpoon with the blood of the Pequod’s three harpooners.

The

Pequod

kills

several

more

whales.

Issuing

a

prophecy

about

Ahab’s

death,

Fedallah

declares

that

Ahab

will

first

see

two

hearses,

the

second

of

which

will

be

made

only

from

American

wood,

and

that

he

will

be

killed

by

hemp

rope.

Ahab

interprets these words to mean that he will not die at sea, where there are no hearses

and no hangings. A typhoon hits the Pequod, illuminating it with electrical fire. Ahab

takes this occurrence as a sign of imminent confrontation and success, but Starbuck,

the ship’s first mate, takes it as a bad omen and considers killing Ahab to end the mad

quest.

After

the

storm

ends,

one

of

the

sailors

falls

from

the

ship’s

masthead

and

drowns-a grim foreshadowing of what lies ahead.

Ahab’s fervent desire to find and destroy Mo

by Dick continues to intensify and

the

mad

Pip

is

now

his

constant

companion.

The

Pequod

approaches

the

equator,

where Ahab expects to find the great whale. To his expectation, Ahab finally sights

Moby

Dick.

On

the

first

day,

the

whale

overturned

a

boat;

on

a

second

day,

it

swamped another. When the third day came, Ahab and all his crew managed to plunge

a harpoon into it, but the white whale carried the Pequod along with it to its death. All

on board the whaler got drowned expect Ishmael, who survives to tell the tale.

1.3 Background Information

In the 19

th

century, American optimism is a commonplace. All of American had

seen that the United States depended on the UK. Especially they have expended their

9

territory from more than two million square kilometers to over nine square kilometers.

So American took pride in their achievements. The Atlantic makes American far away

from

the

European

countries

’

disputes.

They

made

good

use

of

this

geographical

advantage and

abundant natural

resources

to develop

economy, increase wealth

and

purse Hegemonism. Therefore the phrase

“

Capital Accumulation

”

emerged. American

was urged to build wealth to stimulate their capitalistic development. And the whaling

could meet their demands and produce a large fortune for their capital accumulation.

In addition, American believed that the God was in special favor of American. Under

this background romanticism also came into being.

And at that time, American was in a young, vibrant and vigorous development

period.

Every

American

was

proud

of

their

national

independence.

It

is

no

exaggeration to say that it is a era of individualism, and everyone managed to purse

their own independent and create success through diligent work. And American lived

in a comfortable without a sense of tragedy. There is nothing but a sense of optimism.

No

one

struck

up

a

discordant

tune

to

this

optimistic

position

except

a

few

main

writers, Herman Melville was one member of them.

10

Chapter 2 Symbol and Symbolism

2.1 The Introduction of Symbol

The word

“

symbol< /p>

”

comes from the Greek verb symballein,

“

to put together,

”

and

the noun symbolon

“

sign

”

“

token

”

which originally referred to a half-coin that the two

parties to

an agreement

carried away

as

a pledge for its

fulfillment.

In the simplest

sense, symbol associated with

anything that stands

for or represents

something

else

beyond

an

idea

conventionally.

However

in

literary

usage,

a

symbol

is

especially

evocative kind of image; that is, a word or phrase referring to a concrete object, sense,

or action which also has some further significance associated with it. Its application to

literature with a clearly defined meaning, contrasting it with allegory and it occurred

first in Germany in the late eighteen century.

And symbol is one of those words that are usually used in a confusing manner.

The

confusion

is

increased

by

different

scholars

using

the

words

to

mean

very

different

things.

Most

obviously,

General

Semantics

use

symbol

to

designate

what

other writers call a

“

sign

”

. A symbol is a sign that has further layers of meaning.

In

other

words,

a

symbol

means

more

than

it

literally

says.

The

more

profound

the

symbol is, the greater the complexity of the layers of meaning.

Dr. Frank Lentricchia and Thomas McLaughlin defined this literary term as

：

“

A

symbol is representation of an idea, thing, concept, or quality. A symbol is an object,

which

stands

for

something

else;

it

is

a

word,

which

while

signifying

something

specific, also signifies something beyond itself. With a symbol we have to infer the

meaning and associations.

”

(Lentricchia and McLaughlin, 1995:5)

In literary works, it is important to remember that a word would mean more than

what the writer consciously intends to convey. Thus, when a writer intends to express

certain

meanings

by

means

of

symbols,

the

meaning

he

or

she

express

will

exceed

what was consciously intended. Furthermore, symbols are used when a writer wants

to express his understanding of something in his mind and it is not directly observable

in

the

daily

life.

At

that

time,

the

writer

has

to

use

a

symbol

to

convey

his

comprehension

of

something

abstract

by

using

objects

and

words

from

the

familiar

world.

The

writer

starts

with

an

object

in

the

real

world

and

makes

it

symbolic

by

loading it with a meaning which is not explicitly stated.

It is human being

’

s ability that manipulates symbols to allow them to explore the

11