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B. Introduction to Moby Dick
Moby-Dick is a symbolic work, but also very interesting, because it also to the natural history and other problems. Other topics include delusions, religion, idealism and pragmatism, revenge, racial discrimination, hierarchy, and politics
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, published in 1851, is regarded as the embodiment of American Romanticism, for it is \one, and from the very opening it conveys a sense of abundance, of high creative power, that exhilarates and enlarges the imagination.\39) In a large sense, Moby Dick has secured Melville's place in American literary history. 1. Symbolism makes Moby Dick a great success
The story depicts the adventures of the wandering sailor Ishmael and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod, which is in the charge of Captain Ahab. Ishmael soon learns that Ahab intends to take revenge on Moby Dick, a white whale of tremendous size and ferocity. With the development of the plot, Ahab's fervent desire to find and destroy Moby Dick has been intensified, which prompts him and the crew to a tragic end.
What makes Moby Dick a great success is more than its plot. In Moby-Dick, Melville employs stylized language, symbolism, and metaphor to pore into numerous complex themes, including history, philosophy, religion, in addition to relationship between human and nature. Through Ishmael’s journey, it presents a panorama of the society in 19th century.
2. Herman Melville was the celebrated author of several big 19th-century ovels about the sea.
Moby-Dick (1851), the story of the fanatical Captain Ahab and his hunt for the great white whale of the title, is now considered one of the classics of American literature. Melville's other novels include Typee (1846), Omoo (1847), and Billy Budd (published posthumously in 1924). Melville published little after 1860 and it wasn't until the 1900s that he gained his reputation as one of early America's great authors.
Captain Ahab hates Moby Dick--“the white devil”--because he lost a leg to the white whale in a fight. Now Ahab, the captain of a whaling ship, can only think of one thing. He has
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to find Moby Dick and kill him.
Many of the other sailors on the ship don't know about their captain's plan. Ishmael is a young sailor and this is his first whaling job. He and his new friend, Queequeg, sail with Captain Ahab on this exciting-and dangerous--trip. Also on the ship are Starbuck, Srubb, and other whalers from different countries. He is prepared to sacrifice everything, including his life, the lives of his crew members, and even his ship to find and destroy his nemesis
Ⅱ.Extended meaning of Moby Dick
A. Symbolism
Arthur Symons (2004) said: \Symbolism, no literature\Symbolism in literature came into being in the latter half of 19th century and lasted to the early 20th century. It is the forerunner of twentieth-century modernism, a period when symbols and evocative suggestion take place of direct statement. 1. Symbol
It is essential to probe into symbol before dealing with symbolism, since symbol is an indispensable medium of symbolism. Only by symbol can symbolism achieve its goal of being musical, suggestive and mysterious.
Combined with both literal and evoked meanings, symbol realizes the goal of expressing abstract meaning by using a specific and objective image, which enables the writer and the reader to seek the implied idea in a specific context. 2. Symbolism
\can be defined as the art of expressing ideas and emotions by not describing them directly, nor by defining them through overt comparisons with concrete images, but by suggesting what these ideas and emotions are, by recreating them in the mind of the reader through the use of unexplained symbols.” (Chadwick, 1971)
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3. Functions of Symbolism
It is Paul Valery in French, Rainer Maria Rilke in German, and W. B. Yeats in English that carried the tradition into the 20th century, and hardly any mater of modernism was unaffected by it. American literature of the early 20th century undoubtedly has been profoundly influenced by Symbolism. It is its great function that makes it has such an effect on literature.
B. Symbolism of Evil
1. Transcendentalism and Anti-transcendentalism
Transcendentalism is an idealist philosophical tendency in and around Boston in the mid-19th century. Growing out of Christian Unitarianism in the 1830s and influenced by German and British romanticism. Transcendentalism affirmed Kant’s principle of intuitive knowledge not derived from the senses, while rejecting organized religion for an extremely individualistic celebration of the divinity in each human being.
The leading Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson issued the movement’s manifesto in his essay Nature (1836), which presents natural phenomena as symbols of higher spiritual truths. The nonconformist individualism of the Transcendentalists is expressed in Emerson’s essay Self-Reliance (1841) and in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden (1854)--a kind of autobiographical sermon against modern materialism. The Transcendentalists’ manner of interpreting nature in symbolic terms had a profound influence on American literature of this period, notably in the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Walt Whitman. (Chris Baldick P228) 2. The Nature of Evil
According to the Transcendentalists, Man is more than the word good can describe; instead, man is divine because they are blessed with Divine Intellect awarded by God. Hence, in their eyes, evil does not exist, let alone development.
From the perspectives of psychology and philosophy, evil can be defined in different ways. In psychological terms, evil is a deviation from the ego. An evil ego holds the view that
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terror is the most effective force to dominate others; hence, he has a strong desire to dominate other egos by making terror. On the other hand, the dominated ones are subject to such a fear that they can hardly take effective action to defend them. Under such circumstance, an evil person can do anything to them as they wish. By such means, there emerges a vicious circle. In religious or spiritual terms, evil is an aberration of the soul. Since the soul is created in the image of God, therefore, it is peaceful, loving, happy and eternal in nature. On the contrary, evil is hostile and cold-hearted in nature, furthermore, it brings disasters and sufferings to human beings. 3. Symbols of Evil
To Captain Ahab, attacked on the previous whaling voyage by Moby Dick, the whale symbolizes all evil in the universe. Therefore, he takes a personal fight against the whale. In the process of destroying the whale, Ahab is destroying his own fears and evils that he is confronted with in the world. And in a large sense, the ship Pequot is the vehicle of evils. In the beginning, the savage-looking ship is nothing but a tool of traditional whaling industry. The development of the plots has close connection with the ship, when Ahab makes his first appearance on deck, balancing gingerly on his false leg, which forebodes something awful. As the Pequot sails toward the southern tip of Africa, whales are in sight but unsuccessfully hunted. On the third day, the boats are once again sent after Moby Dick, who once again attacks them. By then, the evils are displayed to full: Fed Allah’s corpse is lashed to the whale by the harpoon line; the Pequot is sunk; Ahab is caught in a harpoon line and hurled out of his harpoon boat to his death; all of the remaining whaleboats and crew are trapped and struggling in the vortex created by the sinking Pequot.
II. Symbolism of God
A. View of God in Anti- transcendentalism
For Jewish, Christian, and Muslim, God is an eternally existent being that exists beyond space and time. Since God is the creator of the universe, he is almighty, unexplainable and unknowable.
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Unlike Transcendentalism, which takes God as the Over soul, the soul of the Universe, God is regarded as a destructive force, unknown to human beings and can not be defied in every possible means and on every possible occasion. Furthermore, God inflicts pains and suffering on human beings, and it is impossible to find a way out even trying to avoid him as much as possible.
B. The Symbol of God
Ishmael is the narrator of the novel Moby-Dick. It is through his eyes and experiences that the panorama of the full story of the ship Pequod, and the fight between Captain Ahab and the white whale presents itself in front of readers. At the beginning of the novel, the whole story revolves around him; however, with the development of plot, he recedes into the background as a commentator.
III. Symbolism of Nature
A. View of Nature
Nature, in the eyes of Anti-transcendentalist, is a symbol of everything unexplainable. For them, Nature is vast and incomprehensible, reflecting the struggle between good and evil; Nature, created and possessed by God, can not be understood by human beings.
In Hawthorne's The Minister's Black Veil (1836), Anti-transcendental idea about nature is well illustrated throughout the story. The literature builds the idea of humanity and nature in totally different perspectives, which reflects the principle ideas of Anti-transcendentalism movements.
B. symbol of nature
Since the religious beliefs has exerted great influence on the novelist, Moby Dick is unavoidably has the makings of pessimism. To some extent, Moby Dick, chased and hunted by Ahab, is not the actual whale but a symbolic one, but a whale that stands for the ultimate mystery of the universe, the mystery of nature. He, immortal, omnipotent and almighty, can