1、本科毕业论文（设计）题 目: On The Symbolic Meanings in Moby Dick论白鲸中的象征意义 姓 名: 姚小梅 学 院: 外 国 语 学 院 专 业: 英语专业（师范类） 班 级: 英语 2010 级 1 班 学 号: 1552100126 指 导教师: 刘 云 职称: 讲 师 2014 年 6 月 17 日安徽科技学院教务处制On The Symbolic Meanings in Moby DickBy Yao XiaomeiSupervised by Liu YunIn partial fulfillment of the requirementFor the
2、 B.A. degreeSchool of Foreign LanguagesAnhui Science and Technology UniversityJune 20141AbstractHerman Melville (1819-1891) is one of the distinguished writers of America in the 1900s. It can say that Moby Dick is his representative work. And this work is generally regarded as one of the most symbol
3、ic novels in the world literature. However, literary circles has not attached importance to Moby Dick when it was published in 1851.It was not until the early twentieth century that this shining star has yielded unusually brilliant results and has won hundreds of thousands of writers and critics fav
4、or. The hitting-points of their research are different. While the symbolism is striking among them, and symbolism plays an important role in the understanding to readers.Herman Melville takes advantage of a good deal of symbolism in Moby Dick. To some extent, symbolism is exerted by the author incis
5、ively and vividly. It is said that symbolism derived from the symbolic movement of French in the late nineteen century. And it has already become an important writing technique to novels. It is noticed that Herman Melville has presented vividly the profound meanings of Moby Dick to readers through s
6、ymbolism, which promotes the comprehension of readers and they can acknowledge American society, culture, religion beliefs of the 19th century and the development of symbolism to American literature. In Herman Melvilles writing, there are two big clues that appeal to people, namely protagonist Ahab
7、and Moby Dick. It is designed that they are two opposing camps: Human and Nature. In the novel, bigoted and selfish Ahab pledges his life to catch Moby Dick for the sake of his hatred of losing a leg. And finally all people (except Ishmael) died as a result of Ahabs revenge. Their fates in a certain
8、 degree reflect the final fates between human and nature. In the article, Melville uses symbolism adeptly. Consequently we can get each elements symbolic meanings with color and life. In this paper the author will try to analyze different symbolic images, such as people, important clues and signific
9、ant events so that show the symbolism of Moby Dick to people. I hope that my analysis would enrich peoples understand to this works themes. Whats more important is that I hope people could really comprehend the relation between human and nature. Do not act like Ahab, his only purpose for life is to
10、break the power of nature. It is not advisable to loss at both sides. Of course we cant be conceited or underestimate our capabilities toward nature. Harmonious coexistence is the best choice for both sides.2The whole thesis is composed of five parts combined with the use of symbolism in Moby Dick.
11、The first part will give us a brief introduction to Herman Melville, Moby Dicks plot and the background information; In the second chapter the author will represent the definition of symbol and symbolism; The third chapter will analyze Ahabs symbolic meanings; the forth part is to talk about the sym
12、bolic meanings of Moby Dick; and the last part presents us the symbolism of Pequod. Finally the thesis reaches a conclusion.Key Words: Moby Dick; Herman Melville; Captain Ahab; Symbol; Symbolism3中文摘要赫尔曼麦尔维尔(1819-1891)是美国 19 世纪著名作家之一， 白鲸可以说是他的代表作。这部小说被认为是世界上最有象征意义的小说之一，然而在1851 年白鲸的问世并没有引起文学界的重视，这颗璀璨明
13、星直到 20 世纪才大放异彩，赢得无数作家和评论家的亲睐。他们的切入点各不相同，而象征手法是其中重要一项，对于作品的理解起着十分重要的作用。在白鲸中，麦尔维尔使用了大量的象征手法，象征主义的应用可以说是淋漓尽致。象征主义源于十九世纪晚期的法国象征主义运动，它已成为现代小说中一种重要的创作手法。通过运用象征主义手法，赫尔曼麦尔维尔形象而生动地表达出了白鲸中的深刻含义,这促进了广大读者对白鲸这部作品的理解，让读者对 19 世纪美国的社会、文化、宗教信仰有了深层次的体会，同事也推动了象征主义手法在美国文学史上的发展。在赫尔曼麦尔维尔的笔下， 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
14、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？在自然界面前，我们不能狂妄自大，当然也不要妄自菲薄，融洽相处才是王道。本文
15、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；第三章分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4ContentsAbstract in English Abstract in ChineseIntroductionChapter 1 A Brief Introduction of Author and Work1.1 The Introduction to Herman Melvi
16、lle1.2 Plot Overview1.3 Background InformationChapter 2 Symbol and Symbolism2.1 A Brief Introduction to Symbol 2.2 A Brief Introduction to Symbolism2.3 The Function of SymbolismChapter3 The Symbols in Moby Dick3.1 Ahab Himself3.2 Ahabs Spirits3.2.1 Exploring the Final Truth3.2.2 The Spirit of Self-i
17、dentity3.2.3The Spirit of Heroism 3.2.4 The Embodiment of Revolutionary Spirit3.3 The Symbol of Ahab Hunting Moby Dick3.4The Symbol of Moby Dick3.4.1 Moby Dick itself 3 .4.2 The Symbol of Whiteness3.4.3The Symbol of Capitalism Mode of Production3.5 The Symbol of Ships Name: Pequod3.6OtherObjects Sym
18、bol ConclusionBibliography5IntroductionHerman 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 h
19、e 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 Melvilles time. And this novel was honored as “The most abundant expression of American imagination”. Moby Dick is a story about Ahab. Whale ship Pequod,
20、 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 chil
21、dren, and put all his egg in one basket, that was revenge. Then Ahabs 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
22、, 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 examinat
23、ion 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 disc
24、ourses, philosophical speculations, and Shakespearean rhetoric and dramatic staging. Mysterious Captain Ahab, a combination of Macbeth, Job and Miltons 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 Ahabs leg
25、 on a previous voyage.There are two reasons to Moby Dicks popularity. Firstly, Herman Melville describes more details about whaling spectacle; secondly, its enduring fascination and predominant literary value lies in the application of all kinds of complicated 6symbolism wholly expresses Melvilles i
26、deas towards temporal culture, religion and social development. In brief, symbol can express particular significance and interpret some kind of ideas by the specific images.Thus it can be seen that symbolism plays a vital role in literature and we are available to realize that predictable perfect sy
27、mbolism in Moby Dick. Lets turn into the world of symbolism of Moby Dick7Chapter 1 A Brief Introduction of Author and Work1.1 The Introduction to Herman MelvilleHerman Melville, (August 1, 1819 September 28, 1891) who was born in New York, was an American novelist, poet, and writer of short stories.
28、 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
29、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
30、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 m
31、onth 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 fr
32、om 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, Melvilles first five novels above-mentioned are all seen as an apprenticeship to what is toda
33、y 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 fi
34、gures of the day, no sacred subject is spared in this bleak and scathing critique of the known world.8Melville 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 admir
35、ed Hawthornes psychological depth and gothic grimness. Melville associated Hawthorne with a new, distinctively American literature. Although the works of Shakespeare and Milton influenced Moby Dick, Melville didnt look exclusively to celebrate cultural models. He drew on sources from popular culture
36、. For example, in 19th 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.“In general, it is the non-ps
37、ychological novel that offers the richest opportunities 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 presenta
38、tion I would also include Melvilles 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 Dicks value.1.2 Plot Overview Ishmael, the narrator, announces his intention to
39、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
40、 Queequegs strange habits and shocking appearance (Queequeg is covered with tattoos), but with time goes by, Ishmael eventually comes to appreciate this mans 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 c
41、apital 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 Pequods Quaker owners, drive a hard bargain in terms of salary. They also mention the ships mysterious captain, Ahab, who is st
42、ill 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 9waters, and Ahab makes his first appearance on deck, b
43、alancing gingerly on his false leg, which is made from a sperm whales 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
44、 the prize for the first man to sight the whale. As the Pequod 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
45、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
46、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 Pequods 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 s
47、hips carpenter make him a coffin in anticipation of his death. He recovers, however, and the coffin eventually becomes the Pequods replacement life buoy.Ahab orders a harpoon forged in the expectation that he will soon encounter Moby Dick. He baptizes the harpoon with the blood of the Pequods three harpooners. The Pequod kills several more whales. Issuing a prophecy about Ahabs death, Fedallah declares that Ahab will first see two hearses, the second of which will be made only
