论《白鲸》中象征意义的三种体现

Achnowledgements
My special thanks go to Zhou Xue for her consent to be my supervisor, which is a great encouragement to me, for her insightful advice and above all careful scrutiny of both the outline and the draft in materializing the present thesis.
I also wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to teacher Ma Yan whose lectures enhance my interest in American literature as well as widened my academic view, to Mr. Li Wenjun and Miss Zhang Y uanyuan, whose valuable suggestions, warm encouragement and great patience in the critical reading of my thesis.
I owe a particular debt of gratitude to my beloved family for their loving considerations and great confidence in me all through these years. I also would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all the respectable professors and friends that have taught and helped me in the course of my under graduate study.
Abstract
Melville is best known for his novel Moby Dick. Critics have agreed it is one of the world's greatest symbolic novels. It is an encyclopedia, covers history, philosophy, religion, etc, in addition to a detailed account of the operations of the whaling industry. Moby Dick is a charming work, changeful styles, rich themes and the most important is the successful use of the symbolism. Not only images are symbolic, but also the description of the details and scenes are endowed rich symbolic meanings.
The present thesis will explore the symbolisms of this novel in order to help further understand the symbolic meaning of different images.
Key words: Moby Dick，symbolic meaning，Melville
摘要
《白鲸》是美国作家赫尔曼麦尔维尔的代表作，是世界上最有象征意义的小说之一.它是一部关于历史，哲学，宗教以及捕鲸业的百科全书。

白鲸是一部独具魅力的作品，小说的风格多变，主题多解，最主要的是作者成功运用了象征主义。

除了作者塑造的各类形象均有象征意义外，小说对景物、细节的描写也具有极其丰富的象征、暗示意义。

本文对小说中的象征逐一进行了探究性的分析，旨在进一步了解各类形象的象征意义。

关键词：《白鲸》，象征意义，麦尔维尔
Contents
Achnowledgements (i)
Abstract (ii)
摘要 (iii)
1 Introduction (1)
1.1 Introduction to the Writer (1)
1.2 Introduction to the Novel (1)
1.3 Introduction to Symbolism (2)
2 Literature Review (2)
3 The People and Objects'Symbolic Meaning in Moby Dick (4)
3.1 The Symbolic Meaning of Moby Dick (4)
3.2 The Symbolic Meaning of Captain Ahab (8)
3.3 The Symbolic Meaning of the Pequod and Sea (12)
4 Conclusion (15)
Bibliography (17)
Brief View on Three Embodiments of Symbolic Meaning in Moby
Dick
1 Introduction
Herman Melville shapes a narrator named Ishmael in his masterpiece Moby Dick. Ishmael takes various approaches to describe people and objects in Moby Dick and endows them different symbolic meanings. So throughout the famous novel, it is easy to notice that many people and objects have their own significant symbolic meanings. Interesting in symbolic meaning, this thesis mainly develops by discussing the various symbolisms in Moby Dick.
1.1 Introduction to the Writer
Herman Melville, was an American novelist, short story writer and poet as well, born in New York, 1819. Melville was best known for his novel Moby Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd. He was the first writer to have his works collected and published by the Library of America.When he was 20, as a cabin boy he boarded a merchant ship bounding for Liverpool, England. His experiences and adventures on the sea furnished him with abundant material for his novel Moby Dick. It was until the Melville Revival published in the early 20th century that he won worldwide recognition. But after a fast-blooming literary success in the late of 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime.
1.2 Introduction to the Novel
Moby-Dick is a symbolism and tremendously ambitious novel. It functions as a documentary of life at sea and a vast philosophical allegory of life. Moby Dick can be read as a thrilling sea story, an examination of the conflict between man and nature. The story tells the adventures of the Captain Ahab of the Pequod who seek one white sperm whale and revenge it in eager. Because of a previous encounter, the whale destroyed Ahab's boat and bit off his left leg. In the process of fighting against Moby Dick, all the seamen died, only Ishmael survived.
1.3 Introduction to Symbolism
Melville employs stylized language, symbolism, and metaphor to explore numerous complex themes.Symbolism is one of the most significant artistic techniques which can be frequently seen in this novel.
A symbol, in the broadest sense, is anything that signifies something else.
In discussing literature, however, the term symbol is applied only to a word or phrase that signifies an object or event which in turn signifies something, or has a range of reference, beyond itself (Abrams 622-23). Symbol as a literary device is long used in various novels and poets. Many people and objects in Moby Dick are endowed with various symbolic meaning. Therefore, the thesis focuses on discussing the different symbolic meaning of Moby Dick and characters to have a further understanding about this novel.
2 Literature Review
Lawrence (1961) declares that Moby Dick is a great book, Melville is one of the greatest writers and master of symbolism in America. There is no doubt that his longest novel Moby Dick is one of the great masterpieces of fiction in the 19th century American literature. Melville's Moby Dick was first published in London in 1851, but was not significant repercussions until 1919. It is called a monumental book for readers to understand arbitrarily. From the early critical reception to the modern criticism,Moby Dick has been studied in various perspectives due to its significance in Melville's literary career and its rich implications.
Moby Dick was not broadly recognized by public until the 1920s. From then on, comments on this book gradually appeared. In British and American critical fields, throughout 1970s, to 1990s, more and more critics started to fix their eyes on Moby Dick. As it is
Not only a very big book; it is also a peculiarly full and rich one, and from the very opening it conveys a sense of abundance, of high creative power, that exhilarates enlarges the imagination (Richard Chase, 1962:39).
The novel is generally regarded as an encyclopedia of many things: history, religion, philosophy and so on, in addition to a detailed account of human beings' encroachment on nature (Wu, 1998).
There were pieces of analysis which deal with Moby Dick. For instance, the data showed that when came to the researches of Moby Dick in China by
1997, there were more than 90 essays commenting on Moby Dick had been collected in China's National Knowledge Infrustructures. Some of them refer to its symbolic meaning. For example, Chen (1997) said "from the point of nature, Moby Dick was nature itself; and in terms of social politics it was the capitalist system; and it was the incarnation of evil if we analyze it from the point of good and evil". Chen (1997) also considered Moby Dick was the symbol of the power of God. In addition, about the whale's color, Liu (2005) thought "white is the symbol of pureness and innocent, and on behalf of the mysteries of the universe".
When readers read the whole novel carefully, they can find that the glittering part moving readers most is the multiple symbolic meanings in the novel. The thesis will carry out a detailed analysis of the symbolic meaning in this book from three aspects as follows.
3 The People and Objects' Symbolic Meaning in Moby Dick
Moby Dick is considered as one of the world's most outstanding symbolic novels. People and objects in Moby-Dick are endowed with various symbolic meanings and show abstract senses.This chapter focuses on analyzing the white whale Moby Dick, the captain Ahab and the whale ship Pequod and sea's symbolic meaning and relative social meaning.
3.1 The Symbolic Meaning of Moby Dick
Obviously the white whale Moby Dick has the most important symbol in
the novel. Moby Dick can be read out multiple symbolic meanings, the symbolic meanings vary if readers see it in different circumstances and from different perspectives.
3.1.1 Moby Dick
Moby Dick is a great white sperm whale, an infamous and dangerous threat to seaman. In this novel, Moby Dick is portrayed as a mysterious being which is greatly destructive, hostile to human but difficult to be conquered. Moby Dick's back like a "snow mountain"(Melville 208). It often churns the sea, casts out of the terrible violence and leads numerous whalers dead in the sea.
3.1.2 Mody Dick's Symbolic and Related Social Meanings
Moby Dick possesses various symbolic meanings in different perspectives as talked above. Take Ahab as an example, he believes that Moby Dick is a manifestation of all that is wrong with the world. Meanwhile, Ishmael thinks that it represents the cruel emptiness and the vast universe. Hence, it is not difficult to see the white whale has multiple symbolic meanings.
Based on Chen's (1997) argument Moby Dick is a symbol of nature. People seems never understand Moby Dick completely, also never defeat it, mankind only do not disturb Moby Dick's life in the sea but to respect its mysterious forces. When comes to the relationship between human and Moby Dick, Human beings may never conquer nature, only respecting and protecting it, just by doing so, human and nature can get along well. Additionally, for Melville (1967), the white whale is also a symbol. He believes that there is some kind of
irresistible force manipulating the destiny of humanity; such force belongs to nature. On the one hand, in the novel, this mystery is reflected from the description of the sea. The boundless ocean is unpredictable: sometimes it is quiet, solemn and gentle; sometimes wind waves off and makes people dizzy. On the other hand, some other predictions and signs appear in the novel also indicate the mystery. Such as a large blackened oil painting hangs on the wall which is about a ship nearly sinking in the whirlwind, while a furious whale is pouncing it. All of these suggest the tragic fate of the whalers who come to lodging. By showing these the author may suggest the inevitable result of the conflict between human and nature: the destruction of mankind.
In some extent, Moby Dick is a symbol of divine power as well. Moby Dick is an impersonal force, many critics have interpreted it as an allegorical of God, an inscrutable and all-powerful being that humankind can neither understand nor defy. The sacred, special character of Moby Dick is delivered by his whiteness. His awfully severe beauty is godlike, so is his titanic power and pyramid-like white hump. His color, white, has signified a special sanctify: In many natural objects, whiteness refines and enhances beauty, as in pearls, or confers special qualities such as innocence or purity. There is an elusive quality that causes the thought of whiteness to heighten terror, such as the white bear of the poles or the white shark of the tropics.
Among humans, the Albino is considered shocking and loathed, while the whiteness of a corpse is a distinguishing and disturbing feature. In its
most profound idealized significance it calls up a peculiar apparition to the soul. White is portentous because it is indefinite, not so much a color as the visible absence of color. (Melville 213)
Informed from these words, Melville explores the meaning of whiteness through the ages and views of many different cultures. This indicates that Moby Dick's color-whiteness is significant and owns various symbolic meanings. To Ishmael, he first begins his discussion of "whiteness" by noting its use as a symbol of virtue, nobility, and racial superiority. But later Ishmael tries to explain that Moby Dick meant to him at the time of the voyage is the whiteness of the whale that appalls him
...There was another thought, or rather vogue, harmless horror concerning him, which at times by its intensity completely overpowered all the rest; and yet so mystical and well night ineffable was it, that I almost despair of putting it in a comprehensible form. It was the whiteness of the whale that above all things appalled me (Melville 178). Whiteness, now to Ishmael, seems no more than horrible as it presents the unnatural threatening.
Based on the above discussion it may easy to notice that Moby Dick has two symbolic meanings. For the first, it means nature. It indicates that Moby Dick is unknowable to man in some extent, just like nature to man. Man in some way can never fully understand nature, only surrender to it. Then, when it refers to divine power including its white color implies that Moby Dick cannot be
defeated, only accommodated or avoided. What is more, its white color has a horrible sense.
3.2 The Symbolic Meaning of Captain Ahab
Together with Moby Dick, Ahab also is a central character in the novel. Captain Ahab is the antithesis of the white whale. So, he also has multiple symbolic meanings.
3.2.1 Captain Ahab
Ahab, the egomaniacal captain of the ship Pequod lost his leg when he tries to attack Moby Dick with a knife after the whale destroyed his boats. Far from land, Ahab cannot access too much medical care but only bears unimaginable physical and mental suffering on the ship when return to Nantuck. He is more like a single-minded person in his pursuit of killing the whale, using a mixture of charisma and terror to persuade his crew to join him. Therefore he clearly represents an imperial force. In order to success in the pursuit of the white whale, he is more like a dictator. After refuses to put up the lightning rods, he makes the ship's compass according to his favor, breaks the log and line. These devices are the necessary element to keep the Pequod on an objective, standard course. Therefore the loss or change of the ship's compass is most dangerous—its replacement with one of Ahab’s own manufacture clearly informs that Ahab solely wants to decide Pequod's route. He rules the lives and fortunes of all the whalers on the ship. He is the king of the Pequod.
3.2.2 Captain Ahab's Symbolic and Relative Social Meanings
Ahab’s name comes from a Kings in Old Testament. He has the same personality and fate as the wicked Israel king, Ahab whose story is often seen as "God's retribution"(Tian, 1985). The king does not worship God, while Captain Ahab has despised all the gods. His arrogance is exactly the same as King Ahab, so finally he deserves the outcome of sink in the sea. But at the same time, Captain Ahab is a person who dares to resist gods and conventions. He is a fearless, tough, heroic and experienced captain. He has struggled with the horrible sea for forty years and suffered setbacks many times. But he has never been defeated. According to the critic M.H. Abrams (1999), such a tragic hero moves readers, since he is not a real evil man, his misfortune is greater than what he has deserved. He moves readers also because that readers can recognize similar possibilities of error in our own lesser and fallible selves. Ahab is chasing the white whale, but from a deeper level, he is to defeat the evil. So Ahab becomes a representative of human who wants to challenge nature. Therefore, it can be said that the symbolism of Ahab is also multiple and complex.
Ahab's blasphemous hunt for Moby Dick has made him a sinner against God. Ahab wants to look through the reality and see what under objects' surface. He wants to discover what behinds the mask of Moby Dick. Such so, he wants to see God to challenge him and question his justness. Meanwhile he has questioned God’s existence as well. This blasphemy a gainst God and no acceptance of human's limitations have made Ahab to harpoon Moby
Dick which is the embodiment of God. He ignores the interests of the crew and disregards the fate of crew. He fully uses the power of being a captain to threaten and tempt the crew to help him. Finally nearly all the crews are buried into the sea. From this angle, he is the symbol of a tyrant, an evil and the dark in human's consciousness.
Ahab is a deeply disturbed man, who can be viewed as a crazy lunatic. He has been trapped in a terrible world and gone mad for a long time since the day he was unable to catch the feared Moby Dick. Possibly he is failed to find simple pleasure anymore for the torment of his obsession. This is illustrated by showing that he throws his favorite pipe which is a symbol of peace and tranquility into the sea. Ahab himself is trapped in madness and states "May God damn us all if we do not hunt Moby Dick to his death"(Melville 171). Ahab obviously knows what he is doing "Drub brute blasphemy-kills and mutilate out race. I would strike the sun if it offended me? "(Melville 171). And he would not let Moby Dick slip away this time. Ahab suffers in physical and mental pain, is obsessed by only one thing that is the vengeance against the whale. This does not allow him to leave enough room in his heart for love and other affection. The whale symbolizes a barrier for him; he must destroy the barrier to regain what he has lost in his life such as his freedom and mastery over his world. He sees his encounter with the whale as a defeat. By being maimed by the whale he is no longer the unconquerable, immortal godlike sea captain. He knows that on the way
of fulfilling this pursuit he may die, and so may his crew. Ahab has accepted the fact that the beast is much more than an animal, but he still persists on his quest for vengeance. This constant struggle between Ahab and the whale may be realized as an indication of man’s ongoing conflict with god. Here Ahab or any man does not ignore the will of God; however, the contradiction is that he also challenges it. He is a man who has been so familiar with sea for years, three voyages, neglecting his wife and child in Nantucket. He is a loner without any friend. No one can come close to him. He suffers heavily with his nightmare—Moby Dick. So far, numerous examples can support that something is not quite right with his mental state.
In the world of Pequod, Ahab is the slave-owner, capitalist and the king, embodiment of authority and autocratic. In this context, Ahab symbolizes the capitalism industry's production: cold and cruel. Other whalers symbolize the manual labor, what they received even could not support themselves. What is worse, their lives are fully controlled by Ahab. So, from the aspect of social moral criticism, Moby-Dick describes the proceeding of the whaling which is full of contradiction between human and class oppression.
The above discussion shows that Captain Ahab has three symbolic meanings. Firstly, as a hero, he indicates that he has tremendous power and never defeated. He tries his best to fight with Moby Dick, because he considers it as evil. Then, when he means blasphemy, a role like a crazy lunatic implies that he is rabid and his knowledge is limited. Thirdly, when
he is considered as an unfeeling capitalism industry production, this reflects he is as cold and cruel as 19th American social setting.
3.3 The Symbolic Meaning of the Pequod and Sea
The symbolic meaning of the ship and sea has been widely discussed by researchers. They are endowed with different symbolic meaning.
3.3.1 Pequod
Pequod is the ship's name. Ishmael has argued that" It is the name of a celebrated tribe of Massachusetts Indians, now extinct as the ancient Medes"(Melville, 1984:72). So the name of the ship seems to foreshadow the tragic end of the ship from the outset of the story.
3.3.2 Pequod and Sea's Symbolic and Relative Social Meanings
The whale ship Pequod and the tragic fate of the crew seems to be doomed. Firstly, the name of the ship itself is a symbol of death. Pequod is a racial name from American Indian. After America is occupied by western settlers, many local Indian tribes and ethnics are eliminated in the conflict. Pequod is a race which has been eliminated by white men. Herman names the whale ship with this name, indeed symbolizes the tragic fate of inevitable demise. In addition, it is painted with a gloomy black and covered in whale's teeth and bones, literally bristling with the mementos of violent death.
Critics have different opinions about the symbolic meaning of Pequod. Wu Dingbo points out some of the interpretations in his book
The ship on the ocean is a symbol of the whole world with people of
every land sailing across the waters of life in quest of its mystery……The ship is one of th e American soul. The ship is also a microcosm of the American society" (Wu, 1998: 57).
Whether the ship symbolizes the whole world, the American soul or a microcosm of the American society？In some degree, these interpretations are all reasonable and they are not contradictory because American society just can be broadly considered as such a melting pot.
The whalers pulled the dead whale back to their ship, they peel off its blubber in a single long piece just as an orange is stripped. The strip is chopped into pieces, the pieces are minced into leaves, then they are boiled to refine their oil. Therefore, Pequod is a mid-nineteenth century whaling ship on which the procuring, manufacturing and marketing of a natural resource are going on. Similar idea given by McWilliams shows that "whatever metaphysical meaning one may ascribe to the whale, the Pequod remains a microcosm of a pioneering industrial world sailing willfully to its annihilation" (159). Lawrence also reveals the nature of the ship "American industry! And all this practicality in the service of a mad, mad chase"(1984: 585).
The sea in the novel is a place that is glamorous and full of temptations. Its tranquility, vastness, depth and purity form an obvious comparison with the land. It appeals people on the land with its unique glamour. Herman Melville says that water is always linked with thought and the sea is the best place where Ishmael could think and explore life.The tenderness of sea reminds the crew on the ship
of their mothers' embrace. The brilliant day is as tempting as the sweet night. The beauty of the sea makes the crew amaze. In his autobiography, Ishmael says that it is this kind of primitive civilization that eliminates the ferity of these strange and savage whalers. Of course, the sea is not tranquil all the time; it is also turbulent. Its indignation makes the crew feel that death comes. The sea evokes their melancholy and boundless life reverie. In his description of the sea, the author dose not only point out his natural glamour but also reflects the further connotation which is represented by the sea. The sea is like a mother who is calling her own children, a father who is summoning his children not to violate the natural law or a teacher inspiring students to think. The sea is also like human's soul that is beyond apprehension, intangible and mysterious.
The sea is the opposite of the land. It symbolizes nature, which has supernatural mysterious force. This power is endowed from the White Whale, but is presented by the unpredictable sea. Sometimes it is tranquil, tender and solemn, while stormy and frightening at other times. No matter in the sunny day or the starry night, the fatal destructive force of the whale and potential dangers always hides behind the peaceful scene. At the end of the novel, the sea returns to tranquility which suggests that human and other species should be compatible with nature and pursue coexistence.
Pequod symbolizes the power from land, sea represents the nature. Although the land is symbolized by Pequpd with some limitations, it is cozy and comfortable comparing with the ocean. While the ocean is immense and
unpredictable with symbolizes danger. At the same time, water is the source of life, so here the ocean also represents the unpredictable fate. The ship and the sea are on behalf of life and dangers in reality. Some time people have to face the challenges of life and unpredicted dangers bravely. By noticing those, people may receive a better understanding about life. People should break out the seal and self-sufficiency of the land and go to the ocean to explore more knowledge. It suggests that only follow the laws of nature, people can grasp their fate.
4 Conclusion
Throughout the text, Moby Dick has rich and profound meanings. It is not only about Melville’s exploration of social reality at that time and also his worry and fear to the tremendous development of capitalism. Moreover, it reflects dialectical thinking of life and universe, God and nature, fate and will, good and evil. Moby Dick uses a story of a whaling voyage to explore profound theme such as fate, the nature of evil and the individual's struggle against the universe. It is most impressive for its unique style and strong symbolic bias. The book not only reveals the spirit and the social reality in the 19th century. The influence of it is still far-reaching. The symbolic meanings are still applicable in the modern society.
This thesis mainly analyzes the symbolic meaning of the novel. It firstly analyzes the symbolic meanings of its two main characters: one is Moby Dick, the other one is Ahab. Then the thesis discusses the symbolic meanings of
Pequod and sea. While analyzing the symbolic meaning of one specific image or character, the thesis does not confine itself to one single reasonable understanding, but analyzes it from different perspectives. Thus the thesis offers a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the symbolic meaning of the novel.
T his thesis about Moby-Dick can help the readers get a better understanding about symbolism. Surely, what the paper has discussed about symbolism in the novel is just a small part of the whole. There are many other symbols in the novel. This paper just chooses three typical subjects and characters to do detailed analysis. However, the most conspicuous symbol in the book is Moby Dick, the white whale is capable of entitling many interpretations. It is viewed as God, an unstoppable force of nature and as simply a whale. It is apparent that it represents more. It symbolizes nature for Melville, it is complex, unfathomable, malignant and beautiful as well. For writing this thesis, as well as for the reader and Ishmael, Moby Dick is still a mystery; an ultimate mystery of the universe, inscrutable and ambivalent, and the voyage of the mind will forever remain a search, not a discovery, of the truth.
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