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毕业设计
(
论文
)
课
题
名
称（英文）
On the Symbolism and
Thematic Significance
in
Moby Dick
（中文）
《白鲸》中的象征主义与主题意义探析
学
生
姓
名
学
号
系、年级专业
指
导
教
师
职
称
I
On the Symbolism and Thematic
Significance of
Moby Dick
Abstract
Herman
Melville
is
not
only
one
of
the
most
outstanding
novelists
that
can stand for the later period of
American romanticism, but also an influential
figure in the world of
letters.
Moby
Dick
, which was published in
1815, is his
masterpiece. Although the
novel gained contemporary
people
’
s more criticism
than appreciation, it has now been
considered as one of best American novels
and a classical work in world
literature. This paper makes an analysis of the
relationships
between
man
and
man,
man
and nature
in
Moby
Dick
with the
theory of symbolism to reveal its
profound thematic significance. This paper is
composed
of
three
parts.
The
part
of
introduction
gives
a
general
survey
of
Herman
Melville
and
his
masterpiece
Moby
Dick
as
well
as
literary
views
about the novel at
home and abroad, the basic framework of the
article and the
guiding significance of
this theory to this paper. The main body includes
three
parts. The first part mainly
introduces the American social background when
Moby
Dick
was published and
the definition
and
development
of
symbolism
theory.
The
second
part
analyses
the
symbolic
meaning
of
the
relationships
between man
and man, man and nature. The third part excavates
the theme of
the
author
’
s
criticism
to
the
oppression
in
the
society
and
the
man
’
s
crazy
plunder
to
nature
according
to
theory
of
symbolism.
The
last
part
is
the
conclusion.
It
points
out
symbolism
plays
an
important
role
in
revealing
the
thematic significance of
Moby Dick
.
Key Word
:
Herman Melville
;
Moby
Dick
; symbolism; thematic
meaning
II
《白鲸》中的象征主义和主题意义探析
摘
要
赫尔曼
·
麦尔维尔不仅是美国后期浪漫主义
的杰出代表，同时也是世界文坛
颇具影响的人物。出版于
185
1
年的《白鲸》是麦尔维尔的代表作。尽管同时代
的人对它褒少
贬多，
但该书今天已被列为美国最佳小说之一，
也被公认为世界
文
学宝库的经典之作。本文运用象征主义理论探析《白鲸》中人与人、人与自然的
关系以揭示其深刻的主题意义。全文分为引言、正文和结论三部分：引言简要介
绍作者的生平、
《白鲸》一书的内容梗概和《白鲸》的国内外研究现状以及本文
的主要内容和基本框架。正文包括三部分：第一部分主要介绍《白鲸》出版时的
社会背景和象征主义理论的定义和发展以及该理论对本文的指导意义。
第
二部分
运用象征主义理论分析作品中人与人、人与自然的关系的象征意义。第三部分根<
/p>
据象征主义理论并结合小说文本揭示作者对社会中存在的压迫以及人类对大自
然疯狂掠夺的批判的主题。结论部分总结《白鲸》中象征主义在揭示主题意义中
的重要作用。
关键词
：
赫尔曼
·
麦尔维尔；<
/p>
《白鲸》
；象征主义；主题意义；
III
Contents
Abstract
......................
..................................................
..................................................
......
Ⅰ
中文摘要
............................................ .................................................. .................................
Ⅱ
Introduction
.........
..................................................
..................................................
..............
1
1. Brief
Introduction of Times Background and Symbolism
Theory
................
3
1.1Times Background of the Novel
……………………………………………
...............
3
1.2 The Definition and
Development of Symbolism Theory
.
....................................
4
2.
The
Symbolic
Meanings
of
Relationships
between
Man
and
Man,
Man
and Nature in
Moby Dick
…………………………………………………
…………
..
6
2.1 The
Symbolic Meaning of Relationship between Man and
Man
.......................
6
2.2 The Symbolic Sense of Relationship
between Man and Nature
.................
........
8
3. The Thematic
Significance of
Moby Dick
...
..................................................
..........
9
3.1 The
Criticism of Oppression in the Society
…
………………….....
........................
9
3.2 The Critique of
Man
’
s Crazy Plunder to Natur
e
......................................
.............
10
Conclusion
.........................................
..................................................
.................................
10
Bibliography
...................
..................................................
..................................................
.
12
Acknowledgements
< br>............................................... .................................................. ..........
13
On the
Symbolism and Thematic Significance of
Moby Dick
Wei
Weicong
Grade 2009,
department of foreign studies, Shaoyang University
Supervised by Chen Hong
Introduction
As
we know,
Moby Dick
is one of
the greatest novels in 19th American romanticism.
It is
not only the classic work about
whaling industry but also considered as an
encyclopedia of
everything,
history,
philosophy,
industry
etc.
This
novel
states
a
story
about
the
endless
hunting and the relentless massacre in
the sea through a wandering young man named
Ishmael.
It presents typical image of
Captain Ahab who bears enormous grudges against
Moby Dick,
living beings that shears
off one of his legs on a pervious voyage in the
sea, Captain Ahab
chases
it
everywhere
so
as
to
revenge
for
him,
but
all
crew
and
even
Ahab
except
for
the
narrator
all
die
.
When
it
was
published,
criticism
occupied
the
lion’s
ration.
Because
of
it,
Herman
Melville’s
popularity
gradually
bottomed
out.
Melville
was
also
neglect
ed
by
the
world
at
that
time.
However,
as
time
went
on,
more
and
more
people
recognized
its
tremendous value. Sometimes we can take
on it as a shining treasury to explore it.
Herman Melville was born in
a Calvinist family in New York City in was the
son
of
an
importer
who
ran
business
about
French
textile.
Whereas,
his
father
later
went
bankrupt and finally died in the year
of 1832. Since then he has lived agonizing lives
and left
school at the age of fifteen.
He was a bank clerk, a salesman, a farm
–hand on his uncle’s farm
and a school teacher. In order to live
better lives, he had to choose to go to sea as a
cabin boy
in gave an abundant source
material for the creation of fiction. In 1841,
Melville went
to
the South
Seas on a whaling ship, Acushnet, where he
gained the first-hand information
about whaling which he later used
in
Moby Dick
. In
Moby Dick
, Melville through
the mouth
of Ishmael said: “a
whale
-
ship was my Yale
College and
Harvard.”
[1](p123)
After he was back
from
the
sea,
betw
een
1846
and
1852,
which
is
considered
as
his
prolific
period,
“books
Poured forth like a
torrent.”
[2](p74)
He has
finished
Typee
(1846),
followed by
Omoo
next year,
then
Marrdi
(1849),
Redburn
(1849),
White
Jacket
(1850),
Moby
Dick(
1851)
and
Pierre
(1852).
[3](p73)
At
the
same
time,
his
acquaintance
with
Hawthorne
has
made
a
deep
influence
on
Melville’
s attitude towards
his life in 1850.
Especially
，
we all know that
the United States was
in the optimistic
period of Transcendentalism when Melville wrote
Moby Dick
. As to most of
American
people,
Hawthorne's
pessimism
was
incomprehensible,
but
Melville
seemed
to
1
understand
it
completely,
so
he
determined
to
change
the
initial
travel-tale
mode
of
his
masterpiece
Moby
Dick
about
one
third
of
which
he
had
finished
and
made
it
become
an
outstanding work which we read today.
Although
they lost their
touches with
each other, a
position of tragic humanism that both
of them represented in their works was unique.
Ishmael
the narrator has “a more
restless and wide
-ranging speculative
intelligence and a much darker
vision
of human
life.”
[4](p313)
Besides,
there is another thing that we have got to mention
in his
life.
The
married
life
of
Melville
was
just
the
same
as
that
of
Scott
Fitzgerald.
They
all
married the people whose
status was above them. Therefore, both of them
were harnessed by
the money that they
were forced to keep their extravagant wives.
Melville married Elizabeth
Shaw, the
daughter of a wealthy judge, in the year of 1847.
[3](p73)
He had to spare no
efforts to
support his growing family
although it was anguish for a devoted writer to
write for money.
What is more, it was
very difficult to a person to making a living
through writing. Because his
life has
never been smooth, it explained the mood of
pessimism which was represented in his
wok to a certain extent. He saw dark
aspect of American society and the evil of human
nature.
There
are
various
reviews
about
Moby
Dick
.
At
abroad,
nowadays
the
famous
scholar
Richard
H.
Brodhead
in
his
New
Essays
on
Moby
Dick
makes
views
about
Moby
Dick
on
various
aspects, for example, nature, the dramatic changes
in social alienation, the challenge
of
religion, diversity of language of the novel.
[5](p3)
Besides, there is a
book that we must to
mention, that is,
Herman Melville: Mariner and
Mystic
. It was written by Raymond
Weaver
and
published
in
1921.
Melville’s
reputation
was
again
recognized
by
world
because
of
it
s
publication.
Raymond
Weaver called
Moby
Dick
“indisputably the
greatest
whaling novel.”
[6](p105)
In
China, there are more and more relevant papers
published. Some papers concentrate
on
complex,
esoteric,
multiple
symbolic
meaning
in
Moby
Dick
.
Some
papers
focus
on
narrative,
narrative
time,
biblical
archetype
and
ecological
culture.
There
are
also
scholars
who
discuss
the
two
protagonists,
especially
the
character
of
Ahab.
His
pride,
madness,
crankiness,
alienation makes deep impression on all of us.
Ishmael, the special character in
novel, acts as both a narrator and a
person involved in voyage. At the same time, some
people
study its social reality,
religious meaning and the tragic ending of the
epic.
In
the
light
of
symbolism
theory,
this
paper
makes
an
analysis
of
the
relationships
between
man
and
man,
man
and
nature
in
Moby
Dick
to
reveal
its
profound
thematic
significance.
The
main
body
includes
three
parts.
The
first
part
mainly
introduces
the
American
social
background
when
Moby
Dick
is
published
and
the
definition
and
development
of
symbolism
theory.
The
second
part
analyses
symbolic
meanings
of
the
relationships between man and man, man
and
nature. The third part excavates
the thematic
significance of
Moby Dick
according to theory of
symbolism. The last part is the conclusion.
2
It
points
out
symbolism
plays
an
important
role
in
revealing
the
thematic
significance
of
Moby Dick.
1. Brief Introduction of
Social Background and Symbolism Theory
To some extent, we can regard
Moby Dick
as the first
American prose epic. America was
in a
special era when it came out in 1851. It was an
age of optimistic transcendentalism. A
great many citizens were optimistic to
their future of their life and they
did
not understand
Melville’s “bleak view
of the world.”
[3](p83)
However, it was also an era of
expansion, a lot of
people left for the
Great West after the gold rush in California in
1849, it led to sharp conflicts
between
nations. Besides, it was also a period of whaling
industry, a great number of people
chose
to
go
to
sea.
These
people
were
different
nations.
Some
people
were
oppressed
by
others just the same as
Westward Movement. At the same time,
the author uses symbolism
subtly to
reveal the profound theme in this work. If we want
to have an embedded knowledge
of this
work, we should some know symbolism.
1.1 Social Background of the Novel
American people were in the state of
special “American Spirit” in middle
19
th
century.
They believed that “there were many
opportunities open to them to gain rapid
wealth.”
[7](p4)
At
that
time,
gold
rush
which
was
flourished
from
California
led
to
a
solid
of
people
honeycombing
into
the
west
of
America
Thousands
of
Americans
headed
into
the
new
territory of the west to
find a fortune. “As a matter of fact, the founding
of the United States
was
a
process
of
westward
movement.”
[8](p306)
Lai
Anfang
said.
Westward
movement
promoted American economic development
to some extent. But the newcomers also brought
about
enormous
evils.
During
this
time,
Anglo-
American
people
passed
over
Appalachian
Mountains to the west part of
Mississippi River. These people and their
societies expanded
from the Atlantic
Coast to Pacific Coast. At the same time, there
were also a lot of southern
slave
owners and northern land speculators. Besides,
many hunters, miners, pastoralists and
farmers made up early setters in
western area. However, these immigrants not only
gave an
impetus to prosperity of west
but massacred a large number of native Indians.
This expansion
resulted
in
great
suffering,
destruction,
and
cultural
loss
for
the
Native
Americans
of
west,
leaving behind
numerous tears of native Indians and notorious
crimes. The movement just had
happened
before American Civil War. The cause of Civil War
was the conflicts between races.
This
kind of clash between nations also exists in
whaling-ship.
In
addition
to
going
west,
there
were
many
people
going
to
sea.
On
entering
19
th
century
,western
civilization,
after
the
Renaissance,
the
Religious
Reform,
the
Scientific
Revolution,
the
Enlightenment
and
Industrial
revolution
set
foot
into
a
new
age.
Industrial
revolution
provided advanced whaling facilities for whaler.
The great development has been
3
taken
place
in
whaling
industry.
“American
prosperity,
especially
the
prosperity
of
eastern
cities, was fished
from ocean by harpoons to some
extent.
”
[9](p97)
At that time, more
and more
people
devoted
their
life
to
whaling
on
the
purpose
of
meeting
their
pecuniary
need
from
whale oil and other
products made from whales, including Herman
Melville. Particularly, the
sperm whale
is a very precious assortment due to its
spermaceti, a kind of waxy oil which is
used to make candles which are
smokeless and odorless. Hundreds of thousands of
ships set
out
from
ports
to
track
down
treasury
hidden
in
sea.
Then
whaling
has
become
of
great
importance to America's early growth
and wealth and the whaling industry thrived for
decades.
In
Moby
Dick
，
almost
all
the
sailors
except
captain
Ahab,
Queequeg,
Ishmael
are
drew
to
throw their harpoon to
whales so as to get the blubber and bone to get
benefits from them.
Moreover,
any
race
can
join
the
team
as
seamen
in
a
whaling
ship
to
split
the
proceeds
because all men of
diverse races are welcomed by whaling captain and
they have to risk their
lives
for
whaling.
For
instance,
there
are
varieties
of
races
in
Pequod
including
blacks,
American
Indian
(Tashtego),
African
American
giant
(Daggoo),
Polynesian
(Queequeg),
Asians etc. But
there is
a strict hierarchy and Captain
Ahab is the ruler in Pequod. Pagans,
savages, cannibal, oriental who are in
the lowest degree are governed by the upper class.
Such
as,
captain,
the
owner
of
ship,
and
even
the
three
mates.
Pequod
is
a
microcosm
of
the
temporary American society. The lower
class is oppressed by upper class. Even though
they
must work all day and all night
under tough circumstances and make greatest
contribution in
ship,
their
income
is
still not
enough to
meet
the basic needs of their own life. The
lions
’s
share of profits
they make is possessed by ruling class. The fist
mate who knows that it is just
a kind
of suicide if they fight with white whale has to
submit to the order of Captain Ahab.
This is just the reflection of Westward
Movement. Melville expresses his criticism to
racial
oppression
through
Moby
Dic
k.
On
the
contrary,
Melville
speaks
highly
of
the
friendships
among
lower
class.
They
get
well
along
with
each
other.
Melville
directs
bitter
attacks
on
so-called
“
civilized
people
”
by means of fierce
contrast and expresses the expectation of the
harmony among nations.
1.2
The Definition and Development of Symbolism Theory
Symbolism is the first modern school of
literature and art, makes great contribution to
the development of modern, and last for
a long time. At the same time, it is the herald of
the
turn
from
the
imitation
of
the
real
life
to
the
expression
of
the
subjective
word.
Now
we
should know the concept of symbolism.
As
to
the
definition
of
symbolism,
Rene
Wellek
tried
to
define
symbolism
among
the
four
concentric
circles
in
“
Symbolism
in
Literary
History
”
in
Discriminations:
Further
Concepts of
Criticism
as follows:
“At its narrowest, Symbolism refers to
the French group which called itself
symbo
list in
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