Herman Melville But it is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. He who has never failed somewhere, that man cannot be great. ( )

Teaching Objectives 1) Melville’s Life and Main Works 2) Melville’s masterpiece Moby Dick 3) The Main Plot, Major characters, theme, Symbols 4) Social significance of Moby Dick

Life Experience born on August 1, 1819 in New York City into an established merchant family, the third of 8 children. His father became bankrupt and insane, dying when Melville was 12. His sea experiences and adventures furnished him with abundant materials, and resulted in five novels that brought him wide fame as a writer of sea stories. In 1850, he met Hawthorne and they became good friends. He read Hawthorne ’ s books and was deeply impressed by Hawthorne ’ s black vision. His fame was recognized after his death.

Melville’s Major Works 1) Typee « 泰皮 » 2) Omoo « 欧穆 » 3) Mardi « 玛地 » 4) Bedburn « 雷得本 » 5) White Jacket « 白外衣 » from his adventures among the people of the South Pacific islands an account of his voyage to England his life on a United States man-of-war

Melville’s Major Works 6) Pierre « 皮埃尔 » 7) Billy Budd 《比利 巴德》 (a sign that he had resolved his quarrel with God) Clarel 《克拉莱尔》 ( a poem)

His Tragic Influence from Literary Tradition At the time of writing, Melville was reading Greek tragedy, especially the Orestia ( 奥瑞 斯提亚） of Aeschylus Immersed in the tragedies of Shakespeare – King Lear, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth Epic poetry, Homer

Moby Dick Moby-Dick « 白鲸 » ， « 莫比 狄克 » an encyclopedia of everything history, philosophy, religion, the whaling industry a Shakespearean tragedy of man fighting against fates

Moby Dick (1) This book is dedicated to Hawthorne, for Hawthorne encourged Melville to change this novel from a story full of details about whaling, into an allegorical novel.

Moby Dick (2) Epic in scope. It consists of 135 chapters. - the long and arduous journey - the great battle Defined as an epic, which contains a tragic drama, a tragedy of pride, and pursuit and revenge, which is also a tragedy of thought

Herman Melville & Moby Dick The novel is the realistic account of a whaling Voyage within which is set a symbolic account of the conflict between man and his fate.

Moby Dick is a thrilling adventure story, the world’s greatest sea novel. It has the plot of unceasing search for revenge, the “Americanized Gothic” of misery and terror. Throughout the story is a mastery of suspense of horror, of both subtle and broad humor, of exciting narrative in vigorous prose. It is regarded as the first American prose epic, a Shakespearean tragedy of a man fighting against overwhelming odds in an indifferent and even hostile world.

Plot (1) Ishmael, the narrator, having little money and finding life on shore grim, decides to go to sea. He signs aboard the whaling ship named Pequod. It’s captain, Ahab, is a tall, broad man seemingly made of bronze. He has a white leg, made from the jaw of a sperm whale,because his own leg is torn away by Moby Dick— a huge white whale.

After loosing his leg he is determined to pursue Moby Dick and kill it. He hangs a doubloon on the mast as a reward for anyone who sights the white whale first. Plot (2)

Eventually the white whale appears, and the Pequod begins its doomed fight against it. On the first day the whale smashes a whaleboat. The second day, another boat is swamped, the captain’s ivory leg is snapped off. Plot (3)

When the third day comes, Ahab and his crew manage to harpoon the whale, but it carries the Pequod along with it to its doom. All on board get drowned expect Ishmael, who is rescued by another whaler and survives to tell the story.

Discussion Questions What do you think of “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” ? Will you be revengeful when you are hurt by the evil power? Should human beings conquer nature or yield before nature? What’s your opinion on nature?

Characters Ishmael: The name has come to symbolize orphans, exiles, and social outcasts (in Genesis)----the son of Abraham and the slave girl Hagarorphans exilesoutcasts Ahab:Ahab is the tyrannical captain of the Pequod who is driven by a monomaniacal desire to kill Moby Dick,monomaniacal Mates: Starbuck, Stubb. Flask. The three mates of the Pequod are all from New EnglandNew England Harpooners: Queequeg, Tashtego, Daggoo, Fedallah (from different countries in the world)

Ishmael The narrator of the story (knowledgeable, intelligent), digression from art, geology, anatomy, to legal codes, and literature A whaling ship “is my Yale College and Harvard” His intention in the ship journey: out of some spiritual malaise ( 精神的抑郁） Additionally, Ishmael represents the contradiction between the story and its setting. (suitable but fictional) Learned person & working-class men (less-educated and even rough)

Ahab The Peqod’s obsessed captain, represents both an ancient and a modern type of hero. Like the heroes of Greek or Shakespearean tragedy, Ahab suffers from a single fatal flaw ( 致命性的缺陷 ). ----overconfidence According to the critic M. H. Abrams, such a tragic hero “move us to pity because, since he is not an evil person, his misfortune is greater than he deserves; but he moves us also to fear, because we recognize similar possibilities of error in our own lesser and fallible selves.” 这样一个悲剧英雄人物让我们为之感动，因为他不是一个 恶人，他的不幸超过了他所得到的；但是他也让我们感到 恐惧，因为我们认识到，尽管我们渺小，易于犯错误，但 也会有可能铸成如此大错。

Moby Dick Moby Dick is not a character, as the reader has no access to the white whale’s thoughts, feelings, or intentions. Instead, moby dick is an impersonal force, one that many critics have interpreted as an allegorical representation of God, an inscrutable and all-powerful being that humankind can neither understand nor defy.

Symbols in Moby Dick  The Pequod  Moby Dick （ Is Moby Dick evil or good?)

The Pequod a symbol of doom ( 注定要死亡的象征） The Pequod is the microcosom of human society and the voyage becomes a search for truth. named after a Native American tribe in Massachusetts did not long survive the arrival of white men (extincted) is painted gloomy black and covered in whale teeth and bones like a primitive coffin

Moby Dick is hidden all the time mirrors its enviorment unknown and unknowable truths only the surface of the ocean is available for human observation and interpretation the depths conceal unknown truths a metaphor for the human relationship with the Christain God: God is unkown and cannot be pinned down inscrutable, mysterious

 For the character Ahab, however, the whale only represents evil.  For Melville and Ishmael--the narrator, Moby Dick is still a mystery, an ultimate mystery of the universe, inscrutable and ambivalent.  So, the symbolic meanings of Moby Dick are ambiguous. It is the symbol of both holy and evil things.

Themes of Moby Dick Themes futility and meaninglessness of existence 存在的徒劳无益与无意义 alienation loneliness and suicidal individualism rejection and quest

Themes of Moby Dick 1) Melville‘s bleak view (negative attitude): the sense of futility ( 徒劳无益） and meaninglessness of the world. Man in this universe lives a meaningless and futile life, meaningless because futile. Man cannot overcome nature. Once he attempts to seek power over it he is doomed.

Themes of Moby Dick the adventure of killing Moby Dick is meaningless. Ahab tries to control it, which leads to his doom. the embodiment of nature modern life the loss of faith, the sense of futility well expressed in Moby Dick

Themes of Moby Dick 2) alienation (far away from each other) exists between man and man, man and society, and man and nature. Ahab cuts himself off from his family, stays away from his crew, hates Moby Dick and becomes a devil rushing to his doom.

Themes of Moby Dick 3) loneliness and suicidal individualism (individualism causing disaster and death) the basic pattern of nineteenth-century American life 4 ） rejection and quest Voyaging for Ishmael has become a journey in quest of knowledge and values.

Writing style (1) His works are symbolic and metaphorical. voyage- "search and discovery, the search for the ultimate truth of experience." the Pequod -the ship of the American soul Moby Dick---a symbol of its whiteness--- paradoxical color evil goodness both death and corruption purity, innocence, and youth

Writing style (2) He manages to achieve the effect of ambiguity through employing the technique of multiple view of his narratives. Moby Dick is portrayed for the reader from different angles. The author is unwilling to commit himself, and the reader is thrown upon himself for judgment.

Writing style （ 3 ） narrative point of view: a. Ishmael is the narrator (as a learned person, the only people who survived the adventure). b. dramatic monologues and soliloquies of Ahab and other characters.

Social Significance Harmonious view between Man and Man, Man and Nature,man and God. Respect the nature’s law, otherwise human beings will got punished by nature Nature is of good will, man’s activities corrupt it.