American literature Herman Melville

Herman Melville ( ) American novelist, poet Works  Redburn1849  Typee1846  Omoo1874  Moby Dick1851  Mardi1849  White Jacket1850  Pierre1852  Billy Budd(posthumously)  The Confidence Man  Battle Pieces 1866

Major ideas of New England Transcendentalism  Placing emphasis on spirit or Over-soul, as the most important thing in the universe. --- a new way of looking at the world  Stressing the importance of individual (self-reliance) --- a new way of looking at man  Offering a fresh perception of the nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God.  (“The Universe is composed of Nature and the Soul.” “Spirit is present everywhere.” The individual soul communed with the Over-soul and was therefore divine.).

Moby Dick  Major Characters  Ishmael - The narrator, and a member of the crew of the Pequod, not playing a major role in the events of the novel, but much of the narrative is taken up by his eloquent, verbose, and extravagant discourse on whales and whaling. l  Ahab - The egomaniacal captain of the Pequod. Ahab lost his leg to Moby Dick. He is single-minded in his pursuit of the whale, using a mixture of charisma and terror to persuade his crew to join him. As a captain, he is dictatorial but not unfair. At moments he shows a compassionate side, caring for the insane Pip and musing on his wife and child back in Nantucket.  Moby Dick - The great white sperm whale. Moby Dick, also referred to as the White Whale, is an infamous and dangerous threat to seamen, considered by Ahab the incarnation of evil and a fated nemesis.

Evaluation  Moby Dick is, critics have agreed, one of the world’s greatest masterpieces. To get to know the 19th century American mind and America itself, one has to read this book.  It is an encyclopedia of everything, history, philosophy, religion, etc. in addition to a detailed account of the operations of the whaling industry.  “To scale great heights, we must come out of the lowest depths. The way to heaven is through hell. We need fiery baptism in the fierce flames of our bosoms.” 欲攀登高峰，必先脱离深渊；欲登天堂，必先途经地狱。 我们需要经受发生在内心的熊熊烈火的洗礼。

Symbols in Moby Dick  Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.  The Pequod: a symbol of doom. It is painted a gloomy black and covered in whale teeth and bones, literally bristling with the mementos of violent death. It is, in fact, marked for death.

Symbol of Moby Dick  It has various symbolic meanings for various individuals.  To the Pequod’s crew, it is a concept onto which they can displace their anxieties about their dangerous and often very frightening jobs.  Ahab, on the other hand, believes that Moby Dick is a manifestation of all that is wrong with the world, and he feels that it is his destiny to eradicate this symbolic evil.  In its inscrutable silence and mysterious habits, for example, the White Whale can be read as an allegorical representation of an unknowable God.  As a profitable commodity, it fits into the scheme of white economic expansion and exploitation in the nineteenth century.  As a part of the natural world, it represents the destruction of the environment by such hubristic expansion.

Queequeg’s Coffin  Queequeg’s coffin alternately symbolizes life and death.  Queequeg has it built when he is seriously ill, but when he recovers, it becomes a chest to hold his belongings and an emblem of his will to live.  The coffin further comes to symbolize life, in a morbid way, when it replaces the Pequod’s life buoy.  When the Pequod sinks, the coffin becomes Ishmael’s buoy, saving not only his life but the life of the narrative that he will pass on.