1. Herman Melville  (1819 - 1891)  American novelist  short-story writer  poet  best known for his novels of the sea  masterpiece: Moby Dick, 《白鲸》 (1851)

3. Contents  I.  I. Life  II.  II. Works  III.  III. Point of view  IV. Style  VI. Literary Contributions

4. I. I. Life  born as Herman Melvill  in New York City  on August 1, 1819  the third child of an old, wealthy family ↑ Blue Plaque of Herman Melville

5. II. II. Point of view  (1) He never seems able to say an affirmative yes to life:  His is the attitude of “Everlasting Nay” (negative attitude towards life).  (2) One of his major themes is alienation ( 疏 离, far away from each other)

6. III. III. Style  (1) the effect of ambiguity ( 歧义 )  through employing the technique of multiple view of his narratives.  (2) periodic chapters  (3) rich rhythmical prose

7.  (4) poetic power  (5) symbolic & metaphorical ( 含有大量隐喻的 )  (6) non-narrative chapters of factual background

8. IV. Major Works  Typee, 《泰皮》, (1846)  most popular book during his lifetime  Omoo, 《欧穆》, (1847)  Mardi, 《玛蒂》, (1849)  Redburn, 《雷德本》, (1849)

9.  White-Jacket, 《白夹克》, (1850)  Moby-Dick, 《白鲸》, (1851)  his masterpiece & most important work  Billy Budd, 《比利 · 巴德》, (posthumous, 1924)

10. A symbolic allegory

11. rankings  Checkmark Books, 2004: 6  best100novels.com: 49  The Guardian: 70  BBC: 161  Bluewood Books, 2002 (100 Books That Shaped World History)

12.  In 1851 Melville wrote that he was well along with “a strange sort of book” on whaling, adding “I mean to give the truth of the thing…” 1. 1. Introduction

13.  Original title: The Whale  Melville’s masterpiece  an adventure novel  embodiment of American Romanticism  regarded as the first American prose epic presented in the form of novel

14.  originally misunderstood by contemporary audiences and critics  now often referred to as “The Great American Novel”

15.  the epic story of  the whaling ship Pequod  its “ungodly, god-like man,” Captain Ahab  His obsessive quest for the white whale Moby Dick leads the ship and its men to destruction.

16. …, because of  its hunter myth  its initiation theme  its Edenic island symbolism  its positive treatment of pre-technological peoples  its quest for rebirth

17.  The first line of Chapter One— “Call me Ishmael.” —is one of the most famous opening lines in literature.

18. 2. 2. Style  Impression ： difficult to read  much of the talk is sailor’s talk  much of the language is purposely  old-fashioned  Elizabethan

19. In Details  (1) A reliable treatise on  whales  the whaling industry  (2) Excellent commentary on  the universe  human destiny

20.  (3) Rich in symbolism  philosophical speculations( 思考 ) about  God  Nature

21. 3. 3. The Main Characters  1. Ishmael ['i ʃ meiəl]  2. Captain Ahab['eihæb]  3. Moby Dick  4. Queequeg  5. Starbuck

22. (1) Ishmael In the Bible:  Abram  later: Abraham  Abram’s wife Sarai  later: Sarah, Princess  Hagar:  an Egyptian and Sarai’s servant-girl

23.  Ishmael:  son of Abram & Hagar  Hagar & Ishmael:  driven away by Abram & Sarai  saved by God  Ishmael:  father of the Arabians

24. In the novel:  the narrator  a schoolteacher  part-time sailor  another drifter  the sole survivor of the Pequod

25.  He undertakes the journey because of  his affection for the ocean  his need to go sea whenever he feels “hazy about the eyes”

26. (2) Captain Ahab  Captain of the Pequod  both a hero and a villain  a grave older man reaching his sixties  a dour, imposing man

27.  named for an Old Testament king  desires a total, Faustian, god- like knowledge  pays tragically for wrongful knowledge like Oedipus

28.  has a scar which extends from his head to his leg  spends nearly 40 years as a sailor  only 3 years spent on dry land

29.  frightens his crew through his unwavering ( 坚定的 ) obsession with defeating Moby Dick that has maimed him

30. (3) (3) Moby-Dick  the great white whale  an inscrutable ( 神秘莫测的 ), cosmic ( 宇宙的、 广阔无边的 ) existence that dominates the novel  obsessing ( 困扰、使着迷 ) Ahab

31. (4) (4) Queequeg  a veteran harpooner  a close friend of Ishmael  a tattooed ( 文身的 ) cannibal  disillusioned with Christianity  worships a black idol Yojo

32.  Although a “savage” cannibal, he is described with great sympathy and much admiration by Ishmael, by whom he is befriended early in the book.

33. 2. 2. The Plot  The story begins with Ishmael heading out to find a whaling vessel to join.  Goes to Nantucket, the first American City of whaling  Meets a harpooning savage named Queequeg  The two become quick friends

34.  They find their ship, the Peqoud  they board with the rest, despite  ominous warnings  absence of the captain

35.  Things are not what they seem.  Captain Ahab make his first appearance.  There is something troubling about him.

36.  Things become even more clearly wrong when Ahab gives voice to his desire:  he wishes to hunt down Moby Dick and kill him.

37.  All other desires in him are second to that, and nothing can prevent him from achieving his goal.  The majority of his crew is all for the adventure, although one man, the chief mate Starbuck, is worried about its eventual end.

38.  The Peqoud sails over foreign seas, in order to reach the equator, a known hangout of Moby Dick, at the right season.  They meet various crafts, and some ships have stories to tell of the White Whale

39.  Their stories describe only death and destruction; Moby-Dick is  an immortal creature  unable to be killed by human hands  an avenging angel  even possibly God himself

40.  The ship goes about the regular business of whaling.  In between chapters, Ishmael takes up instructing his reader on the process of killing whales and processing it for oil, the persistence of whales in our culture, and even biology lessons on their physical natures.

41.  Finally they approach their intended destination.  They come closer and closer to finding Moby DickAhab is driven further into madness.

42.  He creates a weapon out of steel for the specific purpose of killing the whale, and he ignores the pleas of help from another ship, trying to find it's lost men.

43.  Moby Dick is seen at last.  The hunt spans over three days, and after it is done, the entire crew of the Peqoud, save one, has been killed.

44.  The ship is sunk, the whale-boats destroyed, and Ahab himself is yanked to his death by the very iron he himself forged.  Only Ishmael survives, to be picked up by another vessel; only he is left to tell the tale.

45. 4. 4. The Themes  MAN  GOD  NATURE

46.  the quest for knowledge  the limits of Knowledge  the quest for death  the unconquerable nature  the destructive nature  the deceptiveness of Fate

47.  Desire to conquer  Revenge  Pursuit of nature and life  Rebirth  Relation between man and nature

48.  the Exploitative Nature of Whaling  the Contrast between Civilized and Pagan Society  loneliness

49.  suicidal individualism (individualism causing disaster and death)  confrontation of innocence and evil  doubts over the comforting 19c idea of progress

50.  In Moby-Dick, Melville challenges Emerson’s optimistic idea  that humans can understand nature

51. 5. The symbols in Moby-Dick  Major symbols:  (1) the voyage  (2) the whale  Minor symbols:  (3) the Pequod  (4) Queequeg’s Coffin  (5) Rachel

52. (1) the voyage  the one of the mind in quest of  the truth and knowledge of universe

53.  an Undefinable Figure  a Symbol of Unparalleled Greatness  as a Part of Ahab (2) the whale

54.  The white whale could represent  nature and those elements of life that are out of human control  evil  Melville’s Puritan conscience  religion  the ultimate mystery of the universe

55.  To Ahab:  an evil creature which an embodiment of evil or the agent of an evil force that control the universe.

56.  In a sense, it is not the whale, or the force behind the whale, that is evil  the evil is in Ahab.

57.  It also can stand for  the ultimate mystery of the universe  the wall behind which unknown malicious things are hiding

58. (3) The Pequod  a symbol of doom  named after a Native American tribe  that did not long survive the arrival of white men.  memorializing an extinction

59.  It is marked for death.  Adorned like a primitive coffin, the Pequod becomes one.

60. (4) (4) Queequeg’s Coffin  alternately symbolizes life and death.  Queequeg has it built when he is seriously ill.  But when he recovers, it becomes an emblem of his will to live.

61.  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.

62. (5) (5) Rachel  one of the patriarch Jacob's wives  the name of the boat that rescues Ishmael at book's end.