论《白鲸》中的象征意义

本科毕业论文（设计）

题 目: On The Symbolic Meanings in Moby Dick

论《白鲸》中的象征意义

姓 名: 姚小梅

学 院: 外 国 语 学 院

专 业: 英语专业（师范类）

班 级: 英语2010级1班

学 号: 1552100126

指导教师: 刘 云 职称: 讲 师

2014 年 6 月 17日

安徽科技学院教务处制

On The Symbolic Meanings in Moby Dick

By Yao Xiaomei

Supervised by Liu Yun

In partial fulfillment of the requirement

For the B.A. degree

School of Foreign Languages

Anhui Science and Technology University

June 2014

Abstract

Herman Melville (1819-1891) is one of the distinguished writers of America in the

1900s. It can say that Moby Dick is his representative work. And this work is generally

regarded as one of the most symbolic novels in the world literature. However, literary

circles has not attached importance to Moby Dick when it was published in 1851.It was

not until the early twentieth century that this shining star has yielded unusually brilliant

results and has won hundreds of thousands of writers and critics favor. The

hitting-points of their research are different. While the symbolism is striking among them,

and symbolism plays an important role in the understanding to readers.

Herman Melville takes advantage of a good deal of symbolism in Moby Dick. To

some extent, symbolism is exerted by the author incisively and vividly. It is said that

symbolism derived from the symbolic movement of French in the late nineteen century.

And it has already become an important writing technique to novels. It is noticed that

Herman Melville has presented vividly the profound meanings of Moby Dick to readers

through symbolism, which promotes the comprehension of readers and they can

acknowledge American society, culture, religion beliefs of the 19th century and the

development of symbolism to American literature.

In Herman Melville’s writing, there are two big clues that appeal to people,

namely protagonist Ahab and Moby Dick. It is designed that they are two opposing

camps: Human and Nature. In the novel, bigoted and selfish Ahab pledges his life to

catch Moby Dick for the sake of his hatred of losing a leg. And finally all people (except

Ishmael) died as a result of Ahab’s revenge. Their fates in a certain degree reflect the

final fates between human and nature. In the article, Melville uses symbolism adeptly.

Consequently we can get each element’s symbolic meanings with color and life. In this

paper the author will try to analyze different symbolic images, such as people, important

clues and significant events so that show the symbolism of Moby Dick to people. I hope

that my analysis would enrich people’s understand to this work’s themes. What’s

more important is that I hope people could really comprehend the relation between

human and nature. Do not act like Ahab, his only purpose for life is to break the power

of nature. It is not advisable to loss at both sides. Of course we can’t be conceited or

underestimate our capabilities toward nature. Harmonious coexistence is the best choice

for both sides.

The whole thesis is composed of five parts combined with the use of symbolism in Moby Dick. The first part will give us a brief introduction to Herman Melville, Moby

Dick’s plot and the background information; In the second chapter the author will

represent the definition of symbol and symbolism; The third chapter will analyze

Ahab’s symbolic meanings; the forth part is to talk about the symbolic meanings of

Moby Dick; and the last part presents us the symbolism of Pequod. Finally the thesis

reaches a conclusion.

Key Words: Moby Dick; Herman Melville; Captain Ahab; Symbol; Symbolism

中文摘要 赫尔曼·麦尔维尔(1819-1891)是美国19世纪著名作家之一，《白鲸》可以说是他的代表作。这部小说被认为是世界上最有象征意义的小说之一，然而在1851年《白鲸》的问世并没有引起文学界的重视，这颗璀璨明星直到20世纪才大放异彩，赢得无数作家和评论家的亲睐。他们的切入点各不相同，而象征手法是其中重要一项，对于作品的理解起着十分重要的作用。

在《白鲸》中，麦尔维尔使用了大量的象征手法，象征主义的应用可以说是淋漓尽致。象征主义源于十九世纪晚期的法国象征主义运动，它已成为现代小说中一种重要的创作手法。通过运用象征主义手法，赫尔曼·麦尔维尔形象而生动地表达出了《白鲸》中的深刻含义,这促进了广大读者对《白鲸》这部作品的理解，让读者对19世纪美国的社会、文化、宗教信仰有了深层次的体会，同事也推动了象征主义手法在美国文学史上的发展。

在赫尔曼·麦尔维尔的笔下，《白鲸》中有两大线索吸引着人们的眼球，即主人公（船长）亚哈与莫比迪克，他们可以说是小说中的两大对立阵营：人与自然的对立。偏执，自私的亚哈为报失腿之深仇大恨，誓死追击白鲸，直至最终的灭亡，这也象征着人类社会与自然地最终命运。文章中，作者娴熟地运用象征手法，使得各个要素在作品中的象征意义活灵活现。本文将通过分析小说中具有不同象征意义的人物、重要线索、意象和重要事件，从而向人们展示《白鲸》中的象征意义，希望能进一步丰富人们对这部小说及其主题的理解。更重要的是，我希望借助白鲸这部作品，人们能够真正领会人与自然地关系，能与自然和睦相处。而不像亚哈那样，一心就想冲破自然界的力量，两败俱伤，何必呢？在自然界面前，我们不能狂妄自大，当然也不要妄自菲薄，融洽相处才是王道。

本文结合《白鲸》中的象征主义手法的运用，把文章共分为五个章节，第一章节简要介绍作者与作品及时代背景；第二部分讲述象征和象征主义；第三章分析亚哈在《白鲸》中的象征意义；第四章节通过作者对白鲸的描写，从而揭示白鲸的象征意义；第五章展示捕鲸船皮阔得号象征意义，最后得出结论。

关键词：白鲸；赫尔曼·麦尔维尔；亚哈船长；象征，象征主义