Sherman Melville

1、Herman Melville 1.Life and Education 2.Master Works 3.Moby-Dick 4.EvaluationBiography Herman Melville(赫爾曼 梅爾維爾August 1, 1819 September 28, 1891) was born in New York. American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. There are three things which deserve to mention about his life: going out

2、to sea, his marriage, and his friendship with Hawthorne. Melville saw in Hawthorne the one American who was expressively aware of the evil at the core of American life. He found Hawthorne s understanding of evil , that blackness of vision, unusually fascinating. When Melville met Hawthorne, he had c

3、ompleted one third of Moby Dick. Without Hawthorne, Melville would have just written it about whaling hunting. With the influence of Hawthorne, Melville rewrote it into a world classic with a mixture of: His first three books gained much contemporary attention but after a fast-blooming literary succ

4、ess in the late 1840s, hispopularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime. When he died in 1891, he was almost completely forgotten. It was not until the Melville Revival in the early 20th century that his work won recognition, especially Moby-Dick which wa

5、s hailed as one of the literary masterpieces of both American and world literature. Education Melvilles family was poor,time were hard,and the boy received little formal education after the age of 15. A whaling ship,he said, was “my Yale College and my Harvard.Master works Typee(1846) Omoo(1847) Mar

6、di(1849) Redburn(1849) White-Jacket(1850) Moby-Dick(1851) Pierre(1852) The Confidence Man(1857) Benito Cereno and Billy Budd(short stories) Polynsie Trilogy Poetry Battle-Pieces and the Aspects of War (1866) Clarel (1876)Moby-Dick Melvilles masterwork,one of the worlds greatest masterpieces.To get t

7、o know the nineteenth century American mind,everyone has to read this book. It is an encyclopedia of everything, history,philosophy, religion,ect. Moby Dick is widely considered to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of the wandering sailor Is

8、hmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab. Ishmael soon learns that Ahab seeks one specific whale, Moby Dick, a ferocious, enigmatic white sperm whale. In a previous encounter, the whale destroyed Ahabs boat and bit off his leg. Ahab intends to take revenge.In the end,

9、he finds and attacks Moby Dick,but the whale takes his ship and nearly all the crews on board down to the watery grave with him.PlotThe novels plot is built on one conflict- Ahab vs. the WhaleIt is essentially the story of Ahab and his quest to defeat Moby Dick, for this white whale took Ahabs leg.I

10、shmael, feeling depressed, seeks escape by going out to sea on the whaling ship, Peqoud. The captain is Ahab亞哈, the man with one leg. Moby Dick, the white whale, had sheared off Ahabs leg on a previous voyage, and Ahab resolves to hunt him. The ship makes a good catch of whales but Ahab refuses to t

11、urn back until he has killed his enemy. Eventually, the whale appears, and the Peqoud begins its doomed fight with it. On the third day, the whale carries the Peqoud along with it to its doom. All on board the whaler get drowned, except one, Ishmael,who survives to tell the tale.Characters Ishmael:F

12、eeling depressed,he seeks to escape by going out to sea on a whaling ship.As the narrator,Ishmael gradually comes to see the folly of Ahab seeking to conquer nature, and begins to feel the significance of love and companionship.Voyaging has become a journey in quest of knowledge and value for Ishmae

13、l. Captain Ahab has been Melvilles portrait of an Emersonian self-reliant individual.Ahab is too much of a self-reliant individual to be a good human being.For him the only law is his own will.To him the world exists for his sake.Ahab is a victim of solipsism,his tragedy stemming from extreme indivi

14、dualism,selfish will. Ahab is the best illustration of alienation,a major theme in Melville.Symbolism Moby-Dick is capable of many interpretations.To Melville,it symbolizes nature,for it is complex, unfathomable,malignant,and beautiful as well.To Ahab,it is a symbol of evil,Moby-Dick is like a wall,

15、hiding some unknown mysterious things behind.To Ishmael,Moby-Dick is a mystery of universe,inscrutable and ambivalent.It also means goodness. Voyage is a metaphor for search and discovery.The search for the ultimate truth of experience. The Pequod is the Ship of American soul. 白鯨是一個非常復雜的象征，代表了不了理解的大

16、千世界和不可探索的宇宙奧秘。它是智慧，美，力量，狡詐，暴虐和毀滅的綜合化身，是令人敬畏的宇宙之謎。皮闊德號原為美國康涅狄格州東部一個瀕臨滅絕的一個印第安部落。麥爾維爾以這樣一個行將涅滅的印第安部落為船名，一方面是要喚起世人對這一個遭受白人屠殺的部落的記憶，另一方面則預示了這艘捕鯨船最終毀滅的命運。 Theme1)Melvilles bleak view (negative attitude): the sense of futility and meaninglessness of the world. His attitude to life is “Everlasting Nay”Man

17、in this universe lives a meaningless and futile life, meaningless because futile (having no useful results). Man cannot overcome nature. Once he attempts to seek power over it he is doomed. Man must place himself at the mercy of nature. The idea that man can make the world for himself is nothing but

18、 a transcendentalist folly.the adventure of killing Moby Dick is meaningless. Ahab tries to control it, which leads to his doom. the loss of faith, the sense of futility2)alienation (far away from each other) exists between man and man, man and society, and man and nature. Ahab cuts himself off from

19、 his family, stays away from his crew, hates Moby Dick and becomes a devil rushing to his doom. He was within “the masoned石瓦匠, walled town of a captians exclusiveness”,which leads him to his doom. 3) loneliness and suicidal individualism (individualism causing disaster and death)Ahab: too much of a

20、self-reliant individual to be a good human being a victim of extreme individualism.The price of self-reliance is death.Moby Dick is a negative reflection upon Transcendentalism 4）rejection and questVoyaging for Ishmael has become a journey in quest of knowledge and values.Starts out feeling badHopes

21、 to find an ideal lifeComes to see the folly of Ahab seeking to conquer natureFeels the significance of love and companionshipLearns to accept,an attitude which ensures his survivalArtistic features Language features Moby-Dick is regarded the first American epic.Although it is presented in the form of a novel,at times it seems like a prose poem. It is difficult to read because much in the novel is sailors talk and much of language is purposely old-fashioned and