Abstract

Moby Dick is the representative work of Herman Melville and ragarded as one of the most symbolic fiction in world literature history. The novel contains plenty of symbolism. The captain Ahab stands for the exploring spirit of human being. But some his behaviors also reflects the evil of human instinct. The white whale, Moby Dick, represents the mystery of nature and the punishment for human being from nature. The death of Pequod’s crew members indicates the final result of the conflict between human and nature. There are still so many examples in the fiction and the analysis for symbolism is helpful for us to acquire a deep understanding of this novel.

Key words: Moby Dick, symbolism, conflict, human, nature- 

CONTENTS

中文摘要

Abstract

1. Introduction-1

2.The Symbolic Meaning of the Crew of Pequod-1

2.1 The symbolic meaning of the sailing-1

2.2 The symbolic meaning of the death of the crew-2

2.3 The symbolic meaning of the captain Ahab-3

3. The Symbolic Meaning of Moby Dick-4

3.1 Moby Dick representing the nature-4

3.2 Moby Dick representing the punishment from the nature-5

3.2.1 The punishment for human society-5

3.2.1 The punishment for human challenging nature-6

4. The Symbolic Meaning of Conflict-7

4.1 The conflict between Moby Dick and Ahab-7

4.2 The conflict between human and nature-8

4.3 Warning effect of the conflict-8

5. Conclusion-9

Works Cited-11