Moby-Dick is a highly symbolic work, and is interesting in that it also addresses issues such as natural history. Other themes include obsession, religion, idealism versus pragmatism, revenge, racism, hierarchical relationships, and politics.
Symbolism
All of the members of the Pequod's crew have biblical-sounding, improbable, or descriptive names, and the narrator deliberately avoids specifying the exact time of the events and some other similar details. These together suggest that the narrator—and not just Melville—is deliberately casting his tale in an epic and allegorical mode.
The white whale itself, for example, has been read as symbolically representative of good and evil, as has Ahab. The white whale has also been seen as a metaphor for the elements of life that are out of our control, or God.[citation needed]
The Pequod's quest to hunt down Moby-Dick itself is also widely viewed as allegorical. To Ahab, killing the whale becomes the ultimate goal in his life, and this observation can also be expanded allegorically so that the whale represents everyone's goals. Furthermore, his vengeance against the whale is analogous to man's struggle against fate. The only escape from Ahab's vision is seen through the Pequod's occasional encounters with other ships, called gams. Readers could consider what exactly Ahab will do if he, in fact, succeeds in his quest: having accomplished his ultimate goal, what else is there left for him to do? Similarly, Melville may be implying that people in general need something to reach for in life, or that such a goal can destroy one if allowed to overtake all other concerns. Some such things are hinted at early on in the book, when the main character, Ishmael, is sharing a cold bed with his newfound friend, Queequeg:
... truely to enjoy bodily warmth, some small part of you must be cold, for there is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself. If you flatter yourself that you are all over comfortable, and have been so a long time, then you cannot be said to be comfortable any more.
— Moby-Dick, Ch. 11
Ahab's pipe is widely looked upon as the riddance of happiness in Ahab's life. By throwing the pipe overboard, Ahab signifies that he no longer can enjoy simple pleasures in life; instead, he dedicates his entire life to the pursuit of his obsession, the killing of the white whale, Moby-Dick.
A number of biblical themes occur. The book contains multiple implicit and explicit allusions to the story of Jonah, in addition to the use of certain biblical names (see below).
Ishmael's musings also allude to themes common among the American Transcendentalists and parallel certain themes in European Romanticism and the philosophy of Hegel. In the poetry of Whitman and the prose writings of Emerson and Thoreau, a ship at sea is sometimes a metaphor for the soul.
《白鲸记》是一个极具象征意义的工作,而且很有趣,因为它还去自然历史等问题.其他主题包括妄想、宗教、理想主义和务实、报复、种族歧视、层次关系,和政治.
象征
所有成员的“百戈号”的船员都biblical-sounding、令人不可思议的,或由描述性的名字,和旁白故意回避指明确切的时间以及其他一些类似的事件的细节.这些一起显示narrator-and Melville-is不仅仅是他的故事中故意铸件和寓言模式的史诗.
白鲸本身,例如,被读,象征性地代表善与恶的、有哈.白鲸也被看作是一个比喻为生命元素,是我们能控制的,还是要得神的心.[引文需要]
“百戈号”的任务去追捕莫比本身也被广泛视为寓言.亚哈,杀死了鲸鱼成为终极目标,这在他的生活中也可以扩展观察鲸鱼的同时使每个人的目标.代表此外,他的复仇的鲸鱼是类似于人的斗争的命运.只有逃避他娶了亚哈的愿景是偶然碰到“百戈号”的通过与其他船只,称为gams.读者可以考虑到底要做的,如果他哈,事实上,成功地完成他的任务:在他的终极目标,还有什么别的医生所做的吗?同样,梅尔维尔可能暗示人们通常需要达到的生活,或者是这一目标可以摧毁一个超越所有其他如果允许关切.一些这样的东西暗示早期在这本书中,当主角,以实玛利,是共享寒冷和他的新朋友,床奎怪.
真正享受身体暖和……,一些很小的一部分,你必须是寒冷的,因为没有质量.在这个世界上,而不是仅仅是相反的.不存在的.如果你在恭维你自己,你都在舒适,已经很长一段时间之后,你不能说成是舒适的.
《白鲸记》,第11 -
他娶了亚哈的管广泛看作铲除幸福的生活.哈通过把管子入海中,哈意味着,他不再能享受生命中简单的乐趣;相反的,他将他的一生去追求他的妄想,白鲸、《白鲸记》.
《圣经》的主题的发生.这本书包含了多个内隐记忆和外显的引述的故事,乔纳,除了使用某些圣经的名字(见下文).
以实玛利的情绪也提到主题中普遍存在,美国第一个在欧洲的浪漫主义的某些特定的主题平行的宗旨,黑格尔.在诗歌和散文作品的怀特曼埃莫森和梭罗,一艘船在海上有时是一个比喻为灵魂.
