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Abstract:Moby Dick is a masterpiece written by Herman Melville (1819-1891). It is a story about Captain Ahab who strives to kill the white whale named Moby Dick, which has chewed off one of his legs, and finally, both of them end in death. This story is narrated by Ishmael. The evolution of the plot of the novel depends on what he sees, hears and thinks. This thesis focuses on exploring this curious, meditative and persistent narrator by interpreting his intention, experience and performance on board of the ship Pequod. The word “monomaniac” gradually swims into the sight of the reader as the plot of the novel progresses, of which Ishmael possesses to hunt for knowledge. Ishmael’s monomaniac for knowledge is similar with the monomaniac that Captain Ahab possesses to hunt the whale Moby Dick. It adds a great deal to the implications of the novel. It is of great significance to analyze Melville’s characterization of monomaniac Ishmael.
Key words: Ishmael; narrator; monomaniac
摘要:《白鲸》是19世纪美国小说家赫尔曼·麦尔维尔(1819～1891)的一部小说，讲述了亚哈船长一心想要猎捕那条曾经咬掉他一条腿并且最终与之同归于尽的白鲸的故事。作为这部小说的叙述者，以实玛利的所见、所闻和所想都决定了小说的情节发展。通过分析以实玛利到佩阔德号船上工作的动机、经历和表现，论文揭示了小说叙述者身性好奇、虚心好学、想象丰富、执着探索的性格特点。随着小说的发展，“偏执狂”这个词逐渐为我们所熟知，以实玛利执着追求知识的“偏执狂”与亚哈船长誓死猎捕白鲸的“偏执狂”有着很多相似之处；他的这一“偏执狂”性格也赋予了小说很大的内涵，本文将侧重于分析梅尔维尔如何塑造了以实玛利这样一个“偏执狂”的艺术形象。
关键词： 以实玛利；叙事者；偏执狂
Moby Dick is Herman Melville’s masterpiece, a novel narrated by Ishmael. The novel tells the story of Captain Ahab, the protagonist of the novel, whose one leg had been chewed off by the monstrous white whale Moby Dick and strove to hunt down and killed it. The failure of the battle has changed his personality. He regarded the white whale as an embodiment of all the evils and miseries in the world, and pledged to kill it for his revenge. Ahab searched each corner of the world to confront his old enemy, ignoring the warning of nature and his crew to accomplish his goal. “The white whale swam before him as the monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious agencies which some deep men feel eating in them, till they are left living on with half a heart and half a lung.”[ Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick, or, The Whale. New York: Penguin Books. 1992. p.200.] So he possessed monomaniac, which led to his destruction while fighting with the whale at the end of the novel. The monomaniac that Ahab possessed in hunting the white whale is similar with the monomaniac that Ishmael possessed to seek knowledge.