小组HermanMelville

1、Herman MelvilleHerman MelvilleBut it is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. He who has never failed somewhere, that man cannot be great.(1819-1891)Herman MelvilleHerman Melville 1.life three important things in his life 2.Melvilles Major Works 3.Moby-Dicklife Melville was bor

2、n in New York City. Both his parents came from well-to-do families, but later their family business failed. Melvilles childhood was happy to the age of 11, when his father died in debt. Melville was born into a slightly eccentric, established New England family. His father Alan imported clothes and

3、other goods from France, providing Herman with a comfortable and happy childhood in New York. After Hermans father died in 1832, the family relied on financial assistance from his mothers wealthy family and Herman left school to go to work. Herman educated himself while working a variety of jobs thr

4、oughout teens. In 1839, Melville began his affair with sea when he joined the crew of the St. Lawrence and set sail for Liverpool England. In 1840, Melville set sail aboard the Acushnet, a whaling ship headed for the South Pacific. The rough conditions of the sea toughened the romantic New Englander

5、 and he took such a liking to sea life that he sailed around the globe four years aboard various ships. Melville was welcomed home by his family who was entertained by his tales of the high seas and encouraged him to write them down. Herman wrote Typee quickly in 1845, and published it the next year

6、. Typee became a critical and financial success in 1847, Melville married Elizabeth Shaw, daughter of the Chief Justice of Massachusetts. To make himself more financially stable for his impending marriage, Melville sought a position with the U.S. Treasury and took on extra work writing book reviews.

7、 Moby Dick published in November 1851, received poor reviews and did not sell. Despite this continued output and the fact his earlier novels continued to be reprinted and sold fairly well, Melvilles literary reputation was in rapid decline. His death from a heart attack on September 28, 1891 went en

8、tirely unheeded by the general public. Despite this continued output and the fact his earlier novels continued to be reprinted and sold fairly well, Melvilles literary reputation was in rapid decline. His death from a heart attack on September 28, 1891 went entirely unheeded by the general public. M

9、elvilles literary reputation remained in decline until he was rediscovered in the 1920s, when a generation, disillusioned by the Great War began to appreciate the depth of Melvilles spiritual struggles and the modern experimental style of his stories. (1).Going out to sea His experiences and adventu

10、res on the sea furnished him with abundant material for his fiction writings,especially his masterpiece Moby Dick.(2).His marriage In the history of American literature there were two authors had similar marriages. Melville and Scott Fizgerald,both married above them and had to do hackwork for the m

11、oney they needed to keep their wives in their extravagant style.(3).His friendship with Hawthorne During the summer of 1850 Melville and Hawthorne met and became good friends. They shared similar ideas and opinions on most kinds of fields. Especially against the background of Transcendental optimism

12、,Melville agress with Hawthornes Blacknes-the evil at the core of life. The original design of Moby Dick was just a text on the whale fishery. When Melville met Hawthorne,he had completed one third of Moby Dick.Without Hawthorne,Melville would have just written it about whaling hunting. With the inf

13、luence of Hawthorne,Melville rewote it into a world classic with a mixture of: 游记、航海故事、寓言、捕鲸传说、有关鲸鱼与捕鲸业的百科全书、美国史诗、莎士比亚式的悲剧、抒情散文长诗、塞万提斯式的浪漫体小说. In Token of my admiration for his genius,this book is inscribed to Nathaniel Hawthorne.Melvilles Major Works 1.novels (1).Polynsie Trilogy波西尼亚三部曲 Typee 1846

14、泰皮 Omoo 1847 欧穆 Mardi 1849 玛地 from his adventures among the people of the South Pacific islands(2).Redburn 1849 雷得本 an account of his voyage to England(3).White Jacket 1850 白外衣 his life on a United States man-of-war(4).Pierre 1852 皮埃尔 A darkly allegorical exploration of the nature of evil,which is p

15、sychologically complex and elaborate.(5).Israel Potter 1855 伊斯雷尔 波特 a historical romance(6).The Confidence Man 1857 骗子 Satirizes the selfishness and commercialism of Melvilles time(7).Billy Budd 1891 比利 巴德 a novel about a young sailor,personifying innocence,doomed by the malevolent hatred of a ships

16、 officer,personifying evil2.short stories The Piazza Tales 1856 广场故事 contains some of Melvilles finest shorter works (1).Bartleby,the Scrivener (2).Benito Cereno 3.poetry (1).Battle-Pieces and the Aspects of War 战事集 1866 (2).Clarel 克拉瑞尔 1876Moby-Dick 白鲸莫比狄克Moby-Dick Setting Main Characters Plot Them

17、es Writing style Symbolism in Moby-DickSetting Most of the book takes place on various oceans,such as the Atlantic,the Indian,and the Pacific,in the early to mid 1800s.However,a good deal of the first part of the novel takes place in the New England inside and around Nantucket.nntkit南塔基特岛 First publ

18、ication:1851 Type of work:symbolic novel Around 1920,the American literary world rediscovered an almost forgotten book and suddenly become aware of a major Ameican writer. The book is Moby Dick,a tremendous chronicle of a whaling voyage in pursuit of seemingly supernatural white whale. To get to kon

19、w the nineteenth-century American mind and American itself,one has to read this book.It is an encyclopedia of everything,history,philosophy,religion,etc.in addition to a detailed account of the operations of the whaling industry. But it is first a Shakespearean tragedy of man fighting aganinst overw

20、heling odds in an indifferent and even hostile universe.As he had indicated in Mardi,we should get to know the extent of evil in life and the human soul to help make life and man better.As he puts it，“The way to heaven is through hell. The novel is the realistic account of a whaling voyage within wh

21、ich is set a symbolic account of the conflict between man and his fate. Moby Dick is a thrilling adventure story,the worlds greatest sea novel.It has the plot of uncreasing search for revenge,the Americanized Gothicof misery and terror.Throughout the story is a mastery of suspense of horror,of both

22、subtle and broad humor,of exciting narrative in vigorous prose.It is regarded as the first Ameican prose epic,a Shakespearean tragedy of man fighting against overwhelming odds in an indifferent and even hostile world.Main Characters Ishmael schoolteacher and part-time sailor;a Presbyterian,like Melv

23、ille,he projects Calvinistic thinking tempered by his background in literature and philosophy.He discusses such issues as free will,predestination,necessity,and damnation.He is the sole survivor of the Pequod.The name has come to symbolize,exiles, and social outcasts-in the the opening paragraph of

24、Moby-Dick,Ishmael tells the reader that he has turned to the sea out of a feeling of alienation from human society.In the last line of the book,Ishmael also refers to himself symbolically as an orphan.Maintaining the Bibilical connection and emphasizing the representation of outcasts Captain Ahab He

25、 is the tyrannical captain of the Pequod who is driven by a monomaniacal desire to kill Moby Dick.Ahabs name comes directly from the Bible(see 1 kings 16:28) In Ishmaels first encounter with Ahabs name,he responds when that wicked king was slain,the dogs,did they not lick his blood?(Moby-Dick,Chapte

26、r16) Starbuck The first mate,is bold enough to criticize Ahabs Vengeance,considers mutiny but fails.星巴克得名于此，书中爱喝咖啡的大副就叫Starbuck Moby Dick It is the White Whale;the worlds largest creature.It is powerful,legendary image of nature.It swims peacefully in the sea until disturbed by humans ,the shows a t

27、errible fury and anger.For Ahab,Moby Dick is the symbol of evil.Plot Ishmael,the narrator,having little money and finding life on shore grim,decides to go to sea.he signs aboard the whaling ship named Pequod。 Its captain,Ahab,is a tall, broad man seemingly made of bronze.He has a white leg,made from

28、 the jaw of a sperm whale,because his own leg is torn away by Moby Dicka huge white whale.After loosing his leg he is determined to pursue Moby Dick and kill it.He hangs a doubloon on the mast as a reward for anyone who sights the white whale first. Eventually the white whale appears,and the Pequod

29、begins its doomed fight against it.On the first day the whale smashes a whaleboat.The second day,another boat is swamped,the captains ivory leg is snapped off. When the third day comes,Ahab and his crew manage to harpoon the whale,but it carries the Pequod along with it to its doom.All on board get

30、drowned expect Ishmael,who is rescued by another whaler and suivives to tell the story.Themes of Moby Dickthemes the sense of futility and meaninglessness alienationloneliness and suicidal individualism rejection and quest1)Melvilles bleak view (negative attitude): the sense of futility and meaningl

31、essness of the world. His attitude to life is “Everlasting Nay” Man in this universe lives a meaningless and futile life, meaningless because futile. Man cannot overcome nature. Once he attempts to seek power over it he is doomed. Themes of Moby Dickthe adventure of killing Moby Dick is meaningless.

32、 Ahab tries to control it, which leads to his doom. the embodiment of naturemodern life the loss of faith, the sense of futilitywell expressed in Moby Dick2) alienation (far away from each other) exists between man and man, man and society, and man and nature. Ahab cuts himself off from his family,

33、stays away from his crew, hates Moby Dick and becomes a devil rushing to his doom. He was within “the masoned, walled town of a captians exclusiveness”,which leads him to his doom.Themes of Moby Dick3) loneliness and suicidal individualism (individualism causing disaster and death)the basic pattern

34、of nineteenth-century American life Moby Dick is a negative reflection upon Transcendentalism Ahab: too much of a self-reliant individual to be a good human beinga victim of extreme individualismThe price of self-reliance is death.Themes of Moby Dick4）rejection and questVoyaging for Ishmael has beco

35、me a journey in quest of knowledge and values.starts out feeling badhopes 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 survivalWriting style(1) His works are symbolic and me

36、taphorical.voyage- search and discovery, the search for the ultimate truth of experience. the Pequod -the ship of the American soul Moby Dick-a symbol ofits whiteness- paradoxical colorevilgoodnessbothdeath and corruptionpurity, innocence, and youthWriting style(2)He manages to achieve the effect of

37、 ambiguity through employing the technique of multiple view of his narratives. Moby Dick is portrayed for the reader from different angles. The author is unwillingness to commit himself, and the reader is thrown upon himself for judgment. Writing style(3) He tends to write periodic chapters (掉尾章的手法掉尾章的手法). the last paragraph of chapter one pulling all things into one sentence is a good illustration in point. Symbols in Moby Dick The Pequod Moby Dick Ahab Queequegs CoffinThe Pequoda symbol of doomnamed after a Native American tribe in Massachusettsdid n