In addition to the revenge between Ahab and Moby Dick, Melville also describes a revenge story among humans。 In the chapter “The Town-Ho Story”, the chief officer and a sailor hate each other; even they decided to revenge each other because of some trivial things。 The chief officer took use of his authority to harm the sailor。 The sailor refused to cooperate with the chief officer when they found the ship was leaking。 In the critical moment of chasing white whale, Moby Dick ran away and the chief officer was killed because of their hatred。 It seems that Melville wants to show that revenge is inherent between in human, if we do not control it reasonably, it would lead us to death by telling the story。 Not only is the revenge between human and nature horrible, but also the revenge among humans is tragic。 Revenge embodies tragedy。 

From the analysis mentioned, we can notice that revenge can result in tragic ending, so we could draw the conclusion that the theme of revenge symbolized that human should be nice, kind and live in harmony with each other and other species, or the ending is painful。   文献综述

2。2 Symbolic Meaning of Human and Nature

The theme of human and nature in Moby Dick is also important。 What should be the relationship between human and nature like? Can they live in harmony with each other, or one has to control the other side? A number of ecologists asked these questions constantly。 And these questions have been written into eco-literature。

In the time of Melville, people can do anything that they want to nature。 But Melville has different opinions about the relationship between human and nature。 Melville was deeply influenced by transcendentalism。 According to transcendentalism, nature is God who is unbeaten and human cannot hurt nature。 In this novel, a priest chants repeatedly “But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah”, which shows the transcendentalism thoughts of the author。 In fact, the great fish is a white whale。 Moby Dick is like a white angel fighter sent by God to punish human and anti-hero Ahab。 (Guo Haiping, 38) Ahab’s whaler and artificial limb are made of whale bones, which symbolizes the destruction and conquest of nature by human。 But at the end of the story, nature punishes Ahab and his whalers。 Human cannot plunder nature at random。 In Melville’s opinion, nature has mysterious power and it is hard for human to understand subjectively。 Human beings should have a proper understanding and attitude to the nature。 Ishmael and Ahab have no right understanding, so they have a tragic ending and they fail to explore the world effectively。

On the other hand, Ahab, the captain, is the badge and the example of the pioneers to undertake the exploration of the nature。 He stands for those who challenge the nature in spite of difficulties and barriers。 Even if he faces unforeseeable obstacles, he never gives in。 In chapter 120, Pequod gets into a terrible storm。 Starbuck suggests rolling up a sail。 However, Ahab refuses to do this and he asks to take down sails and continue in bad weather。 He still challenges nature, even mocks it。 From his point of view, the storm is nothing but a kind of gassy stomachache。

The relationship between human and nature is paradoxical。 On the one hand, Ahab who stands for mankind has courage to challenge nature which is filled with danger。 So human is brave。 On the other hand, nature is unbeaten。 Moby Dick is the symbol of nature。 It is full of mystery and strength。 Moby Dick is wise, beautiful and powerful。 It is also evil and destructive。 In this novel, Moby Dick is gigantic and no one has ever seen such a big whale。 Melville wants to tell us that when human want to control nature, human has to face with such obstacles as Moby Dick。 However, in the long term, human can beat nature。 From another angle, if human wants to conquer nature, he must obey certain principles rather than looting nature as much as they want。 Or human is asking for ruin。 Ahab’s plan to kill Moby Dick for his own revenge violates the order of nature。 As a result, he is engaged in his suicide。 His revenge also results in the tragic fate for the crew on Pequod。 Human are not allowed to “strip the nature of its original balance, which is the very foundation for the survival of both parties” (Melville, 95) 来;自]优Y尔E论L文W网www.youerw.com +QQ752018766- 《白鲸记》的象征手法探究(3):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_96087.html