| The Ocean and some related images of Moby Dick contains many unique meanings for American literature, people and society.Under the influence of Gothic novel, the ocean in Moby Dick, repalcing the old castles, showed us dead black bloodcurding. At the same time, the Ocean and other aquatics which were affected by the outlook of American's Transcendentalism, take on deity.Combining American's history with the ocean images depicted other American writers, we can see, the ocean symbolized the American spirites: courage to open up, opitimism. Melville created many sailors:Ishmael Perth who were destroyed by life, savaqe sailors who struggled against the ocean and whale, Starback Flansic Ahab who searched wealth or ego in the ocean. Those vivid and visual characters stand for different American's psychic pursuits,either Metaphysically or physically. In terms of the ocean's social connotation , Melville connected whaling with American movement to the west.The whaling exploers were just like the westward imigrants. And the huge economic interests made by whaling acted economy, stimulating American's economic growth and accumalating a lot of original capital for his economic development. The change of sailor's life style in Moby Dick also pictured a new life style in contemporary America.As the nation is a imagined commumnity, novel is an important form to reapper it. Americans, just who got independence from England, France, Spain, Portuqu, must be urged to get rid of influnence of them in literature , economy as well as social structure. Through the image of the ocean in Moby Dick, Melville imaged a new American nation , Which distinctive features literature, owned bravery to strive in spirit and developed rapidly in economy. |
