【正文】 the ship, and transfers over to show the counterpane of humanity. The most diverse, single character by far in Moby Dick, is a darkplexioned harpooner named Queenqueg, who represents a great number of cultures all at once. He is first introduced to the reader as a man Ishmael will have to share a bed with for the night. At the first encounter, Queequeg is portrayed as a horrifying savage and “cannibal” who seem ready and willing to attack Ishmael:But what to make of this headpedding purple rascal…h(huán)is chest and arms…parts of him were checkered with the same squares as his face。 his back too, was all over the same dark squares。 still more, his very legs were marked… It was now quite plain that he must be some abominable savage or other…I quaked to think of it. A peddler of heads tooperhaps the heads of his own brothers. He might take a fancy to mineheavens! Look at that tomahawk [12] Immediately, Queequeg is portrayed as someone to fear. However the first impression is quickly replaced by the impression of noble and trustworthy friend. In the chapter entitled “Biographical”, the reader is surprised to find that Queequeg is actually a prince, with a Christian family that includes “His father…a High Chief, a King。 his uncle a High Priest。 and on the maternal side he boasted aunts who were the wives of unconquerable warriors. There was excellent blood in his veinsroyal stuff。 though sadly vitiated, I fear, by the cannibal propensity he nourished in his untutored youth ”[13] Another culture that is rolled up into Queequeg, is that of the Ishmael religion. He follows the Ramadan but only while worshipping an African idol. Along with harpoon, one of the most precious belongings to Queequeg is his little “Congo baby” named Yojo. When he is following rituals like the Ramadan for hours on end, he escapes to another world. His deathlike trance is frightening to those who do not understand what he is about。 Ishmael thinks Queegueg has died before learning of this special fasting period! But all of these opinions form are based merely on the physical looks of his character. Despite the fact that at first glance, anyone would be terrified of this socalled cannibal, he is one of the most outgoing and positive people in the book. He remains loyal to his friends, especially Ishmael, and his courage and nobility shines through his heroic acts. The poor fellow whom Queequeg had handled so roughly, was swept overboard。 all hands were in a panic。 queequeg, stripped to the waist, darted from the side with a long living arc of a leap. For three minutes or more he was seen swimming…the poor bumpkin was restored. All hands voted queequeg a noble trump. His intriguing character builds a fascinating scope of human emotions and characteristics that is unique to him, yet mon to humanity. V. ConclusionThe paper has discussed Melville’s symbolism in Moby Dick. As a master of allegory and symbolism, Melville develops a great deal of symbols to add beauty to his novel, and makes it bee a timeless masterpiece. What remain to be pointed out are the symbolic meanings of Ahab, Moby Dick and counterpane. Ahab is viewed as the human with evil, Moby Dick as God, counterpane as the world’s multiculturalism. However, what the paper has discussed about symbolism in the novel is just a little part of the whole. There are many other symbols in the novel. For instance, the voyage itself is a metaphor for “search and discovery, the search for the ultimate truth of experience.” The Pequod is, to , the ship of the American soul, and the endeavor of its crew represents “the maniacal fanaticism of our white mental consciousness”. By far the most conspicuous symbol in the book is, of course Moby Dick, the white whale is capable of many interpretations. It’s viewed as God, an unstoppable force of nature and as simply a whale. It is apparent that he represents more. It symbolizes nature for Melville, for it is plex, unfathomable, malignant and beautiful as well. For the author, as well as for the reader and Ishmael, the narrator, Moby Dick is still a mystery。 an ultimate mystery of the universe, inscrutable and ambivalent, and the voyage of the mind will forever remain a search, not a discovery, of the truth. Thus, people should not be satisfied with learning from the ancient only. A more important thing for them to do is to develop more scientific and reasonable point of view about Melville’s symbolism in Moby Dick. (4568 words) Notes1. Melville Herman, MobyDick. (New York: Bantam, 1981), 177. 2. . 3. .4. . 5. . 6. Braswell William, MobyDick is an Allegory of Humanity’s Struggle with God. (Leone, 1949), 150.7. .8. Melville Herman, MobyDick. (New York: Bantam, 1981), 177. 9. RobertsonLorant Laurie, Melville: A Biography. (New York: Clarkson Pottor, 1996), 108.10. .11. Melville Herman, MobyDick. (New York: Bantam, 1981), 310311. 12. . 13. .  Bibliography1. Bloom, Harold, ed. Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. New York: Chelsea House, 1996. 2. Harriet , Todd A. The Quest in the Works of Herman Melville. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1996.3. Heimert, Alan. Moby Dick and American Political Symbolism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Eliot House Edition, 1991.4. Herman, Melville. MobyDick. New York: Bantam, 1981. 5. Joseph, Campbell. The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology. New York: Viking Press, 1959. 6. Slade, Leonard A. Symbolism in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick: From the Satanic to the Divine. Leviston, New York: E. Mellen Press, 1998.7. William, Braswell. MobyDick is an Allegory of Humanity’s Struggle with God. Leone, 1949.葿螈聿蒄葿袁羈莀蒈羃膇芆蕆蚃羀膂蒆螅膅蒁薅袇羈莇薄罿膄芃薃蠆羆艿薃袁節(jié)膅薂羄肅蒃薁蚃芀荿薀螆肅芅蕿袈羋膁蚈羀肁蒀蚇蝕襖莆蚇螂肀莂蚆羅袂羋蚅蚄膈膄蚄螇羈蒂蚃衿膆莈螞羈罿芄螁蟻膄膀螁螃羇葿螀裊膃蒅蝿肈羆