【正文】 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。 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。 and on the maternal side he boasted aunts who were the wives of unconquerable warriors. There was excellent blood in his veinsroyal stuff。 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。 everything it ultimately interdependent”. This dependency is how the Pequod functions. Although every crewmember is different from the next, they all try to assure the success of the Pequod. Therefore, the interdependency is visible on 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。 only inmost cases, he, one way or other, has this Siamese connexion with a plurality of other mortals. If your banker breaks, you snap。 that my free will had received a mortal wound。 fast to Queequeg’s broad canvas belt, and fast to my [Ishmael’s] narrow leather one. So that for better or for worse, we two, for the time, were wedded。 Melville makes him the symbol of humanity, “when Ahab strikes at Moby Dick, he does so in a mad desire for revenge on God, whom he holds responsible for its evil’s existence.”[6] Ahab refuses to accept the fact that limitations of humans stop them from attacking God。 does not speak much but when he does speak, then you may well listen. ”[4] Peleg tells that he is “… moody, desperate moody and savage sometimes.” “… better to be a moody good captain than a laughing bad one.”[5] The captain maintains a strong sense of dignity. He is singleminded in his pursuit of the whale, using a mixture of charisma and terror to persuade his crew to join him. As a captain, he is dictatorial but not unfair. At moments he shows a passionate side, caring for the insane Pip and musing on his wife and child back in Nantucket.Like the heroes of Greek or Shakespearean tragedy, Ahab suffers from a single fatal flaw, one he shares with such legendary characters as Oedipus and Faust. His tremendous overconfidence, or hubris, leads him to defy mon sense and believe that, like a god, he can enact his will and remain immune to the forces of nature. He considers Moby Dick the embodiment of evil in the world, and he pursues the white whale because he believes it his inescapable fate to destroy this evil. According to the critic . Abrams, such a tragic hero moves us to pity because, since he is not an evil man, his misfortune is greater than he deserves。 he must destroy to regain what he has lost in his life, his freedom, and his mastery over his world. He sees his encounter with the whale as a defeat. By being maimed by the whale he is no longer the unconquerable, immortal godlike sea captain. He knows that in this pursuit he may die and so may his crew. Ahab has accepted the fact the beast is much more than an animal, but he still persists in his quest for vengeance, this constant struggle between Ahab and the whale indicate man’s