极端个人主义的幻灭——一个爱默生式英雄的失败

The Failure of an Emersonian Hero——An Analysis of the Death of Ahab in Moby Dick

麦尔维尔在小说《白鲸》中塑造了一位偏执、骄傲并且缺乏全面、客观的世界观的主人公亚哈,他具备爱默生在《论自助》中所倡导的个人主义的很多特点,是个典型的爱默生式的英雄。而亚哈的反抗对象———白鲸则代表着宇宙中一切神秘的邪恶力量。驱使亚哈疯狂地反抗并报复白鲸的部分原因在于人类想要了解未知事物的强烈求知欲望,但更多则在于作为一个极端个人主义者所具有的强烈复仇欲望和偏执症。他的盲目自信与骄傲,加之他与白鲸力量对比的悬殊,最终导致了他的失败。通过这个人物,麦尔维尔向我们警示了极端个人主义的危险,并且强调了人与人之间的合作以及拥有全面均衡的世界观的重要性。

Herman Melville perceives the danger of individualism advocated by Emerson in his Self - Reliance if it is carried out to the extreme. In the novel Moby Dick he expresses his doubts through the failure of the evil revenge of an Emersonian hero - Ahab on the white whale and emphasizes the importance of comradeship and an all - encompassing view of the world. The paper begins with an analysis of Ahab＇ s character in light of Emerson＇ s individualism, followed by an analysis of the rebellion and death of this Emersonian hero, including an analysis of the symbolic meaning of his enemy Moby Dick and the causes of his death. The paper concludes that it was his monomania, his extreme individualism and his biased worldview that killed him.