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Abstract：Moby Dick tells a story about a battle between a whale Moby Dick and a captain Ahab. In this novel， the battle of the strongest and the result of it highlight a theme of discrepancy between nature and human beings and make it more profound to human beings for thinking of such a matter and finding ways to alleviate it.
Key words：Moby Dick ; Herman Melville ; Discrepancy Between Nature and Human Beings
1 Preface
Moby Dick， as the most representative work of Herman Melville， tells us a story about a group of people， under the command of the captain Ahab， whaling in the sea and finally all dying together with the great whale， Moby Dick， except of the narrator， Ishmael. In the novel， Ahab， the captain of the ship， Pequod， cherished a wild vindictiveness against Moby Dick， the king in the sea， who made Ahab lose one leg. From that sense， the whale was a enemy of Ahab. Nevertheless， they shared some similarities in their temperament. Both were noble and respectable and meanwhile frightened others with awe; both were the strongest in their own group they belonged to， one in nature， the other in human society. The weak had to give way to the strong. So， in the sea whales could go wherever they wanted without fear of other creatures’ assailing; while in the ship Captain Ahab could do whatever he liked to without caring other’s opinions.
2 The King in the Sea--- Moby Dick
Moby Dick， like the king in the sea， was a beautiful and noble creature， with snow-white all over his body， which made us think of something purity and solemnity. When swimming in the sea， he behaved so gently and elegantly in his great mightiness， with a milk-way wake of creamy foam behind him， especially in bright day， all spangling with golden gleamings. As the plumed and glittering God， he uprose from sea. His appearing was a scene of spectacle， which shocked any other creatures in nature， even human beings. However， such a peace was not always kept. The Creator bestowed charm together with violence on him. In his anger， being a terrible sea monster with mighty force， he brought disaster to human beings and other creatures in the sea. People in the ship lost their life because of his great strength. So such a beautiful creature with violence， gained both respect and fear from human beings. Without doubt， Moby Dick was the strongest in the sea， in nature， overwhelming other creatures.
3 The Lead in the Ship--- Ahab Ahab， the leader in the ship， Pequod， which was a small society with all kinds of people in it， held the same temperament with Moby. Like a king in the ship， he was noble， firm and full of power， too. Though in his old age， like Pequod， he still enjoyed some mighty nobility. In his glance， there always was an infinity of firmest fortitude， a determinate， unsurrenderable willingness. Whenever his crew met him， they plainly showed the uneasy consciousness of being under a troubled master-eye. The nearer the time his ship met Moby was， the more horrible Ahab became. In the crew’s eye， he was a crazy beast losing his sense and indifferent to any other thing but his foe， Moby Dick. On their way searching Moby Dick， a captain asked for help from him to save his son， Captain Ahab just stood like an anvil， without the least quivering of his own and refused coldly. And also because of his indifference， his crew died miserably in fighting with Moby. From him， human’s beauty and ugly in virtue were seen clearly.
4 The Discrepancy Between Nature and Human Beings
If captain Ahab， the strongest among human beings in the ship， met and fought with Moby Dick， the mightiest in the sea， there are just three consequences： in their battle， human beings win， or the whale wins， or both fail and die together. In this novel the result is the last that crew and Ahab finally ended up their life with desperation and made sea as their tomb， while the whale， after seriously injured， together with those people forever slept in his Eden.
Why not make a change？ Moby Dick， the strongest one in the sea， just wanted to go through a peaceful and free life in the ocean， and never tried to fight with human. The whales， like human， have emotions and hold whale’s morality. The narrator with his companies once witnessed such a harmony scene as in human society that in their trip to the other area， the strong whales would surround the weak ones and protect them from being assailed， and the dam showed love to the cub， which moved those people deeply. However， it is our human beings that often challenge them， just as Ahab did to Moby Dick. As result， a disaster between human beings and creature in nature becomes unavoidable.
If there was no fighting between the whale and Ahab， human beings and nature， those crew could come back to their beloved and Moby Dick could continue enjoying his peaceful life in the ocean. Nonetheless， only if we human beings exist in the world， we have to procure resource from nature and unavoidably bring disaster to other creatures， in turn， we suffer one from nature， too. That is to say， the discrepancy between nature and human beings is forever irreconcilable. In this novel， the battle of the strongest and the result of it highlight such a theme and make it more profound to human beings for thinking of such a matter and finding ways to alleviate it. However， it is believed that if we human are kind to nature， nature will do the same to us and human beings can lead a harmonious life with other creatures in nature.
Bibliography：
[1] Melvill， Herman. Moby-Dick. Penguin， 2001.
[2] 陳爱华，“美国十九世纪主要作家笔下的人与自然”。《山东外语教学》，2004（03）。
Key words：Moby Dick ; Herman Melville ; Discrepancy Between Nature and Human Beings
1 Preface
Moby Dick， as the most representative work of Herman Melville， tells us a story about a group of people， under the command of the captain Ahab， whaling in the sea and finally all dying together with the great whale， Moby Dick， except of the narrator， Ishmael. In the novel， Ahab， the captain of the ship， Pequod， cherished a wild vindictiveness against Moby Dick， the king in the sea， who made Ahab lose one leg. From that sense， the whale was a enemy of Ahab. Nevertheless， they shared some similarities in their temperament. Both were noble and respectable and meanwhile frightened others with awe; both were the strongest in their own group they belonged to， one in nature， the other in human society. The weak had to give way to the strong. So， in the sea whales could go wherever they wanted without fear of other creatures’ assailing; while in the ship Captain Ahab could do whatever he liked to without caring other’s opinions.
2 The King in the Sea--- Moby Dick
Moby Dick， like the king in the sea， was a beautiful and noble creature， with snow-white all over his body， which made us think of something purity and solemnity. When swimming in the sea， he behaved so gently and elegantly in his great mightiness， with a milk-way wake of creamy foam behind him， especially in bright day， all spangling with golden gleamings. As the plumed and glittering God， he uprose from sea. His appearing was a scene of spectacle， which shocked any other creatures in nature， even human beings. However， such a peace was not always kept. The Creator bestowed charm together with violence on him. In his anger， being a terrible sea monster with mighty force， he brought disaster to human beings and other creatures in the sea. People in the ship lost their life because of his great strength. So such a beautiful creature with violence， gained both respect and fear from human beings. Without doubt， Moby Dick was the strongest in the sea， in nature， overwhelming other creatures.
3 The Lead in the Ship--- Ahab Ahab， the leader in the ship， Pequod， which was a small society with all kinds of people in it， held the same temperament with Moby. Like a king in the ship， he was noble， firm and full of power， too. Though in his old age， like Pequod， he still enjoyed some mighty nobility. In his glance， there always was an infinity of firmest fortitude， a determinate， unsurrenderable willingness. Whenever his crew met him， they plainly showed the uneasy consciousness of being under a troubled master-eye. The nearer the time his ship met Moby was， the more horrible Ahab became. In the crew’s eye， he was a crazy beast losing his sense and indifferent to any other thing but his foe， Moby Dick. On their way searching Moby Dick， a captain asked for help from him to save his son， Captain Ahab just stood like an anvil， without the least quivering of his own and refused coldly. And also because of his indifference， his crew died miserably in fighting with Moby. From him， human’s beauty and ugly in virtue were seen clearly.
4 The Discrepancy Between Nature and Human Beings
If captain Ahab， the strongest among human beings in the ship， met and fought with Moby Dick， the mightiest in the sea， there are just three consequences： in their battle， human beings win， or the whale wins， or both fail and die together. In this novel the result is the last that crew and Ahab finally ended up their life with desperation and made sea as their tomb， while the whale， after seriously injured， together with those people forever slept in his Eden.
Why not make a change？ Moby Dick， the strongest one in the sea， just wanted to go through a peaceful and free life in the ocean， and never tried to fight with human. The whales， like human， have emotions and hold whale’s morality. The narrator with his companies once witnessed such a harmony scene as in human society that in their trip to the other area， the strong whales would surround the weak ones and protect them from being assailed， and the dam showed love to the cub， which moved those people deeply. However， it is our human beings that often challenge them， just as Ahab did to Moby Dick. As result， a disaster between human beings and creature in nature becomes unavoidable.
If there was no fighting between the whale and Ahab， human beings and nature， those crew could come back to their beloved and Moby Dick could continue enjoying his peaceful life in the ocean. Nonetheless， only if we human beings exist in the world， we have to procure resource from nature and unavoidably bring disaster to other creatures， in turn， we suffer one from nature， too. That is to say， the discrepancy between nature and human beings is forever irreconcilable. In this novel， the battle of the strongest and the result of it highlight such a theme and make it more profound to human beings for thinking of such a matter and finding ways to alleviate it. However， it is believed that if we human are kind to nature， nature will do the same to us and human beings can lead a harmonious life with other creatures in nature.
Bibliography：
[1] Melvill， Herman. Moby-Dick. Penguin， 2001.
[2] 陳爱华，“美国十九世纪主要作家笔下的人与自然”。《山东外语教学》，2004（03）。