梅爾維爾「白鯨記」的主題研究

A Study on Melville's Moby Dick: Or, The Whale

梅爾維爾（一八一九～一八九一）是世界有名的偉大作家之一，代表作為「莫比敵」(Moby Dick)， 此間文壇以「白鯨記」之名行世。這是一部波瀾壯闊，雄渾偉大的長篇海洋冒險小說。雖然這本小說問世已久，歷經了無數次廣泛的討論與評析，但是這些都無損於本文存在之價值， 因為所謂成功的文學作品，即代表能包容不止一種的解釋， 其偉大超凡之處即在於此。其中所有的象徵意義都是跟著海上冒險的故事而來的。本文之目的在於以全新的嘗試，從心理學、社會學、哲學、歷史背景、道德宗教等角度切入，發掘出冒險故事其他層面的意義以及白鯨莫比敵本身，與整個航行兩者之象徵意義。梅爾維爾在小說裡用「偏執狂」這類心理學名詞來描述亞哈(Ahab)船長。亞哈對於巨鯨真是恨之入骨， 因此筆者用心理分析的方法來解釋應該比較清楚。本論文係以分析法探討「白鯨記」的主題。故事的主幹在於情節。簡單說來，白鯨記的情節包括尋找、追逐、衝突和災難。筆者尤其以文學理論為基礎，嘗試藉助佛洛伊德(Sigmund Freud)以及法國心理分析學家拉康(Jacques Lacan)的心理分析理論闡釋意識形態在社會上的運作，並以心理分析的文學批評來研究作品的作者及作品的內容等。此外，佛洛伊德所說的人格的三種境界也可用來解釋小說裡的基本衝突。人的意識分為三界： 本我(id)，自我(ego)及超我(superego)。在白鯨記中， 亞哈和黑暗力量的關係最密切，屬「本我」；史達巴克(Starbuck)不願意當船長的復仇工具，一再提醒亞哈斐圭特號(Pequod)出海的實用目的，屬「自我」；莫比敵不可思議的力量給亞哈極大的壓力，屬「超我」。亞哈之追逐莫比敵，象徵性地表現出浮現的「本我」與壓迫人的「超我」之殊死戰。史達巴克屈服在「本我」的狂熱衝動之下，終於被解除「自我」應有的調節功能。另從基督教的觀點來看，白鯨記意在譴責亞哈對上帝的叛逆。總之，做為這個冒險故事的讀者，我們首先該確認的是梅爾維爾運用各種文學手法，說了一個動聽的故事。然後我們才能進一步思考故事背後隱藏的意義。

Moby Dick, or the Whale,' is all whale. Leviathan is here in full amplitude. Not one of your museum affairs, but the real, living whale, a bona-fide, warm-blooded creature, ransacking the waters from pole to pole. His enormous bulk, his terribly destructive energies, his habits, his food, are all before us. We are permitted to see the whale as a lover, a husband, and the head of a family. So to speak, we are made guests at his fire-side; we set our mental legs beneath his mahogany, and become members of his interesting social circle. No book in the world brings together so much whale. We have his history, natural and social, living and dead. But Leviathan's natural history, though undoubtedly valuable to science, is but a part of the book. It is in the personal adventures of his captors, their toils, and, alas! not unfrequently their wounds and martyrdom, that our highest interest is excited. This mingling of human adventure with new, startling,' and striking objects and pursuits, constitute one of the chief charms of Mr. Melville's books. His •present work is a drama of intense interest. A whale, 'Moby Dick' － a dim, gigantic, unconquerable, but terribly destructive being, is one of the persons of the drama. We admit a disposition to be critical of this character. 'Moby Dick, or the Whale,' is a 'many-sided' book. Mingled with much curious information respecting whales and whaling there is a fine vein of sermonizing, a good deal of keen satire, much humor, and that too of the finest order, and a story of peculiar interest.