梅爾維爾《白鯨記》中亞哈的使命感

Ahab’s Sense of Mission in Melville’s Moby-Dick

梅爾維爾所寫的長篇小說《白鯨記》是美國現代的作品。這是一本冒險小說，也是一本關於海洋和捕鯨的小說。其中所有的象徵都是跟著海上冒險的故事而來的。它描寫了大海的險厄、海洋的變化、海洋中的生物、捕鯨的方法及航海的技術等。更栩栩如生地描寫了航海中的人物及不同民族所具有的特殊性格。這些人物編織出一幅多彩多姿的畫面。它自平淡無奇的海洋，一直到追逐白鯨三天的驚險刺激的場面。《白鯨記》不僅在美國文學中稱得上是部鉅著，就是放在世界文學名著裡，也不遜於海明威的《老人與海》。《白鯨記》的價值是在它所內蘊的含義。它內容深藏著哲學的意味和寓言。白鯨象徵宇宙的罪惡，人和罪惡永不妥協並且不斷地衝突，這正表現出一個人要達到成功的道路永遠是崎嶇不平的。亞哈對白鯨恨之入骨，因為亞哈曾經受到白鯨可怕的傷害。白鯨似乎惡意的咬斷亞哈一條腿，而取代亞哈的斷腿的，是無生命的義肢。因此，白鯨加諸於亞哈身上的，是一種去勢的痛苦。全書為亞哈對白鯨的不共戴天之仇所掌握，在這誓不兩立的衝突中，表現出人的堅強的意志，始終鍥而不捨地與宇宙的罪惡──白鯨相博鬥。這又象徵著人類求好、求勝的心理是要靠著信心、恆心、毅力、決心所努力得來的。最後，在亞哈與白鯨決鬥的一刻，亞哈的鋼叉刺中了白鯨的要害，但白鯨也推翻了小船。亞哈跳入海中，攀到鯨背上，和白鯨展開猛戰。亞哈雖死在白鯨的背上，但他的手仍緊握著那深深地戳在魚背裡的鋼叉柄。由上觀之，當我們努力追求目標時，永不放棄是很重要的，不管最後有沒有成功，我們都會學到一些東西，而我們所學到的東西，將會使自己成為一個更好、更有自信的人。而且，如果放棄的話，我們就沒有機會達成目標，但是如果能不斷地嘗試，總有一天，我們一定會有機會成功的。

Ahab is a man with a strong sense of mission; he goes all out to grapple with the problem of evil and the explanation of the universe. Ahab, given heroic, has lost his humanity in his monomaniac pursuit.He has been maliciously scarred but he cannot swerve from his evil determination to kill the whale. In addition, because of his sense of justice and righteousness, he cannot stop in his fight against that apparent malevolence and inscrutability in the universe and the ultimately mysterious natural and supernatural forces. To Ahab, only when the White Whale is destroyed, can the inhumane naturein the universe be eliminated.Since he is a man with strong and firm determination, Ahab can endure what average people cannot. He endures all the pains and sufferings with only one aim in mind—to accomplish a great task—to exorcise evil not only for himself but also for other whalemen. No matter what happens, he never changes his mind, his impregnable dominance, his inviolable dignity, and his anger at Moby-Dick. He is clearly marked by his extraordinary firm and strong determination.It is his courage, his adhering to his duty and goal, his refusing to concede defeat, and his bravely fighting Moby-Dick that constitute his heroism, nobility and greatness.In short, it is important that we do not giveup when working for our goals.Whether we succeed in the end or not, we will learn something, and what we learn will help us to become better, more confident people. If we give up, we have no chance of attaining our goals, but if we keep trying, there is always a chance that we will succeed one day.