An Analysis Of "The Sea" In Moby Dick From The Perspective Of Transcendentalism

In the western history, the sea as the womb of human beings is to human beingswhat the sun is to human beings. As to the deep level, without doubt, the sea inliterary works signifies a deep connotative meaning in a specialized social state. MobyDick written by Herman Melville is considered as the representative sea adventurenovel which embraces incisive implications and edifications. Transcendentalism is agroup of ideas in literature and philosophy that develops in the1830s and1840swhich emphasizes the importance of individual inspiration and the over soul.According to the theory, there exists a certain relationship between nature and spirit,and men are encouraged to go back into nature and be influenced by nature in order tobecome spiritually complete.This thesis employs an analysis to study the “sea” in Moby Dick from theperspective of Transcendentalism, trying to reveal that the novel andTranscendentalism theories are closely related. Related to the basic features ofEmerson’s theories of Transcendentalism, the exploration of the “sea” in this thesisgoes on three aspects. First, Melville’s concept of the “sea” adopted in this novel is anexpression of transcendental notion of nature. The image of the “sea” in Moby Dick issymbolic, and it presents different implications in different character’s eyes. Second,Melville’s stress on human spirit reaches a consensus with the Transcendentalists’notions on spirit. Ahab’s spirits reflect through the interaction with the “sea” areviewed as the embodiments of spirit notion of Transcendentalism theories. Third,Transcendentalists place a high value on the relationship between man and nature. Inthe novel Moby Dick, Melville implies three modes of views on man-sea relationshiprepresented by three main characters through their respective interaction with the“sea”, and finally proves that only transcendental mode of view on man-naturerelationship can maintain a harmonious man-nature relationshipTo analyze the “sea” in Moby Dick from the perspective of transcendentalismprovides a new and unique angle to reinterpret this classic work. It not only enables usto get a better understanding of the implied meaning in Moby Dick but also makes thereader realize the artistic uniqueness and its irreplaceable position in Americanliterature history. Moreover, with the help of this thesis, the reader may get atranscendental edification on the relationship between human and nature: they areharmoniously interrelated rather than independent. This edification makes the wholethesis significant.