Moby-Dick And Individual Justice

Moby Dick, a classic work by Herman Melville, a mid-nineteenth century American writer, having mighty content in thought, composed in epic scale, has been rooted in American literature as a great novel displaying the bitter struggle between man and the physical world with far-reaching implications. Since its first publication in1851, it was received with half praise and half blame, for its deep concern about human civilization and gloomy atmosphere of pessimism was above the comprehension ability of a rising optimistic America. It was until1920s, after the westerners awoke from the nightmare of the First World War, that this work was given its due reputation in American literature.The work is filled with Melville’s philosophic speculations about man’s destiny, his suffering and his relationship with the physical world. This thesis, tries to explore its profound content from a philosophic perspective with the Greek philosopher Plato’s theory of Ideas and individual justice. It intends to reveal the importance of individual justice for human beings to survive in the wolfish world through the study of the three elements of soul, namely, the rational principle, the irascible element and the concupiscent element, and their relation in the soul of Ishmael, Ahab and the aggregation of aggressive Americans symbolized by the ship Pequod and corresponding consequences. As suggested by Plato, the rational principle is the ability to know the truth and essence of the world. As the world is formed with Ideas, which represent the universality of a group of things, understanding the relationship between different Ideas rationally helps one get closer to the essence of truth, thus it proves one’s rational ability. The relation of the three elements in a just soul is like this:the concupiscent element and the irascible element work under the manipulation of the rational principle for the benefit of the whole soul. Furthermore, individual justice can help one gain the highest level of happiness. The thesis consists of three chapters. The opening chapter begins with the analysis of the condition of the rational principle in the soul of Ishmael and Ahab and its impact. Ishmael has sound rational ability to analyze the world rationally, viewing the world as a whole, and understand the mutual independence and interassociation between man and man, man and nature, and the interpenetration of the three elements of fate, while Ahab lacks the capability to perceive the amicable relationship between man and man, man and nature and the interrelation of the components of fate. What he can see in other people is their application value, and their relationship is enslaving and enslaved; all he can see in nature is evil, and their relationship is conquering and being conquered. Ishmael’s sound rational ability helps him to reconstruct his masculinity, while the deficient rational principle in Ahab brings him a lonely life and a lonely death.The second chapter examines the irascible element and its relation with the other two elements in the two figures and its impact. In Ishmael’s soul, as the irascible element is under the manipulation of the rational principle to keep guard against the concupiscent element, both his passion and desire is devoted to the pursuing of truth, he is a lover of truth, which transforms him from an orphan alienated from the outer world to a man obtaining a new identity associated with the outer world. And he is rewarded the virtue of wisdom and courage. However, Ahab, in whose soul the irascible element is controlled by the concupiscent element, becomes a lover of fame and gain, which leads him further from the truest happiness, mechanizing him into a sheer machine and promising him nothing but a tragic death. And the virtue of courage is beyond his control.The last one analyzes the concupiscent element and its relation with the rational principle in Ishmael, Ahab, the Pequod, and its impact. In Ishmael’s soul, the concupiscent element is under the control of the rational principle. As a result, he gains the merit of temperance and he is rewarded a balanced mind. On the contrary, Ahab’s desire of dominion manipulates reason and employs it as a tool, so the merit of temperance is beyond his reach and he is punished with a transformation from a man with humanity to a lonely outcast; the ship Pequod, due to its burning desire, meets its devastation as a punishment.With the irascible element and the concupiscent element under the control of the rational principle to work for the welfare of the whole soul, Ishmael obtains individual justice, while Ahab and the Pequod are permeated with individual injustice. With individual justice, Ishmael is rewarded with a survival in the catastrophe. However, being possessors of individual injustice, Ahab and the ship Pequod are punished severely and meet their doom in the end.It reveals that in order to survive in the wolfish world, one needs to keep individual justice, balancing the three elements, improving rational ability and keeping the concupiscent element and the irascible element under the manipulation of the rational principle. This is the path to salvation that Herman Melville and Plato have pointed out jointly.