Research status 1. The research situation of Moby Dick abroad is called "unparalleled ocean epic" by Lawrence. Melville's Moby Dick is a bright pearl in the history of American literature. Moby Dick was published in June 185 1, but it did not attract enough attention after publication. Only when the author was born100th anniversary and his first biography 192 1 was published, it was widely concerned and highly praised by the society, and was regarded as a monument of English language and literature and an American epic. However, in the late 20th century, there were some changes in the academic evaluation of Moby Dick. Lawrence bouillere, a famous contemporary American eco-literary critic, pointed out in his book Environments Imagination that Moby Dick is a novel that shows human atrocities against the animal kingdom more prominently than any contemporary works. The New York Times once said that one of the ironies in our literature is that Moby Dick, the greatest novel in America, describes a profession and lifestyle that has been completely eliminated in America. Indeed, from the prosperous period of the industrial revolution in the middle of19th century when this book was written to the new period of "ecological civilization" after the industrial revolution, the evaluation of this book will inevitably change. 1992, Toni Morrison, a famous African-American woman writer, once again discussed the racial hierarchy in her book Games in the Dark: White People and American Literary Imagination. The concepts of racial exclusion, racial vulnerability and racial availability are analyzed. She believes that in different periods, the mainstream white society in North America and the United States adopted different methods to maintain the authority of white people in society. In Moby Dick and Calvinism 1977, Walter Herbert discussed the important relationship between Calvinism and theological standpoint. The former mainly emphasizes the religious thought of New England in the17th century, while the latter tells more about the religious thought and language in Melville's novels. Puritanism in New England and Ahab's romantic transcendental thought both originated from Plato's idealism. Herbert expounds the close relationship between them in his book. Ahab's thoughts on the relationship between God and mankind, and the words he used to incite and control the crew on the Pecoud are also consistent with Calvinism. Some scholars commented that Father Mei Feng's sermon before Ishmael's voyage showed that Melville knew this language form very well, and knew that it would continue to inspire congregational members and whalers in the19th century. In the "On the Deck" chapter of the novel, Ahab uses this puritan language power to psychologically inspire and unite the crew and Moby Dick, the symbol of his * * * fight against "evil". There are many articles attacking Mobidick, published in 185 1. At that time, the literary world first attacked the book and accused it of being a "hodgepodge of knowledge". At the same time, the British Newsweek criticized the style of this book as "as crazy as mating rabbits". As Richard Broadhead, a professor at Yale University, said, "Moby Dick's reputation in literary criticism is complicated, but its situation among ordinary readers is worse than the comments show." He also said: "After 60 years of publication, this book seems to be a non-existent book, because no one discusses it and no one reads it." The social power and mystery symbolized by "white" in the works have penetrated into every aspect of American life. Peggy McIntosh, an American scholar, believes that "white people" are the master key to enter the mainstream American society. The privilege of white people is like an invisible canvas bag, which has no weight but special articles, including deposits, tools, maps, guide maps, password books, passports, visas, clothes, compasses, first-aid equipment and blank checks. It excludes other races from the mainstream American society and provides a successful umbrella for white people. 2. A summary of Moby Dick's research in China in recent ten years. In recent years, the enthusiasm for Moby Dick has prompted many scholars to devote themselves to the study of Moby Dick in many aspects, and the study of its symbolic significance has also lasted for a long time. The symbolic meaning of Moby Dick has been excavated with multiple meanings, but as far as the current situation is concerned, the symbolic meaning contained in it still needs to be continuously explored. Nowadays, scholars have conducted extensive research on Moby Dick's symbolic meaning. With the deepening of the research, some novel ideas have emerged, which will inject new vitality into the study of Moby Dick's symbolic meaning. Chen Qiuhong's cultural interpretation of Moby Dick's symbolic meaning (Foreign Literature Studies No.2, 1997) holds that Moby Dick is nature itself and human beings will treat nature well. On the contrary, if human beings destroy nature, they will naturally retaliate against human beings. Therefore, when Ahab is desperate to kill the beluga whale, the beluga whale will also fight back the crew crazily, which is nature's punishment for human beings. From the social and political point of view, Moby Dick represents the capitalist system itself, because we can see the author's fear and panic about the capitalist system and the powerful productive forces of capitalist society. From the perspective of good and evil, Moby Dick is the embodiment of evil, the carrier of evil, and the moral exploration of good and evil in nature. Just like Mephisto fellers in Goethe's Faust, it is a fusion of evil and good. Xiao Yi's Epic Beyond Romanticism —— On Moby Dick's Modernity (Journal of Sichuan International Studies University, September 2004, Volume 20, No.5) starts from the material selection and etymology of this novel. He thinks Moby Dick is a combination of all opposites of good and evil in the universe, which symbolizes the mystery of life, the objective reality of human existence and the fate and future of mankind. At the same time, he also found that many studies had nothing to do with the social environment at that time, that is, from the position of whale meat, whale oil and whale brain in people's social life in extremely poor society, because whales are of great significance to the national economy and people's livelihood, people are taking great risks in whaling. In Du Yachen's Adventure at Sea —— An Interpretation of Dick and Xiang's Search at Sea: Dick and Western Civilization, he thinks that Dick symbolizes the pursuit of truth. Western civilization has been in a dilemma. Westerners have a thirst for knowledge since ancient Greece. Moby Dick's pursuit is the pursuit of the meaning of life, while the angry whale symbolizes the meaning of life. Liu Jie's On Symbolism in Mobidick (Journal of Social Sciences of Jiamusi University, March 2005, Volume 23, No.2) holds that white is a symbol of purity and innocence, representing the mystery of the universe. The tragic enlightenment of Rong He's life —— On the symbol of death in Moby Dick studied the tragic life of Captain Ahab. First of all, Ahab's name comes from the Bible. Ahab was the seventh king of Israel in the 9th century BC recorded in the Old Testament. He was killed while fighting another king. Therefore, the name Ahab itself implies the tragedy of the whaling ship "Pequod". It can be seen that this name is tragic, symbolizing that Ahab is a malicious, vengeful and heinous person. Zeng's Melville and the Sea (Oriental Forum,1No.4, 999) holds that the mainland and the sea are completely divided into two opposing worlds, which have obvious symbolic meanings of mutual opposition: land symbolizes leisure, and the sea symbolizes disaster and unpredictability; The land represents self-sufficiency, and the sea represents adventure and knowledge. Ahab and his crew went to the sea to explore and study.

Hope to adopt. Thank you.