herman melville.ppt

Herman Melville (1819 ~ 1891) Life Works Analysis Position Reflection Early life(1819-1831):Herman Melville was born in New York City on August 1,1819. His father Allan imported clothes from France, providing Herman Melville with a comfortable and happy childhood in New York. But his childhood was happy to the age of 12, when his father died in debt. 1832-1838: After father’s death.He dropped school early and tried all kinds of jobs—banking, farming, clerking and teaching. When all this failed to offer him a decent livelihood, he went to sea. Life 1839-1844:Years at sea. He went to Liverpool,England and the South Pacific as a whaling sailor. His experiences and adventures on the sea furnished him with abundant material for his fiction writings, especially his masterpiece Moby Dick. 1847:Married. Melville married Elizabeth Shaw,the daughter of a wealthy judge.He had to work hard to keep his wife in her extravagant style. 1850-1851:Hawthorne and Moby-Dick. Melville met Hawthorne in 1850. Hawthorne was an important peer to Melville. His black vision regarding the evil of human beings had in some way changed Melvilles outlook on life .Without Hawthorne, Moby-Dick is just a book of whaling hunting. With the influence of Hawthorne, Melville rewrote it into a world classic. 1866-1885:Inspector of customs 1891:he died in New York. Major works Typee 《泰比》1846 Omoo 《奥姆》1847 Mardi 《玛迪》1849 Redburn 《雷德伯恩》1849 Moby-Dick《白鲸》1851 Pierre《皮埃尔》1852 Piazza Tales《广场的故事》（小说集）1856 John Marr and Other Sailors《约翰·玛尔和其他水手》（诗集）1888 Billy Budd《水手比利·巴德》1924 Moby-Dick《白鲸》 Analysis of Moby dick Plot Captain Ahab hates Moby Dick, the white devil because he lost a leg to the white whale in a flight, now he can only think of one thing: find Moby Dick and kill him. Many of the other sailors on the ship don’t know about their captain’s plan.Ishmael is a young sailor and this is his first whaling job.He and his new friend ,Queequeg sail with Ahab on th