In the course of adventure, the captain Ahab is determined to kill the Moby Dick at the risk of sacrificing the lives of all crews。 And Ismael plays a role of observer and participant in this adventure。 As an observer, he depicts vividly the physical and psychological descriptions of most figures of the whole voyage。 Before the death of all members on the boat, he indicates the disastrous ending many times, which benefits from his meticulous observation。 As a participator, he takes part in the adventure of hunting whale entirely and experiences a journey of spiritual exploration。 

When Moby Dick first appeared in 1851, it was neglected by American and even was criticized rigorously。 Until 1920s, it started to receive much attention。 The famous American romantic writer Hawthorne thinks highly of Moby Dick。 He says that Moby Dick is a wondrous work。 Many critics say Moby-dick is imagination of "America's most brilliant expression", and this book is also thought "part is drama, part is an adventure story, part is the philosophical discussion, part is a scientific research, and part is the epic"。 Melville expresses many his ecological ideas in Moby Dick。 Besides, Moby Dick is loved and appreciated by Chinese readers, and many scholars are interested in studying it。 

Jack London gains worldwide celebrity for he is one of the first fictionist。 He finished The Sea Wolf in 1904, which is a psychological adventure novel。 Superficially, the subject of this fiction is seal-hunting, but in a deeper sense, it is a fiction talking about hunting man。 

At the beginning of the story, the narrator Van Weyden is rescued by Wolf Larsen who is a captain of a seal-hunting schooner named The Ghost。 In the end, The Ghost eventually crashes on the island, and only Maud Brewster and Van Weyden are rescued by an American revenue cutter。 Similar to Ismael, Van Weyden has the same roles in the story。 He is both a observer and participant。 He is compelled to become one of the members of The Ghost and during the voyage, he scrupulously watches every detail of the crews and saves his own and his lover’s life relying on the power provided by his lover at last。

The “Wolf” is not only the name of the captain Larsen, and it is also synonymous with superman。 The author takes the reader into the unconstrained circumstance, experiencing a callous life and perceiving the dark side of human nature of ferocity。 The novel Sea Wolf reveals the disadvantages of capitalism, and shows a celebration of perseverance of the labor and expresses sympathy for the hardship of life。 

Totally different from Moby Dick, Sea wolf drew much attention when it came out。 It is reported that its first printing of forty thousand copies was immediately sold out。 Moreover, and it has been adapted into films frequently。 And it is universally recognized as one of the best Sea Novels。 

1。2 Previous studies and literary review 

Plenty of researchers at home and abroad study them separately from many perspectives。

For Moby Dick, the study themes can be roughly pided into four types。 The first type is the theme of revenge such as The spirit above the dust: a study of Herman Melville。 Mason feels Moby Dick embodies “a significant reflection of the profoundest human preoccupations” (1953)。 Although he does not directly point out revenge, readers can perceive the implied meaning of the spirit in his paper。 The second type focuses on the beauty of ocean and whale from the aspect of aesthetics。 Eye To Eye Painting White Whale: Moby Dick I published in 2003 by Callahan, Aileen is an obvious example。 Aileen as a painter finds the beauty of the white whale and nature in Moby Dick。 She is not only attracted by the whale but also the writing skills of Melville。 Take the article Calvinism and Cosmic Evil in "Moby-Dick" as an example of the third type which is discussed from Biblical perspective。 Herbert thinks “Melville employs theological materials which complicate and deepen his portrayal of cosmic evil in the conflict of Ahab and the whale” and reveals Melville’s anti-Calvinist tradition by elaborating Ahab's view (1969)。 Last and the most popular type is Ecocriticism。 Schultz illustrates Melville’s ecological attitudes in Melville’s Environmental Vision in Moby-Dick。 Schultz thinks that man need to rebuild the harmonious relationship between man and environment。 She concludes that Ahab regards Moby Dick as a symbol of Evil while Ismael regards it as God。 And their two opposite attitudes towards whale exactly represent different attitudes towards Nature (2000)。 论文网