@article{oai:nagoya.repo.nii.ac.jp:00027923,
 author = {Saiki, Ikuno},
 journal = {IVY},
 month = {Oct},
 note = {This paper aims to examine the function of plot and Melville-Ishmael's view of representation in Moby-Dick. Moby-Dick contains a story which has a beginning, middle and end ; it is the story about the Pequod's pursuit of the white whale under the command of Captain Ahab. Ahab forces all the crew of the Pequod to chase Moby Dick by defining the whale as "the inscrutable malice." The story, therefore, seems to be moved by Ahab's subjectivity. But it soon becomes evident that he is nothing but a function of the prearranged plot. The direction of the story is not determined by Ahab's strong will, but it is constructed according to the established plot. Ahab's story itself is a story about a story, that is, a narrative which represents exaggeratedly the very characteristics of a story. A story has a plot ; a sequence of events arranged in a chronological and causal order. Ahab embodies temporality and causality. He carries out the plot's orders faithfully : He intently rushes towards the end of the story and insists that each object must have the sole meaning. It is Ishmael, the narrator, who can create the plot. But he pretends to be a passive observer and covers up the fact that he himself is the story-maker. Ishmael places the authority of narrator on Ahab : Ahab is compelled to fix the meaning of all things. Ishmael makes Ahab play the role of authoritative person whose attempts go wrong at last. And Ishmael even denies the conventions of story : He interrupts the linear progress of the plot by putting the irrelevant elements into the story, presents various interpretations of one thing without deciding which of them is correct, and reveals that his language cannot fully represent the reality.<br/>What makes Ishmael negative is the encounter with Moby Dick. He is incapable of representing the white whale. Moby Dick would never be articulate : It indicates the absence of the signified. There is a danger that Ishmael might be thrown into silence when he confronts the inexplicable whale. But he overcomes the crisis by telling a story about the difficulties of telling a story. Thus Ahab's story is indispensable to Ishmael, and vice versa : While the narrative of Ahab and Moby Dick keeps Ishmael from giving up to tell, Ishmael's distrust of language shows the essence of representation that words never represent objects as they are., This is the expanded and revised version of the paper presenter at the 47th General Meeting of the Chubu branch of the English Literary Society of Japan on October 7, 1995.},
 pages = {93--114},
 title = {Plot, Representation, and Moby-Dick},
 volume = {29},
 year = {1996}
}