The white whale, Moby Dick is endowed with symbolic meaning. What do you think it symbolizes

教师释疑： To Ahab, the whale is an evil creature or the agent of an evil force that controls the universe. To Ishmael, the whale is an astonishing force, an immense power, which defies rational explanation due to a sense of mystery it carries. It is beautiful, but malignant at the same time. To the reader, it may be regarded as a symbol of nature or an instrument of God