Moby Dick

Shortly after Ahab’s first appearance to the crew, in which he gives his speech and reveals the true nature of their quest, Starbuck makes an interesting comment regarding his fellow shipmates:

“Oh God! To sail with such a heathen crew that have small touch of human mothers in them!  Whelped somewhere by the sharkish sea.  The white whale is their demigorgon!” (150)

Of course, the lack of a feminine presence on the ship is a topic which has already been noted several times.  I found it interesting, however, that here Starbuck makes a direct reference to the lack of a mother’s influence on his crewmates, suggesting that they have been somehow tainted by their voyage and made something other than human.  Perhaps it is not surprising that this character, who has been established as a religious and conservative family man, is so opposed to the violent spirit of masculinity that seems to have overrun the ship following Ahab’s speech.  Nevertheless, it is significant that he states his opinion directly to us and continues to condemn his colleagues so thoroughly.

Ahab, in the depths of his genius and his insanity, is not overly subtle in his attempt to manipulate the crew into following him without question.   He uses the speech not only to imbibe a sense of adventure and thrill of the hunt , but also to strengthen the homosocial bonds between the crew, constantly addressing them as “men” or “boys.”   In the chapter immediately preceding Starbuck’s comment Ahab says to himself (or perhaps the reader), “Twas not so hard a task.  I thought to find one stubborn, at the least; but my one cogged circle fits into all their various wheels, and they revolve” (149).  Even the weary Starbuck will not yet do anything other than quietly mourn for what he believes will prove to be a disastrous turn of events.  If the Pequod is to be interpreted as a nation, it is a nation where the “feminine” values of peace and rational thinking have been thrown to the sea in favor of a group mentality entirely focused on chasing and killing Moby Dick.

Perhaps, to some degree, Melville shares Starbuck’s fear of this dictator who is capable of inspiring fear, awe, and ultimately loyalty in his subjects on the way to a kind of totalitarianism.  In this respect it is not difficult to imagine why some in the 1930s looked back at Moby Dick and thought Melville anticipated this kind of militaristic regime.  One might say that rather than race or religion, the spirit of hypermasculinity has become a critical rallying point for these sailors who completely buy into Ahab’s own agenda.

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