Mar 02 2010
Ahab’s bravery?
Melville puts Ahab in an interesting situation. He portrays the story with elements of an epic poem and casts Ahab as the hero. Homer and Ahab may both be plagued by hubris, but in the Odyssey for instance, Homer mainly wants to get home. Ahab, on the other hand, is completely obsessed with a dangerous errand – the destruction of his arch-rival Moby Dick. Melville foreshadows many times the dangers inherent in such a goal and with each day of the chase, the reader discovers more and more the futility of Ahab’s actions. The white whale toys with the Pequod’s crew while Ahab rallies support, effectively condemns his shipmates, and attacks with incredible fervor and “bravery.”
But is Ahab actually brave? Bravery definitely involves an element of foolhardiness, which Ahab has, but it should also involve agency. No one is denying Ahab’s intelligence and command but his obsession leads me to believe his actions are out of his control, at least on a subconscious level. Ahab admits he’s “fates lieutenant” and uses the word “brave” to inspire his shipmates in the following passage. He probably felt brave himself as well at the time, but I wonder if his emotion may have been misguided:
“I am the Fates’ lieutenant; I act under orders. Look thou, underling! That thou obeyest mine. – Stand round me, men… So with Moby Dick – two days he’s floated – to-morrow will be the third. Aye, men, he’ll rise once more, – but only to spout his last! D’ye feel brave men, brave?” (497)
He has nothing to lose by fighting Moby Dick even with the presence of all these bad omens and ominous signs. Anything less than his actions, which were essentially suicide, would have appeared downright cowardly! Melville could be conveying a message about illusory bravery. Possibly that our typical heroes may be less brave than they seem. Ishmael, the only crew member who survives, is not exactly the most brave or macho of the group. I doubt this particular interpretation however because it’s not Ahab’s fault – he never received the chance to be truly brave because he never really had something to lose. In reality, this is just a sad story. An obsessed man with too much power went too far and realized A LOT of collateral damage. Shame.
Melville, Herman. Moby Dick. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2008
3 Responses to “Ahab’s bravery?”
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I agree that what drives Ahab is not exactly bravery. Bravery, I think, is articulated by Ishmael when he first describes Starbuck-someone who knows when and how to pick a fight:
“‘I will have no man in my boat,’ said Starbuck, ‘who is not afraid of a whale.’ By this, he seemed to mean, not only that the most reliable and useful courage was that which arises from the fair estimation of the encountered peril, but that an utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward.” (Melville 125).
Bravery and courage are differentiated here. Someone can have courage but not be brave, because bravery brings to mind the idea of a hero, and a hero is not reckless, not someone who puts others in danger. This is why I agree that Ahab is not brave, regardless of his fearlessness. If he had been, he would have faced his OWN desires down and taken the men home, as per Starbuck’s request. Because he doesn’t, he is merely caving into his own desires.
…or are they his own? As Ahab himself says,
“What is it, what nameless, inscrutable, unearthly thing is it; what cozening, hidden lord and master, and cruel, remorseless emperor commands me; that against all natural lovings and longings, I so keep pushing, and crowding, and jamming myself on all the time; recklessly making me ready to do what in my own proper, natural heart, I durst not so much as dare? Is Ahab, Ahab? Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm?” (592)
So perhaps Ahab is being pulled by God, or mayhap by his own fate, or whale-line, as Ishmael puts it in chapter 60 (“The Line”). Perhaps his “line” and God intertwine and manifest themselves in Ahab’s hubris and careless lack of bravery. Either way, I would say he is more of a courageous coward than a brave man.
I agree with the last line of your post most of all, I mean this obsession robbed so many families of fathers, brothers, and sons. I think this is in part definitely a cautionary tale of the dangers of obsession, anger, and how far you will go, and how much you will lose for it. To some of his men he may have seemed heroic and brave, but I don’t think obsession is about bravery, it’s an all consuming and stupid thing that destroys lives everywhere to this day. If only he could point his obsession to whittling, or being with his family, that would have been a much happier story to me.
Isn’t there something tragic about the whole thing? All this talk about fate reminds of the Illiad. Achilles obeys the Gods and gives in to destiny (it’s not like you really have a choice) as well. Although Achilles knows that he will die if he chooses to go to war, he does it anyway. Could we think of Ahab as a tragic hero?