Jan 31 2010
The Pasts of Starbuck and Ahab
Ahab and Starbuck seem polar opposites. Starbuck, pragmatic, sensible, realistic; Ahab, supernatural, transcendent, crazed. While on their beliefs they clash, I would contend that they share the profound link of past experience shaping their lives. It is well known that Ahab lost his leg to Moby Dick, and on his trip back home “then it was, that his torn body and gashed soul bled into one another; and, so interfusing, made him mad” (Signet, 177). That, however, is just explanation and clarification for the reader; Melville opens a can of worms when Ishmael imbeds a secret of Starbuck’s past in a discussion of his character:
“And that hundreds of men had been so killed Starbuck well knew. What doom was his own father’s? Where, in the bottomless deeps, could he find the torn limbs of his brother?” (109).
Ishmael, however, to my mind, does not stay on the topic long enough. Why is Starbuck a whaler? Wouldn’t a truly pragmatic person stay away from whaling? It is clear that Starbuck cannot be a coward, but Ishmael’s blindness to the concept that whaling may not be the greatest occupation precludes him from understanding the depth of the difficulty Starbuck must have had when he decided to whale. Could it be that Starbuck has undertaken whaling, and the pragmatic approach of killing whatever whale they can to avenge his brother and father, to get “even” with whales? Wouldn’t killing Moby Dick be the ultimate revenge?
Perhaps he identifies with Ahab’s struggle beyond human compassion. In his soliloquy, he laments his situation:
“Oh! I plainly see my miserable office, – to obey, rebelling; and worse yet, to hate with a touch of pity! For in his eyes I read some lurid woe would shrivel me up, had I had it” (162).
Some lurid woe that would shrivel him up, had he had it? His father and brother were killed by whales! Surely Starbuck knows the pain of losing what is truly important. That he concedes the extent of pain suffered to Ahab, then, besides giving insight into how truly broken Ahab is by his incident with Moby Dick, could indicate a sympathy to Ahab’s cause from Starbuck.
I’m not sold myself. I made a lot of logic jumps. But for how complicated Ahab is, it is fitting that his foil rivals his complexity. And the search to unmask their complexities may both begin with understanding their past.
One Response to “The Pasts of Starbuck and Ahab”
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Ben, these are EXCELLENT questions. I’ve never really thought of Starbuck as seeking vengeance for the death of his father and brother — but you are right to say that he harbors emotions more complex that mere pragmatism. Keep these questions in mind as we get to know Starbuck better. I, too, was struck by the revelation that he has lost relatives to the sea — all the more reason to combat it with calm? Perhaps; perhaps not.