Moby Dick

After viewing the  film The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin for a religion class, I started wondering about the role of organized religion in Melville’s novel, Moby Dick.  My result: the realization that Captain Ahab, as captain of the vessel called the Pequod, is the shepherd of his crew.  Ahab is the priest and father of a nautical parish, a lonely church set on the sea.

Why make this analogy, you ask?  It is simple.  Melville was a religions man, raised in a family of devout Calvinists, in a time when possession and demonic powers were still feared to some extent, no matter how small.   It was key to Calvinists that one not fall from the path of righteousness, and this path was beset on all sides by Satan and his minions. Yet Ahab, as the priest and leader of his men is a failure.  He has fallen from the path.  He is the perfect example of a spiritual leader who has failed and follows a path of darkness.

The first step in Ahab’s fall was his worship of a false idol.  Ahab turns away from God and begins to worship the White Whale.  And in this context, where the sea is the cruel unforgiving, dark region of the earth, they are passing through hell to find his “god.”  He leads goes astray, taking his flock, and this being the case, he dooms them all to hell and a watery grave.  They meet a cruel fate for turning away from goodness.  Even at the beginning of the novel, the right path is shown: in the church, in the sermon of the preacher, Jonah’s tale is described, and this should warn them that hell is found in the watery deep.

Throughout the book this is a fascinating thread to follow.  Ahab repeatedly defies the Christian God and, as the leader of his crew, he takes them with him.  He is truly a failed shepherd that has led his flock into the mouth of the beast.

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

In chapters 36 through 40, Melville inserts a Shakespearen mini-play into his novel using literary devices such as poetic rhythms & images, soliloquies, and stage direction that help to illustrate the dramatic and tragic elements of Moby Dick. Through the use of soliloquies, Melville also communicates to the reader (without relying on the narrator) the true feelings and reflections of Ahab, Starbuck, and Stubbs.

Much like Shakespeare’s Hamlet, who is driven to madness by his obsession of exacting revenge on his uncle Claudius, Ahab, admittedly, has grown mad with his fixation on killing Moby Dick. In his soliloquy, Ahab proclaims,

What I’ve dared, I’ve willed; and what I’ve willed, I’ll do! They think me mad—Starbuck does; but I’m demoniac, I am madness maddened! That wild madness that’s only calm to comprehend itself! The prophecy was that I should be dismembered; and—Aye! I lost this leg. I now prophesy that I will dismember my dismemberer (Melville 183).

Ahab’s reflections on Moby Dick and his “demoniac” attitude demonstrate that Ahab’s quest for vengeance on the whale has completely consumed him, and, as he acknowledges, has driven him quite mad. Melville’s juxtaposition of Ahab’s madness and his acknowledgement of this madness is very curious. You might ask, ‘how crazy can a person be who is aware of their madness?’ As Ahab says, “that wild madness that’s only calm to comprehend itself!”, implying that Ahab can set aside his craziness for an instant, only to recognize it; apart from that self-awareness, this madness has consumed every other aspect of his life. This passage illustrates Ahab as a flawed protagonist because he is fully aware of his madness, but he is willing to put others at risk to achieve his goal of “dismember[ing] his dismemberer.”

Starbuck’s soliloquy also plays an important role in these chapters. The first mate comments to himself:

My soul is more than matched; she’s overmanned; and by a madman! Insufferable sting, that sanity should ground arms on such a field! But he drilled deep down, and blasted all my reason out of me! I think I see his impious end; but feel that I must help him to it (Melville 184).

Despite Starbuck’s recognition of Ahab as a “madmen”, he is unable to stand up and combat his captain; he even fells compelled to help Ahab with his mission, perhaps because he prophesizes that their quest for Moby Dick will lead Ahab to an “impious end.” With Starbuck’s soliloquy, Melville foreshadows a tragic end for Ahab and the rest of the Pequod.

“Call me Ishmael” (1).

From the very moment the reader is introduced to Ishmael, the narrator of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, it is evident that he is no ordinary man-turned-sailor. His request that the reader address him as “Ishmael”  forces the reader to consider why he asks to be called this unique name of biblical fame. Perhaps within the world of Moby Dick it is a name and nothing more, but the recurring references to religion and the Bible within the text suggest that many of the character names — Ishmael, Ahab, and Elijah, to name a few — are chosen with a purpose. By investigating the origin and background of these names and their original owners, one can attempt to understand why Melville specifically chose these names as a connection to the references of the Bible and religion (in general) throughout the novel.

The choice of the name”Ishmael” for the narrator of the story is of particular interest when one considers the biblical character. According to the Old Testament, Ishmael was the son of Abraham, who is considered the father of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths, and Hagar, his servant. Ishmael was conceived because Abraham’s wife Sarah was deemed too old to have a child. Alas, she did become pregnant with Isaac and, out of jealousy, she banished Hagar and Ishmael. As they departed an angel of God comforted them with the news that Ishmael would lead a great nation. Before he was born, however, it was revealed to Hagar that Ishmael would be a “wild donkey of a man” who would constantly be struggling with others. Thus far in the novel, Ishmael remains somewhat of an enigma but does not appear to be in any struggle with human beings. On the contrary, any struggle seems to lie within himself; for example, he notes that he goes to sea whenever he is close to committing suicide. It is hard to say whether or not the character Ishmael will completely adopt the characteristics of his Bible counterpart. What is clear, however, is Ishmael’s different religious attitudes and thoughts on worship; this will be discussed in another blog post, as I believe it is very important in the novel thus far.

Though the reader has not been introduced to Captain Ahab at this point in the novel, perhaps his biblical name will offer some insight as to what he will be like as a character. In the Bible, Ahab ruled the nation of Israel and was regarded as the most evil and wicked of its kings. King Ahab worshipped the “pagan” gods of his wife, Jezebel, which was viewed as completely wrong in the eyes of the Israelites. Perhaps King Ahab was arrogant and believed he could defy the God of Israel by worshipping other false gods. It will be interesting to see if the character Ahab will also possess this same hubris; time (and extensive reading) will tell.

Chapter 19 of Moby Dick, ironically titled “The Prophet,” concerns an encounter Ishmael and fellow sailor Queequeg have with a mysterious stranger who calls himself Elijah. Elijah warns them about Captain Ahab, hinting that their journey will not end well. In the Bible, Elijah was a prophet of God whose second coming was to be a harbinger of God’s wrath. Melville’s use of the name “Elijah” is very fitting for the character as he does warn Ishmael and Queequeg against sailing with Ahab. Whether his hints of doom for the whaling ship Pequod are true or not is yet to be determined.

Thus far in the novel, it is more than clear that Melville is using biblical names with a purpose in mind. So far, Elijah seems to match the role of “prophet.” Ishmael seems to have some characteristics of his Bible counterpart but thus far he doesn’t seem to completely match up with the Bible’s Ishmael. As for Captain Ahab, little can be determined at this point as he hasn’t been “technically” introduced yet. This connection between the Bible and characters’ names is only a small part of the overall importance of religion within the novel. In my next blog post I will explore Ishmael’s relationship and struggle with religion.