Moby Dick

After Monday’s class, I decided to revisit the chapter entitled “Jonah Historically Regarded.”  In this chapter, Melville dives right into a specific discrepancy between science and religion with the story of Jonah.  The character introduced as Sag-Harbor uses his knowledge of whales to cast doubt on Jonah’s sojourn inside of one.  For each of his doubts, however, Ishmael/Melville presents an opposing interpretation that accounts for the scientific fact.  A possible interpretation even goes so far as to suggest that the whale was actually a ship simply named “The Whale.”

Melville uses this chapter to clearly set out the divide between science and religion.  Sag-Harbor is first inspired to question the Jonah story because “He had one of those quaint old fashioned Bibles, embellished with curious, un-scientific plates” (353).  This immediately places science and the Bible in opposition.  Sag-Harbor continues to bring up ways in which science and geography would prevent the Jonah story from occurring as it does in the Bible.  The responses of biblical exegesis are very liberal, as exemplified in the above example of Jonah’s whale being a boat.

The fact that Melville even presents these alternatives shows that he is open to interpretation of religion.  He insists that the Jonah story is true, but he allows that there are discrepancies that need to be accounted for, such as the location of Nineveh regarding its proximity to deep water.

While Melville’s continuous emphasis on science throughout this novel demonstrates his interest, this chapter shows that he has also allowed science to enter into a dialogue with his religious belief.  I think this dialogue has an important bearing on what makes this book so interesting, as it permits Melville to better explore the natural and biblical world.

This novel contains many, many references to the Bible and to religious figures, stories, morals, parables. It is often said that Melville wrote this novel with a Bible near his elbow. So, this group’s posts will consider all manner of religious allusion — notice how and when and why Melville refers to a biblical story, or a biblical figure, and do a little web research to find out who the figure is or where the allusion comes from (if you can’t figure it out or don’t know it). Also, posts can focus on moments where religious imagery or religious tones are invoked, without clear or specific references to the Bible.