Moby Dick

The Symphony is considered by all those we have studied as a major chapter in Moby Dick, as it begins the end of the novel, the crescendo to the final movement of the piece, where finally things have come together. It occurs immediately prior to the chase’s start, acting as a sort of calm before the storm. And what I love most about this chapter is how, like a well constructed symphony, the elements of the plot are coming together here, working like the various instruments and movements, to create a final push that ties it all together.
This chapter opens with a very interesting description of the sea and the sky, in contrast and similarity. Ishmael notes how “they were hardly separable” but for the sexing that he has applied to them. To him, the sky is a feminine force and the sea a masculine, which is sensible for a sailor (if you are keeping with traditional gender stereotypes); the sky represents an array of nurturing elements, acting as a sort of mother to the men, while the sea, instead of caring for them challenges and defies them. In this context, air is the giver of life, while water is the taker of it. I may be writing with prior knowledge of what is coming, but the foreshadowing should give any reader enough evidence that this idea is clear. Water, which is often used as a symbol of life and rebirth cannot be used as such here for it can neither quench your thirst nor wash away sin. This water is the destroyer of men. Contrariwise, the sky is air, which brings life to the sailors. As long as they have the sky, they shall not drown and they shall still have wind enough to bring them home.
Yet, like Ahab’s eventual description of Starbuck and Stubb (in The Chase – the First Day), as foils of each other, simple reversals of the same humankind, the sky and the sea are at their base the same: they blend together on the horizon, and life and death are joined, two faces to the same coin.
This is where my reading took a turn for the religious, for I began to see the comparison to the two parts of the Bible, the Old and the New Testaments. As a avid theologian, Melville would have been aware of the key differences between the Old and New Testament Gods. In the Old Testament, God is vengeful, harsh and unforgiving, smiting those who do not obey his will. A perfect example is the occurrences of Sodom and Gomorra, where due to their living in sin, entire cities are destroyed by the Lord. Lot’s wife is turned to a pillar of salt simply for turning back after being told not to do so. Job suffers through every possible degradation and torture at the hands of his God simply so that God might prove his follower’s faith. In this part of the Bible, the Hebrew Scriptures, God is what is traditionally considered masculine. He encourages holy war (holding the sun in the sky so that Jericho might fall at the hands of his followers) and even physically manifests to wrestle Jacob. He is the definition of the un-nurturing God, who is defined by “manly” qualities.
In the New Testament, God shifts drastically to a feminine side, embracing his children through Jesus Christ. Jesus is a nurturing figure who demands loyalty from his followers not through blood and sacrifice but through love and brotherhood. Jesus is often interpreted as a feminine character, which is sensible. He inspires love, caring and discourages any bloodshed or violence. He is a giver of life, a forgiving God, who truly wants to embrace mankind. Charity and love are the new principals.
So how do these connect? They are two sides of the same coin as well. The Testaments are two parts of the same bible, and the God within them has not changed; God is constant, but his presence changes between the two. It is impossible in Christianity to worship two gods, so one must find the consistency between these two apparently different deities and worship accordingly. Likewise, as one must understand the power of life and death, and how they are inextricably linked. And a sailor must see that the ocean and the sky are connected, even though one is terrible and the other life-giving.