Artifact 2: Moby Dick Analytical Essay
In Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick, a man named Ahab, captain of the Pequod, seeks vengefully after a whale called Moby Dick, who took his leg on a previous whaling voyage. Captain Ahab finds men of all creeds, ethnicities, and abilities who are skilled in the business, hoping to have the best crewmembers for the journey. Despite many of the literal themes within the book such as fate, free will, and seeking after the unknown, the novel also has many underlying meanings. There are many indirect allusions to the Bible that bring depth and complexity to the novel as a whole. These references to the Bible illuminate the characters while emphasizing their individual relationships and connections with God. As the characters all encounter various challenges and toils prior to and throughout their expedition, it is clear that they are each seeking after a purpose and a deeper meaning for their lives. Although each of the characters obtain their own religious views and practices, it is clear that in the end, only Ishmael, the protagonist within the story finds the true God. Yet, this is only able to happen with the help and example of the other crewmen, such as Captain Ahab, Perth, and Queequeg—men who ultimately fall short of a relationship with God.
Captain Ahab is introduced in the novel as a man whose purpose in life is to seek retribution with the whale that took his leg. This is a pathetic purpose filled with bitterness and one that is fueled by animosity. It is a selfish goal and does not influence others in a positive way. Ahab’s shallow desires do not bring him a sense of peace through justice being served, but rather disaster and destruction upon not only himself, but also his faithful crewmembers. At one point in the novel on page 470 Ahab says, “thou high and mighty Pilot! Thou telest me truly where I am—but canst thou cast the least hint where I shall be? […} Where is Moby Dick?” In this passage, Ahab questions God while desperately asking Him for the location of Moby Dick. Ahab is lost, confused, and acknowledges that only a being higher than himself can help him find his way. Yet when Ahab does not receive an immediate response, he states, “no longer will I guide my earthly way by thee […] the level ship’s compass shall conduct me, and show me my place in the sea, (471). Ahab pouts, curses, and forsakes God. His own flesh and pride become the driving forces throughout his journey. Never does God leave Ahab, but instead Ahab decides that he does not want God’s help. Again, later in the novel Ahab’s heart reaches a level of desperation and vulnerability when he says, “Why this strife of the chase? Why weary […] how the richer or better is Ahab now? […] how then can this one small heart beat; unless God does that beating, and not I, (507-508). Ahab begins to see the foolishness of his journey and the emptiness of his purpose. He realizes that chasing the whale is not bettering him in any way and is not bringing him fulfillment. Ahab also sees that he is only a mortal man and that God is the higher power reigning within his life. Despite these revelations, Ahab’s pride and selfish-ambition become his god and lead him to stop further seeking the true God. On page 534 it describes Ahab’s ultimate decision when he says,” Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.” Ahab’s decision greatly resembles Pharaoh’s heart within the Bible. Despite Moses’ many warnings and pleas to free his people, Pharaoh’s stubborn refusal leads to not only his own destruction but also many lost lives around him.
Queequeg, Ishmael’s savage friend is yet another character with a meaningless life. Queequeg boards the ship because it is the only life that he knows. After leaving his native land, whaling becomes his life and his purpose. Aside from whaling, Queequeg devotes much of his time worshipping a small black wooden idol, that he considers his god. Queequeg is enwrapped in performing all of the religious ceremonies and rituals surrounding his god. Though Queequeg is a savage, Ishmael states, “through all his unearthly tattooings, I thought I saw the traces of a simple honest heart,” (65). Queequeg countless times expresses his nobility of heart throughout the novel as he selflessly saves lives and consistently puts others before himself. Despite these strengths, Ishmael finds a few of Queequeg’s customs to be a little farfetched and eventually confronts him. Yet after the talk Ishmael states, “he no doubt thought he knew a good deal more about the true religion than I did, “(99). Through this quote, Queequeg portrays his loyalty to his god and how he is unwilling to allow anyone to persuade him otherwise. He does not desire to have a relationship with any other god and seems content with his own deity. Later on in the novel, when Queequeg begins to die of a fever, he does not pray to his god for help, but instead prepares himself for death. It is as if he knows that his god cannot possibly help him to restore his health. With this mindset, Queequeg wills himself back to health and states, “that if a man made up his mind to live, mere sickness could not kill him, “(455). From this quote, it is clear that Queequeg’s true god is himself, because he feels that he can dictate whether he lives or dies. This is an unsatisfying life because his only motivation for staying alive is unsettled business on land. Outside of this, he has no real purpose for the rest of his life because his god is static and powerless. Similar to Queequeg, the Israelites in the Bible continuously created idols and gods while simultaneously turning their hearts away from the true God.
Perth, the ships blacksmith is another miserable character searching for a purpose within his life. Perth goes to sea because he lost everything he had on land. He loses his wife, children, and home as a result of his drinking and is left with an empty, damaged heart. On page 411, it describes Perth’s experience by stating:
Death seems the only desirable sequel for a career like this […] Come thither, brokenhearted; here is another life without the guilt of intermediate death[…] bury thyself in a life which, to your equally abhorred and abhorring, landed world, is more oblivious than death.
This is Perth’s very reason for boarding the Pequod instead of committing suicide. In going seafaring, he is able to escape the life he left behind on land. Although his life on the ship is not any more fulfilling than his previous life, his life at sea, nonetheless becomes his god. Perth is clearly a lazy man, because instead of crying out and attempting to find comfort and redemption through god, he decides to take the easy ways out—committing suicide and going to sea. Perth, like Judas within the Bible, ruins his life by one sinful act. Instead of redeeming himself through God and dealing with his heart, he decides to commit suicide because he allows the guilt to take control.
Ishmael’s life is also once meaningless. He states, “Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth […] then I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball, “(21). Like Perth, Ishmael’s life on land has a very short-lived span of happiness. Ishmael’s contentment is like “drinking out of a broken cistern” (Jeremiah 2:13) because after a short period of time, he is thirsty again. Despite these problems, Ishmael has an active desire to seek after God and understand the meaning of his life as a whole. This first starts when he attends Father Maple’s sermon about the story of Jonah. Although he considers himself, a “good Presbyterian Christian” he is still open to learning new things about God and the Bible. Another way that he applies himself to new learning is when he devotes himself to the study of the whales. On page 343, Ishmael states, “But in the great Sperm Whale, this high and mighty god-like dignity inherent in the brow is so immensely amplified […] you feel the Deity and the dread powers more forcibly than any other object in living nature.” Through this quote, it is clear that Ishmael studies the whale to the point of reverence. He begins to see the whale as a god and respects its power. Although Ishmael does not literally see the whale as his personal god, it eventually symbolizes his relationship with the true God. As the story continues and as Ishmael learns more about the world around him, he asks for the answers to his life:
Where lies the final harbor, whence we unmoor no more? In what rapt ether sails the world, of which the weariest will never weary? […] Our souls are like those orphans whose unwedded mothers died in bearing them: the secret of our paternity lies in their grave, and we must there to learn it. (464)
Ishmael wants to know about the beginning and the end of his life. In this quote, he ultimately proclaims his desire to have a relationship with the true God; the God that made him and the God that knows about the rest of his life. Shortly after, Captain Ahab is finally able to seek vengeance upon Moby Dick while he and the crew are killed in the battle. Ishmael is the sole survivor of the Pequod.
The fact that Ishmael is the only survivor of the Pequod holds great significance. Captain Ahab’s god, Queequeg’s god, and Perth’s god do not save them. They are false gods, incapable of salvation, and bringing meaning and purpose to any of their lives. God used these men as examples and sacrifices their lives so that Ishmael could know who the true God is. In the same way that God sacrificed Jesus on behalf of humankind, he too sacrificed all of the crewmembers on the Pequod to bring a new life for Ishmael. Ishmael’s story relates to Jonah and his fate because as soon as Jonah cried out to the Lord, God revealed himself, as He did with Ishmael. The Rachel, the ship with crewmembers lost at sea, rescue Ishmael because it is his true calling and everything that God wants him to become, which is a “fisher of men,” (Mark 1:16-20). In the end, Ishmael named himself fittingly, because God truly did listen.
