At this point in the novel, I have encountered two distinct
allusions to prominent literary works in Moby
Dick, both of which serve to foreshadow Ishmael and the crew's unfortunate fate. They are…
11)
The Bible – In addition to the sermon in chapter
nine, which uses the story of Jonah to foreshadow the hardships awaiting those
that hunt whales, many names in the novel are biblical references as well. Ishmael was an outcast in the Bible, meaning
that our narrator, who chose the name for himself, might see himself as an
outcast on the mainland wanting to wander the sea (as he states in the opening
of the novel). Ahab was a cruel and
terrible king who worshipped a false idol.
In addition to painting captain Ahab as a strict man, the allusion
implies that the man consumed by something unholy – revenge on the whale that
dismembered him. Finally, Ezekiel was
the prophet that foresaw the downfall of Ahab in the Bible, clearly giving the
reader the idea that the sailors on The Peaquod are doomed.
22)
And The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner – As soon as I read the title for chapter 52, I
knew the implication Melville was making.
In the poem to which the author alludes, an entire ship’s crew met their
deaths due to one sailor’s choice to kill an albatross (a superstitious omen)
following the ship. Ahab’s personal decision
to pursue the whale will most likely cause his crew to meet a similar fate as
well.
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