The Pequod has an extremely diverse
crew. There are people from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds. All of these
different ethnicities bring a different set of beliefs. Ishmael is told that
everyone on the Pequod must be Christian but Queequeg is still able to get on
with his idol Yojo. Ishmael himself is Christian and he attends an interesting
service by a preacher who is a former whaler. His sermon is of Jonah who is
swallowed by a whale. If we look at that story we see that Jonah was cast into
the ocean for disobeying God. God then had a whale swallow him until he was
eventually “vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.” This is a whale doing God’s work.
This is interesting because once Ismael starts learning about Moby Dick, there
are many similarities between the whale and god. There are many stories surrounding
Moby Dick that are described in chapter 41. These stories portray him as a supernatural
being with unwonted power. Some people believe him to be ubiquitous in both
space and time (he is immortal). The idea that Moby Dick isn’t just some whale
but possibly a god or servant of God would mean he didn’t just bite of Captain
Ahab’s leg by chance but he was punishing Ahab for the cruelty of whaling. By
further pursuing Moby Dick, it seems Captain Ahab isn’t just ignoring danger and
seeking vengeance but he is blatantly defying god’s will.
I think addressing the parallels between Moby Dick and God is very thought-provoking. I agree with Kerry's argument that Moby Dick's description in the novel portrays the whale as having god-like qualities. However, I had not thought that the similarities may suggest that Moby Dick is a representation of God's will. I always assumed that Melville was trying to make Moby Dick a sort of god-of-whales. If this is indeed the reality, it would make Ahab's battle with Moby Dick a sort of struggle between the best of the two species, man and whale.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think it's interesting how religion seems to be a big deal before the characters get on the boat. For example, even though Ishmael over and over says how he is accepting of Queequeg and of his religion, he still makes comments putting down the less Christian form of religion, especially during Queequeg's sabbath. Likewise, once the owners of the ship see Queequeg and see that he is a cannabal and not Christian, they will not allow him on the ship. However, all of this changes once they see how well he can throw a harpoon. It's like the ship is equalizing as everyone is pitted together towards the common goal of whale hunting.
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