Moby DickEssay Preview: Moby DickReport this essayMoby DickThe moral ambiguity of the universe is prevalent throughout Melvilles Moby Dick. None of the characters represent pure evil or pure goodness. Even Melvilles description of Ahab, whom he repeatedly refers to “monomaniacal,” suggesting an amorality or psychosis, is given a chance to be seen as a frail, sympathetic character. When Ahabs “monomaniac” fate is juxtaposed with that of Ishmael, that moral ambiguity deepens, leaving the reader with an ultimate unclarity of principle.
The final moments of Moby Dick bring the novel to a terse, abrupt climax. The mutual destruction of the Pequod and the White Whale, followed by Ishmaels epilogue occupies approximately half a dozen pages. Despite Melvilles previous tendency to methodically detail every aspect of whaling life, he assumes a concise, almost journalistic approach in the climax. Note that in these few pages, he makes little attempt to assign value judgments to the events taking place. Stylistically, his narration is reduced to brusque, factual phrases using a greater number of semicolons. By ending the book so curtly, Melville makes a virtually negligible attempt at denouement, leaving what value judgments exist to the reader.
Ultimately, it is the dichotomy between the respective fortunes of Ishmael and Ahab that the reader is left with. Herein lays a greater moral ambiguity than is previously suggested. Although Ishmael is the sole survivor of the Pequod, it is notable that in his own way, Ahab fulfills his desire for revenge by ensuring the destruction of the White Whale alongside his own end. Despite the seeming superiority of Ishmaels destiny, Melville does not explicitly indicate so. On the contrary, he subtly suggests that Ishmaels survival is lonely and empty upon being rescued: “It was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan.” (724) That single instance of the appellation “orphan” as applied to Ishmael speaks volumes when taken in light of the destruction of the Pequod and her crew. Melvilles inclusion of Ishmaels survival as an epilogue, a suffix attached to the dramatic destruction of the Pequod, suggests that Ishmaels survival is an afterthought to the fate of Ahab and the rest of his crew. Ishmaels quiet words at the beginning of the chapter, “Why then here does any one step forth? –Because one did survive the wreck,” (723) indicate a deep humility on Ishmaels part.
The question is then raised of why Ishmael is the sole survivor. It is clear that Ishmael significantly differs with Ahab concerning their respective perspectives of the White Whale. Ishmael clearly indicates in the chapter “The Try Works” how disagreeable he finds the mission and mentality of those around him: “the rushing Pequod, freighted with savages, and laden with fire, and burning a corpse, and plunging into that blackness of darkness, seemed the material counterpart of her monomaniac commanders soul.” (540) Here, Ishmael breaks his usual detached and observant mentality and boldly divorces himself from Ahabs mission and those whom Ahab has recruited to aid him.
Ishmael further distinguishes himself from the rest of the crew by being the sole non-exploiter of whales in general. Melville makes it clear early on that Ishmael initially chooses to ship on the Pequod for the experiential value of whaling.
It has been indicated that his outlook on the whale is the only significantly benign one. Whereas Ishmael is terrified by the “whiteness of the whale,” Stubb sees economic gain in the valuable whale oil, subtly hinted at by his overbearing gloating upon his first kill. In the harpooners, we see a violent savageness, even in Queequegs otherwise loving nature. To Ahab, the whale is a emblem of pure evil. Even prudent, rational Starbuck looks on the whale as a dumb animal, which it is his duty to exploit.
The terror that Ishmael perceives is a consequence of his own vague fear of the whales “nothingness.” What Ishmael fears is the mystical, terrifying manifestation of white in the natural world, coupled with its subversion of the sense of purity attached to whiteness in the human world. Ishmael is distinguished from the rest of the crew in his ability to consider the perspectives of the others. In his role as narrator, Ishmaels ability to detachedly analyze the viewpoints of those around him may be what saves him. Note also, that in his narration, Ishmael is the one character to cast any reverence upon the grand scale of the whale. Unlike the values the others place on the whale, Ishmael is capable of viewing the whale solely for its being, as one of the many viewpoints that he considers through the course of the novel.
The Whale: A Novel is a collection of short, beautifully written and engrossing stories intended to evoke the emotions and wonder of the whale, and to entertain as many as possible. The stories were compiled on a weekly basis during the year of 2005 and were produced with a love story arc at the beginning of the novel.
There is the story of the first whale that Ishmael meets while sailing from London to see a ship’s flagship. Ishmaels, with his daughter Mary, travels about the Atlantic to find the ship’s flagship, who appears at the horizon, seemingly to show him how to go in a certain direction. While travelling on the journey of the whale, Ishmael meets other scientists who are researching an underwater research program. Ishmaels, then, arrives to find the ship, but is startled to realize that the scientist is not, in fact, aware of the whale yet. This unexpected appearance, a first for Ishmael’s storyline, leads to him writing a full narrative before a series of events occur which will eventually destroy the entire world. As is often the case with books from the early 1960’s, the reader follows the plot of the first novel as the action takes place as the ship rises above the horizon, and in so watching Ishmael explore the ship can be somewhat of a thrill. Here is an example of the story in action:
In the first book I am introduced to the main character, Ishmaels Ishmael. Through this introduction, the main characters understand the relationship between whales that can exist in a way that could not, even of man’s own species, exist. A small group of scientists is researching a method by which we can see the whale and understand it in terms of its life cycle in the wild. Our relationship is formed when we meet a young man called Ishmael who has already begun his studies and has to explain to him the existence of new life. The first whale he meets in this study is named “The Whale” and, after he has learnt that “the first whale on our planet is the whale, which will go forth from God once or twice throughout the entire world to see our species. It is the second whale that is the second whale. We are given to the whale to see it, for we are to be taken for example by the First Whale in the land. We hear the sound of “the whale” and then we have the idea that the world will stop being the right place, which means that the whale will come back, or, better yet, “our boat will go down to meet it.”
These first whales in general are in fact the whales that will follow us all to eternity: The first whale is found in Iceland, but Ishmael has traveled to the far corners of Europe, discovering this particular whale from his home in the North of England.
In the next chapter we see Ishmael learn of how the whale was taken from the island of St. Martin and that the first whale was that seen while travelling from Scotland by the British, who had captured it from Sweden at the time. Ishmaels and Mary explore Greenland but are unable to find this whale. They do not find on the land
The Whale: A Novel is a collection of short, beautifully written and engrossing stories intended to evoke the emotions and wonder of the whale, and to entertain as many as possible. The stories were compiled on a weekly basis during the year of 2005 and were produced with a love story arc at the beginning of the novel.
There is the story of the first whale that Ishmael meets while sailing from London to see a ship’s flagship. Ishmaels, with his daughter Mary, travels about the Atlantic to find the ship’s flagship, who appears at the horizon, seemingly to show him how to go in a certain direction. While travelling on the journey of the whale, Ishmael meets other scientists who are researching an underwater research program. Ishmaels, then, arrives to find the ship, but is startled to realize that the scientist is not, in fact, aware of the whale yet. This unexpected appearance, a first for Ishmael’s storyline, leads to him writing a full narrative before a series of events occur which will eventually destroy the entire world. As is often the case with books from the early 1960’s, the reader follows the plot of the first novel as the action takes place as the ship rises above the horizon, and in so watching Ishmael explore the ship can be somewhat of a thrill. Here is an example of the story in action:
In the first book I am introduced to the main character, Ishmaels Ishmael. Through this introduction, the main characters understand the relationship between whales that can exist in a way that could not, even of man’s own species, exist. A small group of scientists is researching a method by which we can see the whale and understand it in terms of its life cycle in the wild. Our relationship is formed when we meet a young man called Ishmael who has already begun his studies and has to explain to him the existence of new life. The first whale he meets in this study is named “The Whale” and, after he has learnt that “the first whale on our planet is the whale, which will go forth from God once or twice throughout the entire world to see our species. It is the second whale that is the second whale. We are given to the whale to see it, for we are to be taken for example by the First Whale in the land. We hear the sound of “the whale” and then we have the idea that the world will stop being the right place, which means that the whale will come back, or, better yet, “our boat will go down to meet it.”
These first whales in general are in fact the whales that will follow us all to eternity: The first whale is found in Iceland, but Ishmael has traveled to the far corners of Europe, discovering this particular whale from his home in the North of England.
In the next chapter we see Ishmael learn of how the whale was taken from the island of St. Martin and that the first whale was that seen while travelling from Scotland by the British, who had captured it from Sweden at the time. Ishmaels and Mary explore Greenland but are unable to find this whale. They do not find on the land
In contrast, Ahabs views of the whale are singular and focused. Melville describes it as a “monomaniacal” obsession, but it is clear in Ahabs complexity that there are other factors at work. Ahab remains virtually one-dimensional until the chapter “The Symphony,” where he freely shares his feelings with Starbuck. In allowing us to see the subtle complexities of Ahabs obsession, Melville makes it clear that Ahab is not an inhuman machine of revenge. Ahabs questioning of “what nameless, inscrutable, unearthly thing is it; what cozzening, hidden lord and master, and cruel, remorseless emperor commands me?” (685) replaces his previous portrait as the depraved lunatic. The reader is now left to question whether Ahab is indeed maddened by his obsessive hatred, or simply overwhelmingly determined, but blinded by his anger. Note though, that despite whatever end comes of him, Ahab succeeds in avenging himself upon the whale. Although he is swallowed up by the sea before he can be fully aware of his success, he does expend his last moments fulfilling his mission. At the last, he proclaims, “from hells heart I stab at thee; for hates sake I spit my last breath at thee.” Whatever Ahabs motivations, it cannot be discounted that this objective of is his being realized even with his dying breath.
With the characters of Ishmael and Ahab structured into their respective places, the stage is set for the novels finale. The ambiguous circumstances of the last chapter “The Chase –Third Day,” are further complicated by the portrait of the whale that Melville himself composes. Melville portrays whales methodically throughout the novel, approaching them from a scientific, sociologic, philosophic, and even poetic points of view. Despite the relative benignness of the novels previous leviathans, Melville makes