Moby Dick Analysis

Ishmael explains the voyage of a ship Pequod whose Captain is Ahab. Captain Ahab is pursuing a whale; Moby Dick. Job is seeking justice while Oedipus is looking for the truth. Ishmael is in the quest to find out the real meaning of life and he, therefore, follows life at the sea. The whale causes a lot of tension in the ship and when it is seen, several other ships join in chasing after it. He later comes to learn that for one to follow God, he must lay aside vanity and also his wishes and follow the will of God. Father Mapple states that for “one to obey God, he should first disobey himself. ” Ahab is defiant to God by fighting against the will of God and the rules of nature.

Ahab states that “he would hit the sun if it insulted him. ” This happens after Starbuck states that he will revenge on the poor people. The theme is expressed through Ishmael and Queequeg. The two became friends after beds in the Spouter-Inn became inadequate and they would end up sharing one bed. Ishmael is not aware that his bunkmate is a pagan and therefore, he comes to a conclusion that a native who gets into the room late must be a man-eater. Queequeg is not aware that he has to share his bed with another person. As times goes by, the two become friends and they accept that diversity has its own positive possibilities. Again, Ahab did not have an interest in friendship. Fortunately, he comes across Pip who starts getting close to him.

Queequeg saves the life of Ishmael indirectly through his coffin that floats on the surface of the water after the Pequod has sunk thereby providing him with a life buoy until Rachel comes to his rescue. Duty The actions of the novel take place in a ship, therefore, duty is paramount. Again, Father Mapple has a duty to God as a shepherd of people's hearts. The captain, however, feels that he has a duty towards Ahab and not to God neither to the owners. He will follow his own goals by defying everything that comes across his path. Killing Ahab is the only way to stop him. Starbuck gets a chance to kill the person with the firearm that Ahab had pointed towards him, the first mate becomes confused. He, therefore, has an obligation towards his own family.

Elijah who is not a true prophet prophecies of a bad ending before the ship starts sailing. Gabriel also foresees that Ahab would die underneath the sea. Fedallah's prophecy elaborates the details of events that lead to Ahab's death. All the predictions of Parsee are all fulfilled in ways that were not expected. The novel comes to an end with all the characters dying apart from Ishmael who lives to tell the story after he survived by using the coffin of Queequeg which pitched, therefore, becoming a life buoy to Ishmael. Ones again, the work inside the Pequod creates equality since people are promoted on the basis of the work they have done and also their skills. On the contrary, the work of the whaling is parallel to the activities of exploitation such as hunting for buffalos, mining gold and carrying out an unfair trade with the indigenous people which are the characteristics of the European and American territorial expansion.

Majority of the white mates are dependent on the white fellows as the non-whites are involved in carrying out the difficult jobs. To win prize whale, Flask stands on Daggoo to beat the other mates. Ahab is regarded to be walking on Pip who is listening to Ahab from beneath the deck.  Moby Dick. Stanzel, Franz Karl.  Narrative Situations in the Novel: Tom Jones, Moby-Dick, The Ambassadors, Ulysses. Indiana University Press, 1971.