Реферат: Ahabs Evil Quest Melvilles Symbols In MobyDick

contemporary French critic got a the heart of the matter when he said that the only reason

Ahab tries to harpoon Moby Dick is that he cannot harpoon God? (Braswell 151).

Ahab?s blasphemous hunt of Moby Dick has made him a sinner against God. By

striking back at fate Ahab has become the mirror image of his Old Testament namesake,

evil king Ahab of Israel (Kazin 44). Ahab desires to look through the ?pasteboard mask?

of reality and see what is behind physical objects (Melville 157). Ahab wants to look

behind the mask of Moby Dick and see God, to challenge him and question his justness.

Ahab believes God is oblivious to the suffering of mankind (Braswell 154) and even

states, ?Sometimes I think there?s naught beyond? the mask of Moby Dick (Melville

157). Not only has Ahab questioned God?s justice, he has questioned His very existence.

This blasphemy against God and non-acceptance of human limitations has made Ahab

seek evil forces to harpoon God, God in the guise of Moby Dick.

Ahab?s association with the evil forces in the universe is made apparent by

Melville many times in Moby-Dick. Ahab declares himself to be mad and ?demoniac?

(Melville 160). His evil properties would lead him to be called the Antichrist by the

Church Fathers (Murray 40). Ahab sets sail on Christmas Day, leaving port when

Christ?s life began, symbolizing Ahab?s oppositeness to Christlike values (Braswell 152).

Ahab also baptizes his specially made harpoon in the name of the devil ? ?Ego no

baptizo te in nomine patris, sed in nomine diaboli.? The translation of Ahab?s Latin is, ?I

do not baptize thee in the name of the father, but in the name of the devil.? Ahab

baptizes his harpoon in the blood of his pagan harpooners: Queequeg, Dagoo, and

Tashtego. Ahab?s personal whaleboat abounds with heathens, led by Fedallah, whose

name suggests ?dev(il) Allah,? the Crusader view of Allah (Murray 41).

Melville adds more symbolism near the end of the novel. When Ahab announced

his devious intentions early in the voyage, he offered an Ecuadorian dubloon as a prize

for the first man who sighted Moby Dick. The coin shows the sun moving into the

zodiacal constellation of Libra, the Scales. Did Melville plant this symbol to suggest the

scales of fate were weighing in on Ahab? (Chase, ?Melville? 59). Fate weighed Ahab

and found him wanting because his evil quest ends in despair. He chases Moby Dick,