TRANSILVANIA UNIVERSITY OF BRAŞOV

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES

DEPARTMENT OF ROMANIAN – ENGLISH

Themes, Motifs and Symbols in

Moby Dick

Supervisor: Student:

Senior Lecturer Ph. D.: Oana-Andreea PÎRNUȚĂ Anastasia-Maria TACHE

BRAȘOV
2016
SENTENCE OUTLINE:

1) Introduction:
 Presenting general aspects about the Melville’s Moby Dick
2) Content:
 Themes, motifs and symbols in Moby Dick
 Themes:
o Fate and free will
o Religion
o Race and multiculturalism
o Madness and revenge
 Motifs:
o The whiteness of the whale
o The mysterious depths of the sea
 Symbols:
o Moby Dick
o The whailing ship Pequod
o Queequeg’s coffin
3) Conclusion:
 Complexity of the novel

ABSTRACT:

The present analysis deals with multiple interpretations that a reader or a critic can find in Melville’s Moby Dick.
These interpretations become obvious due to the ability of the writer to hide in the text different meanings. These
peculiar meanings can be deciphered due to some literary devices known as themes, motifs and symbols. Themes
represent fundamental ideas of a text. Motifs are that kind of devices which help the writer to develop the main
themes in the text. Also, the motifs are very useful for the readers. An abstract idea which appears in the text can be
easily understood or interpreted by means of symbols.

Focusing on themes, we can notice in Moby Dick the following ones: fate and free will, religion, race and
multiculturalism, madness and revenge. In point of motifs, I have chosen to focus only on the central ones: the
whiteness of the whale which can be interpreted in different ways and the sea which incorporates the frustrating
meaning of limited human knowledge. There are some symbols very relevant for the text: the White Whale itself,
the ship named Pequod and the Queequeg’s coffin.

KEYWORDS:

1. Fate
2. Religion
3. Revenge
4. White Whale or Moby Dick
5. Whiteness
6. Sea
7. Death
1) INTRODUCTION

Moby Dick was written in 1851 by Herman Melville and gained its popularity among readers due
to its multiple perspectives and possibilities of interpretation. Each and every reader or critic can
identify in Moby Dick a tale of adventure, a tale of vengeance, a scientific research upon anatomy
of whales or even a bildungsroman. We could also find in Moby Dick creation myths and biblical
legends as the one about the prophet Jonah who spent three days and nights in the belly of a
whale. It is certain that we deal with an eclectic novel not just in point of themes but also in point
of style. For instance, we could easily identify Shakespeare’s influence in Ahab’s monologue.
Also, Ahab has something of King Lear’s greatness.

Moreover, Shakespeare is known as the creator of interiority and Melville seems to focus on this
aspect in creating his characters. The dramatic dimension of the novel should not be ignored,
especially that the voice of the character who narrates is annihilated at some point. We can notice
that the chapter 40 entitled Midnight, Forecastle is relevant for the dramatic style.

The narrative point of view in Moby Dick is also a controversial issue for the readers. The first
forty chapters of the novel are narrated in the first person by one of the protagonists, Ishmael.
Afterwards, Ishmael’s personality fades in and out. It is also challenging that Ishmael seems not
to be the omniscient narrator who possesses a piece of knowledge with no boundaries.

2) CONTENT

Themes, motifs and symbols in Moby Dick

The multitude of themes, motifs and symbols play a very important role in Melville’s Moby Dick.
As we have already known the themes are fundamental and universal ideas that could be find in a
literary work. Melville draws the readers’ attention upon themes such as fate and free will,
religion, race and multiculturalism, madness and revenge.

Motifs represent the recurring structures and literary devices that a writer uses with the purpose
of developing the main themes of the text. The strongest motifs in this novel are the whiteness of
the whale and the mysterious depths of the sea.

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Symbols are characters, figures and colors which embody abstract ideas. In point of symbols we
can speak about the white whale Moby Dick, the whaling ship called Pequod, and Queequeg’s
coffin.

Themes
From my point of view, the fate and the free will is an essential theme in this novel. The strong
belief in a fate which has been already decided by a supernatural force is a feature that each and
every character possesses. All sailors believe in prophecies and in dreams which foretell the
future. For instance, Stubb, the second mate is a fatalist who thinks that everything happens
according to an established plan and there is nothing to do with it. In the chapter called Queen
Mab, another obvious Shakespearean influence, Stubb has a significant dream about the fact that
every effort is not strong enough to keep Ahab aside from the danger. Actually Stubb concerns
about the fate of the crew, but this is strongly linked to Ahab’s fate.

There is a doubt linked to Ahab’s belief in fate, but his belief in God, in a superior order and
judgment could be interpreted as a belief in fate too. He also thinks that what happened to him
was controlled by an external force. This belief in another dimension and form of life gives him a
feeling of relief.

On the other hand, we can notice that Ahab manipulates the sailors on the Pequod to think that
the quest of Moby Dick is their common destiny.

The gam with the ship called Jeroboam seems to be decided by a supernatural force. This ship is
under the influence of a mad man who pretends to be Angel Gabriel. The odd character sees in
the White Whale a divinity and any attempt to kill it will be punished by gods. The so-called
Angel Gabriel predicts Ahab’s death. The captain Ahab has also a dream and Feddalah foretells
that his revenge will bring him death.

Before embarking on the Pequod, Ishmael and his blood brother known as Queequeg meet Elijah,
a former member of the crew who warn them about Ahab’s strange habits. I think that we deal
with another Shakespearean influence because Elijah could be compared with the witches who
predict Macbeth’s future lot.

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Nevertheless, there is a character that seems to defy the power of the fate and the involvement of
any supernatural force. It is about the pagan Queequeg. He gets ill and needs a coffin, but in a
short period of time he recovers. His mates ask him if life and death were matters related to the
free will. To everyone astonishment, Queequeg answers that life and death depend on our free
will.

Beside the matter of fate and free will, the religion is also an important theme in the novel. In
point of religion, the text pleads for the equality between tribal pagans and New England
Christians. The perfect illustration of this equality is the couple Ishmael – Queequeg. The pagan
Queequeg is the son of a king and the nephew of noble warriors. He believed that the Christianity
is the religion of kindness and unlimited love and left his tribe and his island in order to be
accepted by white people. Unfortunately, he figures out that sinners can be found in all kind of
religions and decides to die as a pagan. He has a little statue which embodies the god that he
worships, Yojo. Ishmael prays with Queequeg and shows his respect to Yojo. In this way Ishmael
gains the pagan’s heart and trust. Sometimes, the pagans are more ethical than some of the
Christians. Even the protagonist, Ishmael claims:

“Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunk Christian.” (Melville, 1992: 95)

The empathy seems to be the genuine religion which connects people.

There are a plenty of biblical elements in Moby Dick. We can notice the Jonah’s myth but also the
names of certain characters. Taking into account the biblical story, Ishmael is Abraham’s son and
his mother is Sarah’ handmaiden Hagar. When Sarah was able to give birth to her own child, she
casts Hagar and Ishmael out. His name is a synonym for exile.

According to the biblical etymology, Ahab was an immoral king who worshipped Baal. The king
Ahab is mentioned in the Old Testament.

The novel was published in 1851 and everybody knows that the slavery is a hot issue of the
nineteenth century but Melville avoids making commentaries upon this topic. We can notice in
his novel a racial tolerance which is astonishing for his century. He presents diversity in point of
race: a South Sea Islander, a Native American, an African tribesman.

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A lot of sailors on the Pequod are islanders and they live as they did on their own islands. In other
words, they isolate from one another. The captain Ahab is the one who links everybody and
gathers them around his ideal.

A subtle subordination of non – white people to the white ones can be distinguished. We notice
the episode when the third mate, Flask stands on Daggoo, his African harpooner, in order to beat
the other mates to a prize whale. Daggoo represents the genuine force and Flask takes the
advantage for his own.

The crew of the ship could be perceived as the whole America. America on its turn is a society
based on the sameness in point of civil, religious, political, moral rights. In these conditions we
can speak about the multicultural ship. But a problem still remains: Ahab who seems to be the
perfect prototype of the tyrant.

I would like to point out that the theme of madness is strongly linked with the one of revenge.
Madness consists in the idea of having a single – minded obsession over one thing and being
totally possessed by a peculiar desire. The person seems completely controlled by an evil spirit
and cannot find peace unless the desire is accomplished. It is obvious that Ahab’ obsession is
actually the intense desire of taking the revenge on the White Whale, the great monster of the sea.

It is difficult to identify the real reason which turns Ahab into a vengeful being. Apparently, Ahab
wants to punish the mysterious White Whale because it ate his leg and turned him into an invalid.

There is another character in the novel, the captain of the ship Delight who also tried to kill Moby
Dick, but the White Whale attacked him and ate his arm. This captain understands the fact that
each and every attempt to conquer the nature is useless. Nature is more powerful than human
beings and sometimes could be hard to tame. This antithesis enhances the idea that Ahab’s
attitude is not justified. He acts like a mad man who lost his ability of keeping measure.

Ahab perceives the White Whale as the embodiment of the evil which is harmful to the entire
mankind. He is not able to release himself of anger and dies without succeeded in taking his
revenge.

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Moby Dick is more than a novel about a man obsessed by revenge. Due to Moby Dick, people
improved their vocabulary with the well – known phrase: the white whale1.

Motifs

It is thought that one of the most important motifs in the novel is the whiteness of the whale.
Generally speaking, we see in whiteness the perfect image of purity and beauty. The narrator
preserves the image of beauty but annihilates the idea of purity and replaces it with the idea of
fright. He illustrates some positive aspects related to color white such as a white stone which
represents a blessed day for the Romans, a white flame which represents the sanctity for the
Persians and the well – known Greek myth about Europa’s abduction by Zeus in the form of a
white bull. In the text also appear images of dreadful creatures such as the polar bear, the polar
tiger or even the shark. Ishmael, one of the protagonists shows us that the color white amplifies
the fright. This fright is the effect of the contrast between the white as a color of innocence and
the fierceness of the beast which amplifies the horror in the hunter’s heart.

Paradoxical, the color white represents the absence of any color. We can say that the whiteness of
the whale determines Ishmael to think about non – existence and even the absence of the God.
This belief turns Ishmael into a social being who finds happiness in the relations with the others.
Unlike him, Ahab believes in a divine presence and this idea soothes his restless soul.

The mysterious depths of the sea represent redemption for some characters, especially Ishmael.
He avoids committing suicide just because his journey on the sea helps him to forget about the
burdens of life.

“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly
November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses,
and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an
upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately
stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off – then, I account it high time
to get to sea as soon as I can”. (Melville, 1992: 3)

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Something that obsess you over to the point that it nearly or completely destroys you.

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The journey on the sea means the encounter between good and evil, the confrontation of brute
physical force with the philosophical one: the couple Ahab – Ishmael.

Moby Dick swims and hides gradually a large part of its body underwater. The white whale
seems to play hide – and – seek with the sailors and intrigue their minds. They become as
obsessed as Ahab is. No one knows where the great White Whale goes; no one knows if the
whale is the embodiment of evil on the earth as Ahab claims or it is just a common and innocent
animal.

I believe that this story of obsession has a romantic source of inspiration: The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The lost ship is guided by an albatross but the captain of
the ship does not praise that divine sign and shoots the bird. His sailors die one by one and he
regrets deeply his sin. This constant remorse turn him into an insane man. The end of the story
could signify the fact that an absolute true cannot be known by human beings.

Also the sea represents the greatest frustration for Ishmael because of its mysterious and
inaccessible depths. This motif of the sea suggests the one of the greatest issues for human
beings: the incapacity of people to acquire the absolute true. This incapacity could be linked with
the original sin. Human beings have always wanted to know everything but they was no able to
accomplish this desire. They see only the surface of a thing. In our case, the surface is the ocean
but no one can know or see what could be found in its depths.

Symbols
In point of symbols, the central one is certainly the White Whale called Moby Dick. Taking into
account the traditional concepts related to characters, we cannot perceive Moby Dick as a
character; it is rather an impersonal force which helps the action of the novel goes on. Moby Dick
is the projection of each and every thought that populates the minds of the sailors. The captain
Ahab sees in Moby Dick the embodiment of the evil and he feels prepared to escape symbolically
the entire world by this evil spirit. The so – called Angel Gabriel perceives Moby Dick as a very
powerful god. It is known that many critics agreed upon the fact that the White Whale could be
the allegorical representation of God.

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Moby Dick is only a body of an animal but no one can determine and understand its essence.
Ishmael is interested in cetology but his efforts in studying the anatomy of whales are useless.
The more you try to explain in a sensible way a mystery, the less you find.

The symbol of White Whale has also a biblical dimension. Ishmael speaks about Saint George
who killed the dragon. But that dragon, the embodiment of the evil is thought to be a whale. This
creature is also known as the leviathan.

“Moby Dick is as profound a treatment as modern literature affords of the leviathan symbolism of
the Bible, the titanic-demonic force that raises Egypt and Babylon to greatness and then hurls
them into nothingness; that is both an enemy of God outside the creation, and, as notably in Job,
a creature within it of whom God is rather proud. The leviathan is revealed to Job as the ultimate
mystery of God’s ways, the “king over all the children of pride” (41:34), of whom Satan himself
is merely an instrument. What this power looks like depends on how it is approached.
Approached by Conrad’s Kurtz through his Antichrist psychosis, it is an unimaginable horror: but
it may also be a source of energy that man can put to his own use.” (Frye, 2008: 127).

There is another important aspect linked to Moby Dick: its whiteness. A plenty of sailors on the
ship are actually islanders and they are exploited in order to survive and make possible the
enriching of some white exploiters. They are obsessed by whiteness because of their poor
conditions. They hatred for the whale is explainable in this context.

The second symbol is the whaling ship called Pequod. The ship was named after a Native
American tribe in Massachusetts that did not survive because of the arrival of white men. The
ship has a very strange appearances being decorated with whale teeth and bones.

The diversity of crew in point of ethnicity means the reiteration of that American tribe which was
destroyed by white men. In the end of the novel, the ship was sunk by the White Whale and the
dream of the multicultural ship remained unfulfilled for the nineteenth century America.

Last but not least, the Queequeg’s coffin shows us how life and death interwoven. He has a very
positive perception about death: a voyage to the stars but he also thinks that stars are islands. His
determination to live turn its coffin into a symbol of live, especially that in the end of the novel,

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Pequod sinks and his coffin is used as a buoy by Ishmael. Ishmael, the only survivor tells us the
story of the White Whale and its mystery.

3) CONCLUSION

This paper draws the attention upon the difficulties of Melville’s Moby Dick and the possibility of
multiple interpretations of the book. Moby Dick is not a simple story about a man who wants to
take his foolish revenge. As we had already told in the introductive section, Moby Dick satisfies a
wide range of readers’ tastes because it can be read as a tale of adventure, a tale about revenge, a
biblical story, a treaty of cetology or even a bildungsroman. The complexity of the novel and the
multitude of themes, motifs and symbols that we can find in it satisfy even the humble reader but
also the most exigent critic.

4) REFERENCES

 Bender, Bert (1998), Sea Brothers: The Tradition of American Sea Fiction from Moby
Dick to the Present. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press
 Cowan, Bainard (1982), Exiled Waters: Moby Dick and the Crisis of Allegory. Baton
Rouge: Louisiana State University Press
 Davey, Michael (2003), Herman Melville’s Moby Dick: A Sourcebook. New York:
Routledge
 Melville, Herman (1992), Moby Dick or the White Whale. Ware, Hertfordshire:
Wordsworth Editions
 Frye, Northrop ( 2008 ) , Words with Power: Being a Second Study of “ The Bible
and Literature”. Toronto: University of Toronto Press
 Olson, Charles (1997), Call Me Ishmael. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press
 Pîrnuță, Oana-Andreea, Sibișan, Aura (2010), An Outline of XIXth and XXth
Century American Literature, Brașov: Editura Universității
 Slade, Leonard A. (1998), Symbolism in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick From the
Satanic to the Divine. Lewiston, New York: E. Mellen