Modern American Novel

Man’s Defiance in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, or The Whale

Yasir Mutlib Abdulla, PhD Candidate

Herman Melville’s Moby Dick or The Whale (1851) is rich with the presence of the
individual as a defiant force that contributes a great deal to the comprehension of
the novel. The representative character in this respect is Captain Ahab. On the
philosophical level, the novel explores a conventional theme profoundly tackled by
writers since classical times up to the present. Defying the dominant power of
nature in order to defeat it has long been man’s obsession. Moby Dick can be
simultaneously viewed as a protagonist and antagonist in the novel and it acquires
the symbolic quality of a god, nature, the sea, fate as well as the natural world in
general. Its symbolic presence plays a pivotal role in the novel through
representing the uncontrollable and destructive power for man in general.

Like a superpower, Moby Dick, through a long description, is presented as an

enigmatic creature especially when Ishmael describes the wrinkles and carvings on
the Sperm Whale by saying: “These are hieroglyphical; that is, if you call those
mysterious cyphers on the walls of pyramids hieroglyphics, then that is the proper
word to use in the present connexion ” (Moby Dick 250). This enigmatic nature of
Moby Dick parallels and fits more the enigmatic and unknowable nature of a
superpower than a sea animal.

1
Despite the biblical allusion to the name Ahab being, according to the Hebrew
Bible, an evil king who led the Israelites into a life of idolatry, Melville’s Ahab is
obsessed with Moby Dick, an idol that causes the death of his crew

(Britannica.com).  Significantly, Ahab’s obsessive and vengeful quest to kill Moby

Dick for the loss of his leg uncovers more than that, his defiant character. Ahab’s
description by Peleg as “a grand, ungodly, god-like man, Captain Ahab” (Moby
Dick 65) contributes much to the stubborn but resolute nature of the Captain,
although this very quality results in his death in the end. The god-like nature of
Ahab and man in general, reflects a much deeper meaning.

When man himself is given a god-like quality, it highlights the classical

preoccupation by denoting to the man-gods conflicting struggle for self-assertion
in god-dominated world. Here and with this quality, Ahab defies the natural force
in order to achieve assertiveness, self-esteem and his vengeful goal in spite the fact
that his pursuit will prove futile. In this respect, Hayes (120) argues that “those
who attempt to defy the gods may be heading toward annihilation, but they do not,
they cannot diminish their own god-like nature. The person with the blackest soul
on earth still possesses a human face divine”.

Throughout his quest, Ahab’s defiant and obsessive insistence leads him to even
denying God. In his discussion of the novel, Kelley (247) interprets Ahab’s blind
determination by arguing that:

Ahab confuses right with wrong and pursues Moby Dick even to the
extent of denying God. Like abolitionists who embraced violent
means for ending slavery, or Southerners who called slavery a
positive good, Ahab subverts the polarity between good and evil and
confuses God’s sovereignty with his own.

2
The cruise started as a normal whaling voyage. The other whalers came for
catching whales as a business. They took out whale oil in order to sell it in
markets. They used whale oil for light; therefore it had a value at the time.

Man in the novel is the man who views nature as a being with animate
characteristics; it is beneficial to man via supplying him with food and oil. But
nature is sometimes harsh and vicious to man. As a matter of fact, the whale in
Starbuck’s eyes is just like any sea animal. That is why he contradicts Ahab and
criticizes him for seeking revenge on Moby Dick. While Ahab through his fearless
nature and obsessive mind sees things differently blinded by anger and revenge
seeking, “I will wreak that hate upon him. Talk not to me of blasphemy, man; I’d
strike the sun if it insulted me.” (131)

The character of Ahab, Melville portrays a prototypical man excessively in direct

and fearless confrontation with a force beyond his ability to overcome. Thus, the
novel depicts a man's interaction with the natural elements in an attempt to
challenge, control, comprehend or even profit from it; or, in Ahab’s case, defeat it.

3
Works cited

Hayes, Kevin J. The Cambridge Introduction to Herman Melville. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Melville, Herman. Moby Dick, or The Whale. The Project Gutenberg, 2017.

Kelley, Wyn. A Companion to Herman Melville. USA: Blackwell Publishing,

2006.

“Moby Dick”. www.Britannica.com. 22 Sep, 2020.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Moby-Dick-novel. Accessed 14 Nov. 2020