Fate is an uncontrolled force that determines the development of our lives. Moby Dick by Herman Melville is an allegory of man’s struggle with the fate of God. The characters of Moby Dick pursue to challenge divine determinism with free will. Ishmael and Ahab threaten their unavoidable destinies and confront God, who ultimately imposes either tragedy or obedience to those who defy his fate. Their destiny is a resultant of their confrontation with God and their reactions to the imposition of fate. Ahab’s quest for revenge on God is driven by his desire to protest the injustices of fate. Ishmael believes that his decisions are already determined by fate. Both characters acknowledge the avenging and omniscient force of god, but react to their handed fate contrastingly.
Captain Ahab represents the point of view that to live a predestined life is not living. He is a conveyer of the protests against the injustices of fate. Ishmael reveals Ahab’s quest for vengeance on the whale, that represents God; “Such a crew, so officered, seemed specially picked and packed by some infernal fatality to help him to his monomaniac revenge” (Ch 4, 202) Ahab has a “monomaniac”, or an obsessive interest, for revenge on God, and is out to kill the divine force behind fate.. He is angered by the fact that he is not in control of his own destiny. Rather than obeying God’s predetermined destiny, Ahab proclaims, “Death to Moby Dick! God hunt us all, if we do not hunt Moby Dick to his death!” (Ch. 36, 182).
The Essay on Captain Ahab Moby Dick
By: Adrienne Delaney Captain Ahab If you ever saw Captain Ahab in a dark alley, you'd probably turn and run the other way. His scarred body and wooden leg are just a couple of characteristics that show who he is. Ahab is the captain of the whaling ship Pequod, and their mission is to go on a trip and bring back as many whales as possible. Ahab has a different mission plan set in his mind. The ...
Captain Ahab is tormented by the lack of control over his own fate, thus resorting to rebellion to fulfill his resent and anger driven by vengeance. Although Ahab is defiant of God, he also accepts his fate. He asserts that he has no control over his behavior; “Swerve me? The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run” (Ch 37, 183) Ahab challenges the men on board to divert him from killing Moby-Dick. He announces that he must continue on the “iron rails” that are arranged for his purpose. Another example of Ahab recognizing God as a driving force behind his madness is when he cries,
“All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event —in the living act, the undoubted deed —there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask. If man will strike, strike through the mask!”(Ch 36, 179).
Ahab is forsaking his humanity in order to “strike” God down and escape the reality that God is behind the “mask”. By encouraging his men to escape the prisons of fate, he exposes his reasoning in disobeying and seeking confrontation with God. Ahab feels the need to confront the force, which controls his existence and imprisons his free will, to gain freedom over his himself.
On the other hand, Ishmael accepts and minds God’s plan for him. He is led to believe that free will is swayed by divine forces. Ishmael shares that “….those stage managers, the Fates, put me down for magnificent parts in high tragedies” (Ch 1, 21).
Ishmael claims that his whaling voyage is degreed by fate. Ishmael admits actor of the “stage managers” and his actions have already been predetermined. Ishmael does not defy God’s will and try to escape or rebel his fate. Ishmael has been exposed to sermons that forewarn the disobedience and rebellion against ones’ will and the consequences that follow. Ishmael responds to these fate fearing sermons with , “I leave eternity to Thee; for what is man that he should live out life-time of his god?”(Ch 9, 65).
Ishmael isn’t disturbed by God’s omniscient knowledge. Ishmael discerns he must confront God if he is to flee from him. He responds to his role in fate with servitude and obeys the outcomes that are regarded to him.
The Term Paper on Moby Dick 2 Ahab Melville Ishmael
Moby Dick Outline I. Herman Melville lived a long and interesting life that would affect not only his literary works of art, but also our society today. Many of his most notable novels would draw from his days at sea, and from his experiences as a result of those voyages. A. Herman Melville's life was an intriguing one, with many interesting aspects. He was born in 1819 to Allan and Maria Melville ...
Ahab’s quest for Moby Dick as an act of defiance toward God foretells his fate. In chapter 9, the preacher warns rebellions of divine determines to “ ‘….take heed to repent of it [sin] like Jonah’” (Ch. 9, 62).
Jonah, like Ahab, had rebelled against the will of God and was dreadfully punished. Jonah left his deliverance to God, thus granting him freedom from punishment to serve as a warning against blasphemous ideas of escaping one’s destiny. The fate of Jonah in comparison to the foreshadowed fate of Ahab is predicted to vary. Ahab, unlike Jonah, rejects God altogether and alliances himself with the devil. Ahab “‘….has that that’s bloody on his mind’ ” (Ch. 31, 145)Ahab resist all divine influence to symbolic rebel and attack God with violent intentions. Hubris in Ahab emerges as a prediction of the wrath and violence God will subject him to. Ahab is doomed to failure.
Herman Melville in Moby Dick profoundly utilizes his characters to study human destiny. Ahab blames God for creating a unjust word, while Ishmael curtsies fate and God in the determination of his destiny. Ishmael is subtle as Ahab in his theory, but feels more at home in the hands of fate. Ahab keeps himself from affection and gives himself to fate. Ahab imposes his own blindness and is fated to misfortune. Ishmael’s acceptance will grant him a well fated existence.
