Symbolism in Moby Dick

Motto:Thus I play in one person many people

Richard II

The aim of this paper is to present some of the possible interpretations of Moby
Dick based on the analysis of the main symbols found in the novel. In the first part of
the essay will focus on presenting the characters and the symbolic figure they stand for.
Moreover a brief characterization of the main characters will be asserted in order to
represent their role in constructing the central idea of the book. In the second part of the
essay I will attempt to present a shift of perspective in the interpretation of Moby Dick,
introducing references to Henry A.Murrays point of view from In Nomini
Diaboli.Furthermore, throughout the essay, I will also refer to Howard P VincentMoby
Dick-trying out of Moby Dick, Alfred Kazin and Richard Chase Introduction to Moby
Dick- a collection of critical essays and Mark Kellers The Whales Way.
Moby Dick presents us with the journey a crew of whale hunters start in order
to find the white whale Moby Dick. The purpose of the journey is not asserted from the
very beginning but as the plot unfolds, we discover that the quest is more Captain Ahabs
quest, and so great is persuasive power, that he succeds in making it the purpose of them
all. As Howard Vincent states, it is a story of a whale hunt, and it becomes at the same

time the quest f the human heart for its spiritual and psychological home.It is a
pilgrimage through which the heroes of the book are ment to find the essence of life,
absolute knowledge.
The main idea on which Howard Vincent focuses is that Ishamel is an encloser,
a chorus character, Everyman. He is represented as the frame character: Ahab,
Starbuck, Queequeg, Fedallah, Flask, Pip are all selves personified and elaborated for
special examination. It is a deconstruction of the human entity in dominant traits,
deconstructions which is the main process through which we reach knowledge of the
inner self. The idea of the decomposed self has also been present in other literary works,
for instane Virginia Wolfs The waves.An interesting common point of both of the
works is that the unity is decomposed in six separate egos, both by Virginia Woolf and by
Herman Melville.As Vincent states, the instinctuality of Queequeg, the frivolity of Flack,
Pips lack of individuality, Ahabs determination and self assertion, all these traits add
together to construct the main figure: Ishamel. One important point to be noticed in the
book is that no particular trait is presented distinctively. He is present in the book only as
a voice, not as an embodiment.
It is clear that the novel is concerned with the problem of self-realization, and the
main idea is presented both in Father Maples sermon and by Ahabs personality. Father
Maple is the word of God, the biblical teaching which states that In His will is our
peace. So man has to be submissive and humble, as and if we obey Gid we must
disobey ourselves and it is in disobeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God
consists.In contrast to this image is Captain Ahab portrayed: he is arrogant, disobedient
and self-confident.As Vincent emphasizes, Ahab is no less than Father Maple is in
search for an Absolute, be its name God or Moby Dick, but unlike the whalemenpreacher, Ahab acknowledges no law but his own: his search will be carried on in selfassertion, not in self-submissionThus Ahab, just like Lucifer, is self-assertive and not
humble. And this arrogance of Ahab seems to be justified: In Knights and Squires
Melville argues for the nobility of the whale-hunters as they provide sperm oil, oil with
which kings are anointed.Hence, Ahab is the king, and the crew members are the knights
and squires at his court.
Ahabs traits seem to be the dominant ones: the other character are just enclosed
by his power of assertiveness. Altough some of them try to resist to Ahab(Stubb), Ahab
compelling power is revieled is Stubbs dream. Moreover his greatness is emphasized
by his whole high, broad form, seemed made of solid bronze a statuar description of

overwhelming power. But as Howard Vincent notices He is a captain cast in a heroic

mold whose tragic flaw, his hybris is his drive to self-assertion.More interestingly, he
becomes aware of his power, and thus in Sunset, where he soliloquizes his own
success over the crew is a chapter which marks a crucial point in the novel:in First
Night Watch, we are presented with the image of Stubb who present himself as the
unthinking man unaware of the implications and ready to accept whatever comes to
surrender his will to the whim of Ahab.In a parallel soliloquy Ishmael illustrating his
revelation which will find its fulfillment in The coin :he understands the duality, the
two paths man from which man has to choose: the selfish pursuit towards the impossible
through free will or the humble path of living within the boundaries by doing what is
necessary.

The purpose of Ahabs quest is the white whale: a metaphor for the Absolute, be
it knowledge or life, it is not in the realm of humans and moreover, forbidden. As
emphasized in Introduction to Moby Dick- a collection of critical essays, the quest is
terrifying but impetuos. The whiteness of the whale stands for nature pure, without God
or man it is not whiteness in color but the lack of color which reveals the world in its
instability and unrealiability.The journey leads Ahab to his death, leaving behind The
Coin and marking the duality of the world: both its material and spiritual part. There is a
clear divison of the human destiny : one which leads to death and that is self-absortion
and the other one is the humble acceptance of life as it is given to us and which allows us
to live but which also leads to death. Thus, destiny is a matter of choice: a coin flip.

There is another possible interpretation of Moby Dick , and this interpretation

is based on Freuds division of the human ego. This interpretation was presented by
Henry A. Murray in In Nomini Diaboli. Is his view, Ahab stands for the id, the
unconscious with the suppressed desire and wishes, the White Whale is the superego and
the ego which is Ishamel. The crew represents the primitive units which contruct the
Hebraic-Christian religious rejected beliefs. Pip who is lost in identity, Flasks
mindless bravery, the primeval character of Daggoo and Queequag, the uncaring nature
of Stubb and the practical Strarbuck, they are all rejected images which find their
reflection in each individual. And is the very fact that Ahab is humanly understandable
although reckless and ambitious which makes him part of the unconscious: we can

understand the reason which drives him, but we cannot conceive of its drivining force.
This force lies in the unconscious.

In terms of form, Moby Dick can be viewed as constructed in a theatrical

manner. The first part of the novel carries the presentation of the main spatial frame and
the introduction of the characters: we are presented with each member of the crew and
Ahab. There is a change of direction at the 32 chapter where Melville presents us with a
very accurate description of the class of whales. This adds even more verisimilitude to
the novel, as not many are able to identificate the whales from a handsome After this
abrupt shift, we are presented with several theatrical chapters . There is even the presence
of scene indications:[Stubb solus, and mending a brace]. The characters present each a
soliloquy, marking their intense feeling through blanks and exclamations I dare say gay
as a frigates pennant, and so am I-Oh!.Furthermore, the characters are constructed in the
mold the Dramatic Hero.As Howard Vincent emphasizes,Ahab fulfills the
Aristotelian formula of a tragic hero: a tragic hero with a noble spirit and person,
animated by a heroic dream but also with a tragic weakness, the blindness, which drives
him and all who follow him to ultimate damnation.
In conclusion man in Moby Dick is analyzed by means of self-decomposing,
the monoistic self Ishamel being portrayed in his struggle of choice: to follow the word of
God by submission or let his free will conceive a new destiny for him. The choice is
made not by him but somehow involuntarily, Ahabs compelling power being so immense
that he is also driven in the quest to self-realization. The quest has a certain timeless
quality conveing a universal truth which nor will the tragic dramatist who would depict
moral indomitableness in its fullest sweep and swing ever forget.

Bibliography:
Murray A Henry :In Nomini Diaboli
Vincent Howard PMoby Dick-trying out of Moby Dick
, Kazin Alfred and Chase Richard Introduction to Moby Dick- a collection of
critical essays
Keller Mark The Whales Way.