Moby-Dick
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 Title page, first edition of Moby-Dick |
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| Author | Herman Melville |
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| Original title | The Whale |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Adventure novel |
| Publisher | Richard Bentley |
| Released | 18 October 1851 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
- For other uses see Moby-Dick in popular culture
Moby-Dick[1] is an 1851 novel by Herman Melville. The novel describes the voyage of the whaling ship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab, who leads his crew on a hunt for the great whale, Moby-Dick. The book's language is highly symbolic, and many themes run throughout the work. The narrator's reflections, along with complex descriptions of the grueling work of whaling and the personalities of his shipmates, are woven into a profound meditation on society, nature, and the human struggle for meaning, happiness, and salvation. Moby-Dick is often considered the epitome of American Romanticism. The novel frequently employs Shakespearean devices, including formal stage directions and extended soliloquies and asides.
The novel was first published by Richard Bentley in London on October 18, 1851 as an expurgated three-volume edition entitled The Whale, then as a single volume by Harper and Brothers, as Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, in New York on November 14, 1851. The first line of Chapter One ("Call me Ishmael.") is one of the most famous in American literature. Although the book initially received mostly negative reviews, Moby-Dick is now considered to be one of the greatest novels in the English language, and has secured Melville's reputation in the first rank of American writers.
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[edit] Historical background
There were two factual occurrences that almost certainly inspired Melville's tale. One was the sinking of the Nantucket whaling ship Essex, which foundered in 1820 after it was attacked by an 80-ton sperm whale 2,000 miles (3,700 km) from the western coast of South America. First mate Owen Chase, one of eight survivors, recorded the events as the Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. There was also a real-life albino sperm whale, known as Mocha Dick, that lived near the island of Mocha off Chile's southern coast, several decades before Melville wrote his book. Jeremiah N. Reynolds had written an account of Mocha Dick's battle with a ship. Mocha Dick, like Moby-Dick in Melville's story, escaped countless times from the attacks of whalers, whom he would often attack with premeditated ferocity, and consequently had dozens of harpoons in his back. Mocha Dick was eventually killed in the 1830s. Thus, it seems highly probable that Melville used Mocha Dick as the basis for his book. It has been suggested that Melville changed the name "Mocha" to "Moby" in 1846, four years before the novel was published, after meeting an old South Seas shipmate, Richard Tobias Green.
The third and perhaps most important element was Melville's experiences as a sailor, and in particular on his voyage on the whaler Acushnet in 1841–1842. His whaling experiences were chronicled in his popular novel Typee and its sequel Omoo, and many historians believed it served as a basis for much of Moby-Dick.
The novel contains large portions that have nothing to do with the plot but are descriptive chapters on aspects of the whaling business. Melville believed that no book up to that time had portrayed the whaling business as he had first-handedly experienced it, or had done so in dry and uninspired encyclopedic prose. Melville had been greatly influenced from an early age by Romantic writers such as Sir Walter Scott, Washington Irving, Lord Byron, Mary Shelly and others. His intention was to write a book that was compelling, emotionally and poetically vivid in the style of Romanticism, but also educational and "true of the thing"—indeed it was believed among Romanticists of this period that fiction was the ultimate vehicle for describing and recording history, such as many see film or photos today. However, Melville struggled to make his novel about the whaling industry interesting, as he wrote to Richard Henry Dana halfway through the work on May 1, 1850:
| “ | I am half way in the work ... It will be a strange sort of book, tho', I fear; blubber is blubber you know; tho' you might get oil out of it, the poetry runs as hard as sap from a frozen maple tree; — and to cool the thing up, one must needs throw in a little fancy, which from the nature of the thing, must be ungainly as the gambols of the whales themselves. Yet I mean to give the truth of the thing, spite of this. | ” |
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— Herman Melville, from Norton Critical Edition (2002), page 532
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[edit] Critical reception
Moby-Dick received decidedly mixed reviews from critics at the time it was published. While many critics praised it for its unique style, interesting characters and poetic language, [1]others agreed with a critic for the London Athenaeum, who described it as:
- "[A]n ill-compounded mixture of romance and matter-of-fact. The idea of a connected and collected story has obviously visited and abandoned its writer again and again in the course of composition. The style of his tale is in places disfigured by mad (rather than bad) English; and its catastrophe is hastily, weakly, and obscurely managed".[2]
After Melville's death, Moby-Dick, along with his other works, went largely forgotten[3] In the 1920s, British literary critics began to take notice of the novel again. [4] The American author Carl Van Doren dedicated a section of his 1921 book The American Novel to Melville and Moby-Dick, praising it as a pinnacle of American Romanticism.[5] Today, Moby-Dick is considered to be one of the greatest novels in the English language, and has secured Melville's reputation in the first rank of American writers.
[edit] Major themes
Moby-Dick is a highly symbolic work, and is interesting in that it also addresses issues such as natural history. Other themes include racism, hierarchical relationships, and politics. It also explores the potential for love to save a life, if that life wants saving.
[edit] Symbolism
All of the members of the Pequod's crew have biblical-sounding, improbable or descriptive names, and the narrator deliberately avoids specifying the exact time of the events and some other similar details. These together suggest that perhaps we should understand the narrator—and not just Melville—to be deliberately casting his tale in an epic and allegorical mode.
The white whale itself, for example, has been read as symbolically representative of good and evil, as has Ahab. The white whale has also been seen as a metaphor for the elements of life that are out of our control, or God.[citation needed]
The Pequod's quest to hunt down Moby-Dick itself is also widely viewed as allegorical. To Ahab, killing the whale becomes the ultimate goal in his life, and this observation can also be expanded allegorically so that the whale represents everyone's goals. Furthermore, his vengeance against the whale is analogous to man's struggle against fate. The only escape from Ahab's vision is seen through the Pequod's occasional encounters with other ships, called gams. Readers could consider what exactly Ahab will do if he, in fact, succeeds in his quest: having accomplished his ultimate goal, what else is there left for him to do? Similarly, Melville may be implying that people in general need something to reach for in life, or that such a goal can destroy one if allowed to overtake all other concerns. Some such things are hinted at early on in the book, when the main character, Ishmael, is sharing a cold bed with his newfound friend, Queequeg:
- ... truely to enjoy bodily warmth, some small part of you must must be cold, for there is no quality in this world that that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself. If you flatter yourself that you are all over comfortable, and have been so a long time, then you cannot be said to be comfortable any more.
— Moby-Dick, Ch. 11
Ahab's pipe is widely looked upon as the riddance of happiness in Ahab's life. By throwing the pipe overboard, Ahab signifies that he no longer can enjoy simple pleasures in life; instead, he dedicates his entire life to the pursuit of his obsession, the killing of the white whale, Moby-Dick.
[edit] Whale biology and ecology
Sections of the novel depart from the progression of the plot entirely and discuss at great length the biology and ecology of whales and related species. Many of the claims are inaccurate—for example, Ishmael insists that the whale is a fish, although they had been classified as mammals for almost a century (which he acknowledges dismissively).
[edit] Plot summary
The novel opens with "Etymology", "supplied by a late consumptive usher to a grammar school", which lays out Melville's linguistic DNA for Moby-Dick. The enigmatic start to the novel is followed by a set of ‘Extracts’ which bear the label ‘(supplied by a sub-sub-librarian).’ These are quotations and references on the subject of whales, taken from many different other pieces of literature, including Hamlet, The Bible, and "THOMAS EDGE'S TEN VOYAGES TO SPITZBERGEN, IN PURCHAS.". Subsequent to that, we are presented with the narrator, Ishmael, who introduces himself with the famous line "Call me Ishmael".
Ishmael has set his mind to join a whaling vessel, and he arrives in the town of New Bedford, Massachusetts. He seeks lodging at an inn called the Spouter, where he is lodged with a mysterious harpooner. This harpooner, a tattooed cannibal named Queequeg, quickly becomes a friend to Ishmael.
The two decide to enlist together in the crew of the Pequod, a ship held jointly by three men, known as Captain Peleg, Captain Bildad and Captain Ahab. As Ishmael and Queequeg sign their names (Queequeg copies down a peculiar mark that’s tattooed on his arm), they have yet to meet Captain Ahab who will be commanding the ship. Captains Peleg and Bildad are left behind on shore with a purely financial interest in the voyage.
As the ship sets sail, we are introduced to the other main characters: the three mates, Starbuck, Flask and Stubb, and the two remaining harpooners, Dagoo and Tashtego. Ahab, however, remains unseen. We are told that he is below decks and is not feeling well. After several days, Ishmael finally spots the one-legged Ahab standing on the quarter-deck.
Ahab broods and behaves erratically. He paces the deck, the ivory heel of his false leg making a thudding noise. When Stubb suggests to Ahab that something be done to dampen the sound, Ahab flies into a rage and calls Stubb a dog. When Stubb objects to this insult, he says “Then be called ten times a donkey, and a mule, and an ass, and begone, or I’ll clear the world of thee!”
The peculiar attitude of Ahab continues. He throws his pipe off the ship. He asks his crew to yell more loudly if they should spot a white whale. At length, Ahab draws the crew together and announces that a gold coin will be awarded to the crewman who first spots a ‘white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow and a crooked jaw.’ He then hammers a nail through the coin and into the ship's mast.
Tashtego, it turns out, has heard of this white whale before. He gives the creature a name, saying that some call him “Moby-Dick.” Starbuck reveals that Moby-Dick is the whale who took Captain Ahab’s leg. The Captain is finally pressed to reveal that in his mind there is no purpose to this voyage other than Ahab’s own vengeance against Moby-Dick.
Over the main part of the story, we are presented with many scenes of the everyday whaling life. The Pequod lowers its boats, which then chase after and harpoon whales. In a series of dramatic adventures with various whales, and (often humorous) encounters with other whaling vessels, Melville paints a scene of life on board a whaling ship in the mid-19th century.
The journey comes to its dramatic and tragic end when the Pequod, sailing despite dark portents, catches sight of Moby-Dick. For three days, the Pequod does battle with the white whale. Moby-Dick shatters the Pequod’s boats, and finally charges the ship itself. The Pequod is sunk, and Ahab and all the crew disappear under the waves. Ishmael is the only survivor of the tragedy, and is left floating on the surface of the ocean, rescued shortly afterwards by a passing whaler.
[edit] Characters in Moby-Dick
The crew-members of the Pequod are carefully drawn stylizations of human types and habits; critics have often described the crew as a "self-enclosed universe".
[edit] Ishmael
In the novel's first sentence, the narrator famously declares, "Call me Ishmael." It is unclear whether this is his actual name or an alias. His role as a narrator varies widely. Initially, his is the only narrative, but after the Pequod leaves port, he repeatedly fades and comes back to full prominence.
The name 'Ishmael' also appears in the Bible as that of the first son of Abraham in the Old Testament. The biblical Ishmael was born to Abraham and his wife's (Sarah) maidservant Hagar, because Abraham and Sarah believed Sarah to be infertile. Hagar gave birth to son Ishmael, then 14 years later a 90 year old Sarah was granted a son (Isaac) by God. Sarah observed 17 year old Ishmael teasing Isaac and urged Abraham to expel Hagar and her son Ishmael. This proposal upset Abraham; but God commanded him to comply with Sarah's request and so Abraham ordered Hagar and Ishmael to leave.
The name has come to symbolize orphans, exiles, and social outcasts—in the opening paragraph of Moby-Dick, Ishmael tells the reader that he has turned to the sea out of a feeling of alienation from human society. In the last line of the book Ishmael also refers to himself symbolically as an orphan. Ishmael has a rich literary background (he has previously been a schoolteacher), which he brings to bear on his shipmates and events that occur while at sea.
Ishmael resembles Melville in several ways (as well as the narrator of Melville's White-Jacket). They are well-educated and reflective; Ishmael sees his shipmates as avatars of human nature and society, and tells his story by couching it in a wealth of philosophical observation, (largely occurring during sections in which Ishmael takes an almost-omniscient viewpoint, conflating himself with his author).
[edit] Ahab
Ahab is the tyrannical captain of the Pequod who is driven by a monomaniacal desire to kill Moby-Dick, the whale to whom he lost his leg. Ahab believes he is fated to kill Moby-Dick, and lives for this purpose alone. Ahab's name comes directly from the Bible. When Ishmael first encounters the name he responds "When that wicked king was slain, the dogs, did they not lick his blood?" (Moby-Dick, Chapter 16) The character Elijah (the namesake of the Biblical prophet, Elijah, who portends Ahab's fate) warns Ishmael and Queequeg that by signing on to Ahab's ship they have effectively signed away their souls. Ahab ultimately dies over his obsession to kill Moby-Dick.
[edit] Moby-Dick
Moby Dick is a mottled (with a white hump) sperm whale of extraordinary ferocity, but is also possessed of ineffable strength, mystery, and power. The color white is explored in the chapter "The Whiteness of the Whale". It calls into question the meaning of the chapters on cetology. The symbology of the whale is not clear; many things, including nature, providence, fate, and even God, have been suggested.
Melville spelled the whale's name without a hyphen, but used a hyphen in the title of the book.
[edit] Mates
Starbuck, the young first mate of the Pequod, is a thoughtful and intellectual Quaker.
- Uncommonly conscientious for a seaman, and endued with a deep natural reverence, the wild watery loneliness of his life did therefore strongly incline him to superstition; but to that sort of superstition, which in some organization seems rather to spring, somehow, from intelligence than from ignorance... [H]is far-away domestic memories of his young Cape wife and child, tend[ed] to bend him ... from the original ruggedness of his nature, and open him still further to those latent influences which, in some honest-hearted men, restrain the gush of dare-devil daring, so often evinced by others in the more perilous vicissitudes of the fishery. "I will have no man in my boat," said Starbuck, "who is not afraid of a whale." By this, he seemed to mean, not only that the most reliable and useful courage was that which arises from the fair estimation of the encountered peril, but that an utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward.
— Moby-Dick, Ch. 26
Starbuck is alone among the crew in objecting to Ahab's quest, declaring it madness to want revenge on an animal that lacks the capacity to understand such human concepts. Starbuck advocates continuing the more mundane pursuit of whales for their oil. He lacks the support of the crew in his opposition to Ahab, and is unable to persuade them to turn back. Despite his misgivings, he feels himself bound by his obligations to obey the captain.
Stubb is the second mate of the Pequod, who always seems to have a pipe in his mouth and a smile on his face. "Good-humored, easy, and careless, he presided over his whaleboat as if the most deadly encounter were but a dinner, and his crew all invited guests." (Moby-Dick, Ch. 27)
Flask is the third mate of the Pequod.
- A short, stout, ruddy young fellow, very pugnacious concerning whales, who somehow seemed to think that the great Leviathans had personally and hereditarily affronted him; and therefore it was a sort of point of honor with him, to destroy them whenever encountered.
— Moby-Dick, Ch. 27
[edit] Harpooners
Queequeg is a savage cannibal from a fictional island in the South Seas, and is the son of the chief of his tribe. He befriends Ishmael in New Bedford, Massachusetts before they leave port. Queequeg is a skilled harpooner on Starbuck's boat. He exhibits both civilized and savage behavior.
Tashtego is described as a savage, a Native American harpooner. The personification of the hunter, he has turned from hunting land animals to hunting whales. Tashtego is the harpooner on Stubb's harpoon boat.
Daggoo is a gigantic African harpooner with a noble bearing and grace, on Flask's harpoon boat.
Fedallah is the harpooner on Ahab's own boat. He is of Indian Zoroastrian ("Parsi") descent. Due to descriptions of him having lived in China, he probably might be among the great wave of Parsi traders that made their way to Hong Kong and the far east during the mid 19th century. At the time when the Pequod sets sail, Fedallah is hidden on board, and he emerges with the boat's crew later on, to the surprise of the crew. Fedallah is often referred to in the text as Ahab's 'Dark Shadow.'
- [T]all and swart, with one white tooth evilly protruding from its steel-like lips. A rumpled Chinese jacket of black cotton funereally invested him, with wide black trowsers of the same dark stuff. But strangely crowning this ebonness was a glistening white plaited turban, the living hair braided and coiled round and round upon his head.
— Moby-Dick, Ch.48
[edit] Selected Adaptations
For a complete listing of adaptations and cultural references, see:
[edit] Film and television adaptations
- A 1926 silent movie, The Sea Beast, starring John Barrymore as a heroic Ahab with a fiancée and an evil brother, loosely based on the novel (IMDb link). Remade as Moby Dick in 1930 (IMDb link), a version in which Ahab kills the whale and returns home to the woman he loves (played by Joan Bennett).
- A 1956 film directed by John Huston and starring Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab, with screenplay by Ray Bradbury (see Moby Dick)
- Moby or Not Moby, an episode of Animaniacs that featured Ahab (Frank Welker) teaming with Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, with one-line cameos by Ishmael, Queequeg and Starbuck. This episode features several undertones of wildlife conservation.
- Moby Dick, featuring Jack Aranson as Captain Ahab, was filmed in 1978 and released in November 2005 on DVD. The director was Paul Stanley (IMDb link).
- Moby Dick, a 1998 television movie starring Patrick Stewart as Ahab and Gregory Peck as Father Mapple (a Golden Globe-winning performance) (IMDb link)
[edit] Notes
- ^ the hyphen in the title is present in the original edition
[edit] References
- Hershel Parker and Harrison Hayford, ed. (2002). Moby Dick / Herman Melville. Norton Critical Edition. ISBN 0-393-97283-6
[edit] Editions
- Melville, H., The Whale. London: Richard Bentley, 1851 3 vols. (viii, 312; iv, 303; iv, 328 pp.) Published October 18, 1851.
- Melville, H., Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1851. xxiii, 635 pages. Published probably on November 14, 1851.
- Melville, H. Moby-Dick, or The Whale. Northwestern–Newberry Edition of the Writings of Herman Melville 6. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern U. Press, 1988. A scholarly edition with full textual apparatus. This text has been reprinted in other editions.
[edit] External links
- Online texts
- Moby-Dick, available at Project Gutenberg.
- Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, from The Literature Network, with search features.
- Moby Dick; or, The Whale, clean text HTML version.
- Moby Dick; or, The Whale, "Chapter A Day" version.
- Moby-Dick, available as a printer-ready PDF from Ria Press.
- Moby Dick; or The Whale, audio book version from LibriVox
- Motion picture adaptations
- Moby Dick at the Internet Movie Database (1930) - John Barrymore as Captain Ahab
- Moby Dick at the Internet Movie Database (1956) - Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab
- Moby Dick at the Internet Movie Database (1978) - Jack Aranson as 13 characters
- Moby Dick at the Internet Movie Database (1998) - Patrick Stewart as Captain Ahab
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1851 novels | American novels | Fictional cetaceans | Hubris | Massachusetts in fiction | Moby-Dick | Nantucket, Massachusetts | Novels by Herman Melville | Public domain characters | Whaling
