Ahabs Evil Quest Melvilles Symbols In MobyDick — страница 3

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began, symbolizing Ahab?s oppositeness to Christlike values (Braswell 152). Ahab also baptizes his specially made harpoon in the name of the devil ? ?Ego no baptizo te in nomine patris, sed in nomine diaboli.? The translation of Ahab?s Latin is, ?I do not baptize thee in the name of the father, but in the name of the devil.? Ahab baptizes his harpoon in the blood of his pagan harpooners: Queequeg, Dagoo, and Tashtego. Ahab?s personal whaleboat abounds with heathens, led by Fedallah, whose name suggests ?dev(il) Allah,? the Crusader view of Allah (Murray 41). Melville adds more symbolism near the end of the novel. When Ahab announced his devious intentions early in the voyage, he offered an Ecuadorian dubloon as a prize for the first man who sighted Moby Dick. The coin shows the

sun moving into the zodiacal constellation of Libra, the Scales. Did Melville plant this symbol to suggest the scales of fate were weighing in on Ahab? (Chase, ?Melville? 59). Fate weighed Ahab and found him wanting because his evil quest ends in despair. He chases Moby Dick, Moby Dick does not chase him. Had he not pursued Moby Dick, Moby Dick would not have destroyed the entire ship and its crew, save Ishmael who survived the encounter (Arvin 217). On day three of Ahab?s hunt, the whale destroys the whaling boats and the Pequod, thereby destroying those who seek to escape their human limitations and question their divinely ordained fate. Melville?s allegories and symbolism ? Ahab symbolizing men who feel wronged by God and Moby Dick symbolizing a vengeful God who will destroy

those who wish to destroy Him ? are woven into a timeless masterpiece of exposition and are revealed through a vast array of symbols, hints, and rantings. 936 Arvin, Newton. ?The Whale.? Parker and Hayford. 196. Auden, W. H. ?The Romantic Use of Symbols.? Gilmore. 9. Bloom, Harold, ed. Herman Melville?s Moby-Dick: Modern Critical Interpretations.? New York: Chelsea, 1986. Braswell, William. ?Moby-Dick Is an Allegory of Humanity?s Struggle with God.? Leone. 149. Buell, Lawrence. ?Moby-Dick as Sacred Text.? Bloom. 62. Chase, Richard, ed. Melville: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice, 1965. Chase, Richard. ?Melville and Moby-Dick.? Chase. 49. Gilmore, Michael T., ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Moby-Dick. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice, 1977.

Guiley, Rosemary. Harper?s Encyclopedia of Mystical & Paranormal Experience. New York: Castle, 1991. Hillway, Tyrus. Herman Melville. New York: Twayne, 1963. House, Paul R. Old Testament Survey. Nashville: Broadman, 1992. Kazin, Alfred. ??Introduction? to Moby-Dick.? Chase. 39. Leone, Bruno, ed. Readings on Herman Melville. San Diego: Greenhaven, 1997. Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick, or The Whale. 1851. New York: Bantam, 1981. Murray, Henry A. ??In Nomine Diaboli?: Moby-Dick.? Bloom. 39. Parker, Hershel, and Harrison Hayford, eds. Moby-Dick as Dubloon. New York: Norton, 1970. Spiller, Robert, et al. Literary History of the United States of America. New York: Scott, 1968.