Gnostic Mythos in Moby-Dick

Author(s): Thomas Vargish

Source: PMLA, Vol. 81, No. 3 (Jun., 1966), pp. 272-277
Published by: Modern Language Association
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 GNOSTIC MYTHOS IN MOBY-DICK
BY THOMASVARGISH
IN MOBY-DICK, Melvillealludedto various
easternreligionsin additionto Christianity.
Scholarsnoticingthese allusionshave tended to
groupwithoutmuchdiscrimination Zoroastrian-
ism (the fireworshipof the Persians),Maniche-
ism (beliefin a universaldualityofgood and evil
as coeternalprinciples),Hindu myths(such as
that of Vishnuin Chapterlxxxiiof Moby-Dick),
and, less frequently,Gnosticism(withoutindi-
catinghow the particulardoctrinesapply to the
novel).' In proposingto treat chieflyof Gnostic
influenceson Moby-Dick,I shall contend that
Melville applied Gnostic myths and doctrines
morespecificallyand consistently than has been
recognized,that he carefullydistinguishedbe-
tweenZoroastrianismand Gnosticism,and that
certainpassagesin Moby-Dickrequirefamiliarity
with the Gnosticmythosto be understood.But
only when discussingthe most obscureof these
passages would I claim that the Gnosticsalone
werein Melville'smind.No influenceon his great
book was exclusive.In provingthe influenceof
Gnostic thought upon it, I have no wish to
minimizetheimportanceof,let us say,Zoroaster,
Milton, or the Hindus. Thus in demonstrating
one easternreligion'sinfluenceupon Melville,it
is not my intentionto unseat another's.
Melvilleprobablyobtainedinformation about
the Gnostics fromseveral sources. Interest in
comparativereligionwas high on both sides of
the Atlantic.F. D. Maurice preachedthe Boyle
lectures, 1845-46, upon The Religions of the
World,includinga discussionof Vishnuand the
Brahmin. Melville was familiar with John
Kitto's Cyclopediaof Biblical Literature,which
containssome scantyinformation on the Gnos-
tics. Of course, Gibbon had discussed them
brieflyin his Declineand Fall, as, stillearlier,had
PierreBayle in his Dictionary.But I have found
these sources incomplete:they do not contain
sufficientmaterialto cover all the Gnosticallu-
sions in Moby-Dick,such as the referenceto the
Ophitesin Chapterxli or the darkhintsconcern-
ing what Ahab calls the "sweet mother."
Melville's chiefsourcewas probablyAndrews
Norton'sThe Evidencesof theGenuinenessof the
Gospels, published in three volumes in 1844.
Widelyread and discussed,Norton'sstudywas a
scholarlylandmarkof the period.2Of this work,
writtenwithobviouspietyand remarkablelearn-
ing, Norton devoted the second and thirdvol-
272
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umes to evidencesfor the Gospels providedby
heretics.He believedthat such evidences,origi-
nating in disinterestedor, rather,independent
minds,wouldhave particularforcein provingthe
genuinenessof Scripture.In effect,his last two
volumes offeredmid-centuryAmericansa de-
tailed account of the doctrines,morals, and
mythsof thesecondcenturyGnostics,especially
of the Valentinianschool, the most elaborate
and, perhaps,exoticsect. Containedin the Evi-
dencesis most, possibly all, of the information
necessaryto understandthe Gnosticallusionsin
Moby-Dick.
AndrewsNortonhimselfmay be a memberof
thatclass ofdivineswhomMelvillesatirizeswith
thisportraitof a ship's chaplainin While-Jacket:
He enlargedupon the folliesof the ancientphilos-
ophers;learnedly alludedto thePhaedoofPlato;ex-
posed the folliesof Simplicius'sCommentary on
"De Coelo,"byarraying
Aristotle's againstthatclever
pagan authorthe admiredtractof Tertullian-De
Praescriptionibus
Haereticorunm-and concludedby a
Sanscritinvocation. He was particularlyhardupon
theGnostics andMarcionites ofthesecondcenturyof
theChristian era;buthe never,in theremotest man-
ner,attackedthe everydayvices of the nineteenth
century,as eminently in our man-of-war
illustrated
world.(Ch. xxxviii)
Nortondoes allude to the Phaedo of Plato, and
theEvidencescontainsan analysisofTertullian's
De PraescriptionibusHaereticorum.Certainly
Norton is bound to condemnthe Gnosticsand
Marcionitesof the second century,nor does he
considerthe "everydayvices of the nineteenth
century" suitable matter for his ecclesiastical
history.Indeed, he is ill-suitedto be a ship's
chaplain.3
This passage fromWhite-Jackel containsone
of Melville'srareexplicitreferences
to the Gnos-
tics.AfterMoby-Dick,we finda reference to them
1 See, for example,DortheeM. Finkelstein, Melville's
Orienda(NewHaven,1961),pp. 153,191.HowardB. Frank-
lin,in TheWakeoftheGods(Stanford, 1963),handleshis
material withcare,butdoesnotdiscussGnosticinfluences.
2 Lawrance Thompson, QuarrdwithGod(Prince-
Medville's
ton,1952),p. 430.
' Butperhaps Nortoncannotbe completelyidentified
with
theship'schaplain,whomMelvillesatiricallycallsa "tran-
scendental In A Discourse
divine"(Ch. xxxviii). ontheLatest
FormsofInfidelity (1839),Nortonlaid downunmistakable
linesofdemarcation between himself
and transcendentalists
foreignand domestic.Of course,thiswouldnotnecessarily
exempt himfrom Melville's
satire.
 ThomasVargish 273

in Clarel,4and in a poem fromTimoleoncalled time,conceived

oftheCreator,as exercising
a moral
"Fragmentsof a Lost GnosticPoem of the 12th government over men,as dispensingrewards,and
Century." inflicting
punishments.6
In Moby-Dickitself, Melville's single direct Fundamentally,therefore, the systemof the
reference is to a Gnosticsectcalledthe"Ophites." Gnosticsmay be seen as a reactionto and dis-
In Chapter xli, he pictures them worshipping satisfactionwiththeChristianattemptto explain
their"Statue-Devil" and compares them with theoriginofevil: "Their scheme,withoutdoubt,
Ahab who had personifiedall the "subtle de- is to be regarded,in part, as a crude attemptto
monismsoflifeand thought"in thewhitewhale. solve the existenceof evil in the world,a subject
From Norton's Evidences we learn that the whichengaged theirattentionin commonwith
Ophitesheld the commonGnosticopinionthat that of otherreligioustheoristsof theirage."7 In
the Creatorof the worldwas not the Supreme orderto explaintheexistenceofevil,theGnostics
God, nor was the Creatoreven thoughtto be at taughtthat the Creator,or Demiurge,was an in-
all spiritual,but opposed to the spiritualprinci- feriorand imperfectbeing, and that evil was
ple in man. The Ophites "honoredthe Serpent inherent in matter. "Imperfectionand evil,
for having thwartedhis [the Creator's]narrow therefore, werethenecessaryresultofthedefects
purposes,withdrawnour firstparentsfromtheir both of the workmanand of the material" (Evi-
allegianceto him,inducedthemto eat the fruit dences,II, 5).
of the treeof knowledge,and thusbroughtthem But not even in the dark metaphysicsof the
the knowledge of 'that Power which is over Gnosticswas man entirelysubjectto the Creator
All'."6 The Ophitestook the part of the serpent and his materialuniverse.The Creator'smother,
and representedhim as havinggivengood coun- called Sophia,was partofthespiritualworld,the
sel to Adam and Eve. Perhaps this helps to ex- Pleroma, and breatheda spiritualessence into
plain something Flask observes in Chapter man at his creation-withoutthe knowledgeof,
lxxiii,that the cane Fedallah carries"is a sortof or at least in defianceto, the Demiurge.She uses
carved into a snake's head." In return,Stubb agentsof her own,such as the prophetsand the
suggests that Fedallah is the devil, and "The historicalJesus, to communicatethe spiritual
reason whyyou don't see his tail is because he essence, the gnosis,to man. We shall see Ahab
tucksit up out of sight." invokeher.
Melville'sreferenceto the Ophitesis his most Each of these major branches of Gnostic
overtand generalGnosticallusionin Moby-Dick. thoughtservedMelville's art in Moby-Dick.We
Beforeproceedingto more obscurepassages re- may begin by tracingMelville's lastingconcern
quiringmore specificknowledge,it may prove withtheproblemof evil,thenmove on to watch
usefulto quote AndrewsNortonat lengthon the Ahab addresshimselfto a dark Sophia in pref-
fundamentaldoctrinesheld in commonby the erenceto the fieryCreator,and finallyentomb
Valentinians and the Marcionites. They be- ourselvesamong Ishmael's somberspeculations
lieved: upon matterand its disguises.
-That thematerialworld,thevisibleuniverse, was In Chapterlxxxviof Mardi, Taji comesupon
nottheworkoftheSupremeBeing,but ofa farin- a tribewhofollowwhat at firstseemsa mostpe-
ferioragent,theDemiurgus, ortheCreator, whowas
also theGodoftheJews;thatthespiritual world,the ' ClarelIII.v.39-60.
Pleroma, as itwascalled,overwhichthetrueDivinity E'Andrews Norton,TheEvidences oftheGenuineness ofthe
presided,and the materialworld,the realmof the Gospels (Cambridge,Mass., 1844),ii, 220.
6 Ibid., IH,21-23. In Clard iii.v.39-63, Melville demon-
Creator,were widelyseparatedfromeach other; strateshis knowledgeof two Gnosticdoctrinessummarized
thatevil was inherent in matter;thatthe material in thispassage fromNorton:thatJehovahwas authorofevil
world,bothas beingmaterial, and as beingthework and its God, and that Christwas his contrary.He compares
ofan inferior being,wasfullofimperfection andevil; thisdivineoppositionwiththe "less frank"modern"dismis-
thattheSaviordescended fromthespiritual world,as sion civil" betweena rod-wielding Jehovahand Jesusas the
a manifestation of theSupremeGod, to revealhim "indulgentGod." The idea that the God of theJewswas the
to men,to reform thedisorders hereexisting,and to imperfectCreator-Godratherthanthe SupremeBeingis also
deliverwhatever fromthedomination
is spiritual of ofinterestin theinterpretation ofBartleby, especiallyin con-
nectionwiththe viewsuggestedby JohnGardner,"Bartleby:
matter; andthattheSupreme Godhadbeenunknown Artand Social Commitment,"PQ, XLIII
(Jan. 1964), 87-98.
to men,to Jewsand Heathensequally,beforehis 7 Norton,Evidences,ii, 53. However,the "principalocca-
manifestation ofhimself by Christ.In theirview,he sion of the existenceof Gnosticism,"Nortongoes on to say,
was theGodoftheNewTestament, and theCreator "is to be found in the hereditaryaversion of Gentiles to
wastheGodoftheOldTestament. They,at thesame Judaism" (ibid.).

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274 Gnostic"Mythos"in "Moby-Dick"

culiarsuperstition.Anyeventunworthyof their interestedin conveyingmetaphysicaltruthsby

august gods and painfulto themselves,they at- means of fictionalnarratives.In this sense, the
tribute to malicious spirits called the Plujii. wordmythos describesMoby-Dickas well as the
Babbalanja, the philosopher,observes: systemof the Gnostics,thoughone be a protest
thatin ten
"For,Plujiior no Plujii,it is undeniable, and the otheran explanation.
thousand ways,as ifbya malicious agency,wemortals For Melville did not propose to explain evil
arewoefullyputoutand tormented; and that,too,by in Moby-Dick,not even as experiencedby his
thingsin themselves so exceedingly trivial,that it characters.Of Ahab's griefand pain Ishmael
wouldseemalmostimpietyto ascribethemto the says, "To trailthegenealogiesofthesehighmor-
augustgods.No; theremustexistsomegreatlyin- tal miseries,carriesus at last amongthe source-
feriorspirits;so insignificant,comparatively,as to less primogenituresof the gods .. . the gods
be overlooked by thesupernalpowers;and through themselvesare not foreverglad. The inefface-
themit mustbe,thatwearethusgrievously annoyed. able, sad birth-mark in the brow of man, is but
Atanyrate,sucha theory wouldsupplya hiatusinmy
ofmetaphysics." the stamp of sorrowin the signers" (Ch. cvi).
system
To understandthispassage fullywe shouldknow
This suggestive passage shows that Melville that in the Gnosticsystemthe spiritualuniverse
eitherknew of the systemof the Gnostics,or consists of a Supreme Being and a series of
possessed a frameof mind well preparedto re- "Aeons" emanatingfromhim. One of the outer-
ceiveit.' The Gnosticsystemwas designedto fill most of these,called Sophia or Wisdom,"falls"
Babbalanja's hiatus. throughan excessiveaspirationto approachthe
Ishmael, at the beginningof Moby-Dick,tells SupremeGod. Out of her griefand passion the
us of his similarconcern:"Not ignoringwhat is Demiurge,Creatorof the world,is born.It is to
good,I am quick to perceivea horror,and could these "primogenitures"(which I have greatly
stillbe social withit-would theylet me-since simplified)that Melville may refer,and to this
it is but well to be on friendlytermswithall the divinesorrow.
inmates of the place one lodges in" (Ch. i). Later Similarly,in the "Whiteness"chapterIshmael
he refersto life in the worldas "puttingup at observesthat"thoughin manyofits aspectsthis
thisgrimsign of the ThunderCloud" (Ch. xvi). visibleworldseemsformedin love, the invisible
And it seems likely to me that when Ishmael sphereswereformedin fright."I believehe may
confesseshe made a sorry lookout "with the be alluding to the "fall" of the Sophia, or, in
problemof the universerevolvingin me" (Ch. Norton's words: "in the developmentof beings
xxxv),theproblemhe refersto is eithertheprob- fromthe Divine Substance,inferiorto the Su-
lem of evil itself,or closelyconnectedwithit. preme,therewas a commencement of imperfec-
The Gnostic response to this "hiatus," how- tion, and consequent disorder, which finallyled
ever, was not to fillit with metaphysicalargu- to the productionof the materialworld" (Evi-
ment,forwhichPlatonicand Aristotelian models dences,ni, 125).
wereavailable, but to createwhat Nortoncalled To the Demiurge himself, the imperfect
a mythos: Creator God, references are veiled but plentiful.
A probablemythos, or,in otherwords,an imaginary The associationof the white whalewiththedeity
representation, supposedto have a semblance of the has been demonstrated conclusively.9 Of course,
truth, wasoftenall thatwasaimedat bytheancients Ahab's celebratedinsistencethat what he seeks
in similarspeculations. As such only,some of the is no dumbbrute,but a reasoning,maliciouswill,
moresoberGnostics mayhaveregarded theirtheories need not have been inspiredby Gnosticmythos:
concerning thespiritual world.It mightbe well,per- "All visibleobjects,man, are but as pasteboard
haps,especially in treating of thespeculations ofthe masks. But in each event-in the livingact, the
ancients,to adopt the termmythos into our own undoubteddeed-there, some unknownbut still
languagein one ofits ancientsenses,as denoting an reasoningthingputs forththe mouldingsof its
imaginary accountofunknown thingsor events,not
supposedto be truein its details,but intendedto theGnostics
' Melvillementions in Chapterclxx
explicitly
affect themindinthesamemanner as thetruth. ofMardi.Professor Sealtshas tracedthisreferenceto Mel-
(Evidences, Ii, 73) ville'sreadingof Proclus.See "Melville's'Neoplatonical
Originals',"MLN, Lxvii (Feb. 1952),82, nn. 6 and 8.
This passage, luminouswiththe mellowglow of 9 Thompson, pp. 147-242.How elseexplainAhab'srefer-
enceto thesinking hull,"andsuchre-
Pequod's"god-bullied
scholarly intelligence,refersprimarilyto the marksas "be thewhitewhaleagent,or be thewhitewhale
allegoricalcharacterof the Gnosticmythos,but I willwreakthathateuponhim.Talknottomeof
principal,
fora writer
it may have had literarysignificance blasphemy, man. . . "?

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 ThomasVargish
featuresfrombehind the unreasoningmask."'0
But I believethatthe allusionis to an imperfect,
materialgod,ratherthanto a SupremeBeing.So
Starbuckfearfullyobserves,"The white whale
is theirdemigorgon"(Ch. xxxviii). And atten-
tive readers of the "Candles" chaptermay re-
memberAhab's words to the fireon the masts,
whichhe treats as an epiphanyof his creator:
"There is some unsuffusing thingbeyond thee,
thouclear spirit,to whomall thyeternityis but
time, all thy creativenessmechanical." For a
clearerknowledgeof the object ofAhab's antag-
onism, we might adopt a suggestionmade by
Andrews Norton regardingthe Gnostic deity:
"By God, as here used . . . is to be understood,
not the Supreme Being but the Maker of this
world" (Evidences,iII, 3-4).
Ahab's language is not usually distinguished
by its simplicity;and yet themetaphysicalhints
concerning theDemiurgeseemmodelsoflucidity
whencomparedwiththisspeechfromthechapter
called "The Dying Whale": "Oh thou dark
Hindu halfofnature,who of drownedbones has
builded thy separate thronesomewherein the
heart of these unverduredseas; thou art an
infidel,thouqueen,and too trulyspeakestto me
in the wide-slaughtering typhoon." Obviously
Ahab cannotbe addressingthe whale,whichhe
refersto as "he," nor is he addressingGod. In-
deed, Ahab's invocation cannot be understood
preciselywithout a knowledgeof the Gnostic
myth of the fallen Mother-she who fell from
overweeninglove of the SupremeBeing, whose
passion producedthe Demiurgeof whomshe is
both the motherand the adversary.Norton as-
sociated her with the "female energy" wor-
shipped by the Hindus (Evidences,ii, 204-205)
and he noticed the coincidenceof her similar
positionin the theologyof India and in that of
the Gnostics: "In the Hindu theologywe find
likewisethestrangeconception,whichappearsin
theschemeof the Gnostics,ofassigninga spouse
to the SupremeBeing. 'The worshipof the fe-
male principle,'says ProfessorWilson, 'as dis-
tinct fromthe divinity,appears to have origi-
nated in the literal interpretation of the meta-
phoricallanguageof the Vedas . ... ' "'1
Ahab's speech may now be explained with
someconfidence. He refersto thefemaleprinciple
as Hindu because ofherplace in Hindu theology.
She is an "infidel,"likeAhab,not to theSupreme
Being, but to the Demiurge. Ahab continues,
"Yet dost thou, darker half, rock me with a
prouder,if a darker faith. All thy unnamable
imminglings,float beneath me here; I am
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275
buoyedby the breathsof once livingthings,ex-
haled as air,but waternow" (Ch. cxvi). In con-
nectionwiththispassage,Norton'slanguagehas
a peculiarlysuggestivequalitywherehe discusses
the GnosticGenesis:
We come,therefore, nextto the creationof Adam.
First,an earthysubstance wasformed bytheCreator,
not,however, ofthedustoftheearth,butofinvisible,
floatingmatter.This was a soul,or principle oflife,
similarto thatofbrutes.IntothisvehicletheCreator
breatheda rational(psychical)soul of the same
essencewithhimself; and the wholewas afterward
clothedwitha covering offlesh,
a bodyformed ofthe
earth.But into the rationalsoul whichproceeded
fromtheCreator, Achamoth [theMotheror Sophia],
unknownto him,infuseda portionof the spiritual
substancewhichshe had produced, a leavenof im-
mortality,a spirit.12
Ahab acknowledgesthisspiritualinfusionwhen,
facingthe spiritof fire,the "fieryFather," he
boasts,"Thoughbut a pointat best;whencesoe'er
I came; wheresoe'erI go; yetwhileI earthlylive,
thequeenlypersonalitylives in me, and feelsher
royalrights"(Ch. cxix). And he demandsof the
firewhat has become of his "sweet mother."
The allusionappearsto be to the Hindu queen
of threechaptersearlier,the Indian analogue of
the GnosticSophia, whomAhab invokesin her
ancientrole,as the divinechampionof the spiri-
tual in man againstthe Creatorof materialevil.
The sea, as Ahab declaresin the chaptercalled
"The Dying Whale," representsto himthehome
of the Sophia, an emanation"exhaled as air,but
water now." Ahab claims to be suckled by the
sea, that the billowsare his fosterbrothers(Ch.
cxvi). Containinghorrors,the sea serves as a
mediumoftruth,revealingit at timeseven to the
reluctantStarbuck.In the powerfullanguage of
the widelysignificant chapter,"The Lee Shore,"
Ishmael proclaimsthat "all deep, earnestthink-
10 Chapterxxxvi.Stubb preparesus for Ahab's assertion
when he says, "there'sa mightydifference betweena living
thumpand a dead thump.That's what makes a blow from
the hand, Flask, fiftytimesmoresavage to bear than a blow
froma cane. The livingmember-that makes the livingin-
sult, my little man" (Ch. xxxi). In Ahab's speech to Star-
buck, Stubb's commonsense opinion is elevated to meta-
physics,and "the livingmember"becomes"the livingact."
11 Evidences,iII, 116-117. ChapterlxxxiiofMoby-Dickcon-
cludeswitha jocularaccountofVishnu'stransformation into
a whalein pursuitof the Vedas.
12 Evidences, iII, 159-160. MillicentBell in "Pierre Bayle
and Moby-Dick,"PMLA, LXVI (Sept. 1951), 639-640,incor-
rectlytakes the "dark Hindu halfof Nature" to be an "evil
divinityof the sea." She failsto realizethat the darknessof
the femaleprinciple,in Ahab's thought,is a virtue:he has
been betrayedby the god offire,as willbe shown.
276 Gnostic"Mythos"iz "Moby-Dick"

ing is but the intrepideffort of the soul to keep Thus, Ahab once worshippedthefireas a Per-
the open independenceof her sea; while the sian, but afterhis injuriesit became associated
wildest winds of heaven and earth conspireto in his mindwiththe Demiurge.We have seen as
cast her on the treacherous,slavish shore. . . " well that the white whale representseitheran
But it is fire that representsevil to Ahab. "agent" of the Creator-Godor the "principal"
Characteristically,he associates it with the himself.The whitewhaleand thefireare brought
Demiurge. Drawing most of his evidence from togetherin thegreatchaptercalled "The White-
the "Candles" chapter, C. C. Walcutt argues ness of the Whale."
convincinglythat Ahab had formerlybeen a Ishmaelbegins,"What thewhitewhalewas to
fire-worshipper ofthePersianvariety,as, indeed, Ahab, has been hinted;what,at times,he was to
Ahab himself claims. Thus Walcutt traces me, as yet remainsunsaid." We expect,then,to
Ahab's religiousdevelopment: hear a littleabout Ishmael's metaphysics.Since
Beforethe openingof Moby-Dick, Ahab must be thisis Ishmael's,not Ahab's,chapter,it is impor-
assumedto haveacceptedtheChristian tant formy purpose to show that Ishmael too
beliefin the
goodnessand omnipotence of God. Speculation(or believes fireevil. And so he says in "The Try-
experience-the bookmovesonbothlevels)ledhimto Works": "Give not thyselfup, then,to firelest
recognizethepresence ofubiquitous evil.Stillon the
it invert thee, deaden thee; as for the time it
sideofthegood,Ahabrangedhimself againstevilanddid me." And thus, among his horriblewhite-
evenattempted to eradicateit. At thispoint,when nesses, he had classed the white fire,"by the
searchingoutevil,he was smitten, notbyevilbutby Persianfireworshippers, the whiteforkedflame
whathe had considered theelementof good.When
MobyDicksevered hisleg,whenlightning struck beingheld the holieston the altar."
him,
whenspeculation revealeda preponderance ofevilin Holy it may have been to the Persians,but to
thegrandschemeof being-thestorypresents Ahab and to Ishmael its whitenessis but a dis-
itself
on all theselevelsof meaning-Ahabturnedfroma guise of the Demiurge,and matteritselfa veil,
believerin good-menaced-by-evil to the desperateor,to use Ahab's words,a "mask," a "wall." Nor
convictionthatevil lay at theheartofreality.13 is the idea of the world'sblindnessto evil at all
new to Melville. As early as Redburnhe had
This is a mostperceptiveand just interpretation
writtenin highlyequivocal language: "We are
of the evidence.I wishto amend it onlyslightly
blind to the real sightsof this world;deaf to its
to say that Ahab had come to realize that evil
and dead to its death. And not till we
lay at the heart of materialreality,createdre- voice;
know, that one griefoutweighsten thousand
ality,thatsuch a realitywas a "mask," a "wall,"
joys,willwe becomewhatChristianity is striving
and this realization broke in upon him when
to make us" (Ch. lviii). But Ishmael,writinghis
Moby-Dick severedhis leg, when the lightning
storyof Moby Dick, has had his eyesopened.In
burnedhim whilehe worshippedit, in what he
the firstchapterhe remarks,"I thinkI can see
termsthe "sacramentalact."
a littleinto the springsand motiveswhichbeing
The fireon the masts representsan epiphany
of the Demiurgeto Ahab. He addressesit as his cunninglypresentedto me under various dis-
guises, induced me to set about performing the
creator,callingit "my fieryfather."But he re-
part I did . . . " And "Whiteness" comes to
jects its creativenessas "mechanical"; he per-
stand forthe disguisesof matter:all beauty,all
ceives some "unsuffusingthing" beyond it.
colors are "subtle deceits," "laid on fromwith-
Later Stubb will call himselfbrave "as fearless
out," so that "all deified Nature absolutely
fire,"and Ahab will mutter,"And as mechani-
paints like the harlot." "Pondering all this,"
cal . . (Ch. cxxxiv).Indeed, the lesson Ahab
Ishmael concludes,"the palsied universelies be-
learnsfromthe dyingwhale, whichfirstturned
foreus a leper."
towardthe sun and then away, is that the sun,
As the sourceoftheseideas, MillicentBell has
as fire,representsa manifestation of the Demi-
shown that PierreBayle, by means of a dialogue
urge.To the Hindu-SophiaAhab says, "Nor has
between two convenientpersonae,discussedthe
this thy whale sunwardsturnedhis dyinghead,
and thengone round again, withouta lesson to 13C. C. Walcutt,"The Fire Symbolism in Moby-Dick,"
me . . . " (Ch. cxvi). The whale's movements MLN, LIX (May 1944),306.D. M. Finkelstein in Melville's
serve as a revelationfromthe Sophia to Ahab. Orienda followsNewtonArvin inbelieving
thatfirerepresents
evil.Mrs.Finkelstein and Mrs.Bell,however,bothignore
Even in his own death does Ahab follow the Ahab's useofthepasttenseinthe"Candles"chapter-"Ias
whale's example,crying"I turnmy body from Persianoncedidworship"-andconsider himas a practicing
the sun" (Ch. cxxxv). fire-worshipper.

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 ThomasVargish 277

possibilitythat God disguisesthe truthfromour Ishmael adopts a phrase similarto Norton's,

perceptionby means of colors.'4 As Melville but reversesits meaning;or,moretruly,he here
enjoyed Bayle, this certainly constitutesone rejectsa Christianview of Creationand, witha
likelysource.Of greaterimportancephilosophi- hopelesspreference, assumeswhatcloselyresem-
cally,however,is the Gnosticdoctrineof evil as bles a Gnosticposition.
inherentin matter. The EvidencesoftheGenuinenessoftheGospels
In Norton'swords,"What is certainin regard meets the demands of a secondarysource for
to the Gnosticsin generalis, that theyregarded Melville'sknowledgeof Gnosticism.I have spec-
the principleof evil, whetheranimate or inani- ulated that it may have been AndrewsNorton,
mate, as inherentin matter.. . . They believed amongothers,whomMelville satirizedwithhis
the antagonistprinciplein the universeto have portraitof a ship's chaplainin White-Jacket, and
been by nature bad and residentin matter" that he may have dislikedNorton'ssuperiorat-
(Evidences,iii, 61-62). Melvillewas to make this titude toward Gnostic attemptsto account for
doctrinethe subject of "Fragments of a Lost theexistenceofevil,whichwas a lastingproblem
GnosticPoem of the 12th Century": for Melville and central to Moby-Dick.But it
Founda family, builda state, would be pointlessto claim that Melville used
The pledgedeventis stillthesame: theEvidencesexclusively.Otherequallyqualified
Matterin endwillneverabate works,of course,may yet be broughtforward.
His ancientbrutalclaim."6 What is more certain is that Melville freely
adopted the Gnosticmythos, whetheras exposed
But ifmatteris an evildisguise,and we depend
by Norton or someone else, especially as it
upon our senses, sensoryperceptionhas little
treated the "primogenitures of the gods," the
value in a searchfortruth.The Gnosticsthem-
imperfection and malice of the Creator,and the
selves distrustedall perceptionsbut the spiritual
virtueof the Sophia, the "sweet mother,"as the
revelationfromthe Sophia, the gnosis. In the
spiritual adversary of the Creator. Unless a
most importantpassage formy presentpurpose
reader of Moby-Dickpossesses some familiarity
in his entire work, Norton defendsthe world
withthis mythos, certainof Ahab's speeches,es-
againstthisGnosticdistrust,and we observethe
pecially in "The Dying Whale" and "Candles"
seemingparadox of a Christiandefenseof cor-
chapters,are explicable only as mad ranting;
poreality:
whereas,to the artisthimselfat least, theyhad
all material
thingsbecometo us onlyonevastdisplay profoundsignificance.Lastly, an acquaintance
of thepowerof God, in immediate action,and in- withthe Gnosticdoctrineof evil as inherentin
exhaustibly variedin its operations.The universe matterand the consequentuntrustworthiness of
consistsof finitespiritsembosomed in the Infinite
Spirit.Matterceasesto be theveil,and becomesthe sensory perception,considerablyexpands the
manifestation of God. We are continually in his meaningand assists in understandingthe chap-
so faras wecan,inanycase,speakof ter called "The Whitenessof the Whale."
visiblepresence,
thevisiblepresenceofHim,whois to be perceived by
any finitebeingonly throughthe displaysof his DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
power."6 Hanover,N. H.
In the "Whiteness" chapter in Moby-Dick,
Ishmael concludes that it is light "operating 14 "Pierre Bayle and Moby-Dick," p. 648.
withoutmediumupon matter"thatproducesthe ' CollectedPoems, ed. Howard P. Vincent, (Chicago,
veiling color. Norton's contentionthat matter 1947), p. 234. The secondstanza runs:
"ceases to be the veil, and becomesthe manifes- Indolenceis heaven's ally here,
And energythe child of hell:
tation of God" is invertedby Ishmael, who, in The Good Man pouringfromhis pitcherclear,
his penultimateparagraph,calls whiteness"the But brimsthe poisonedwell.
veryveil of the Christian'sDeity." 16Evidences,iI, appendix,p. xxxvi.

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