MOBY DICK

Themes
1. Limits of Knowledge
One of the novel’s primary themes is that neither nature nor human life can be understood perfectly. At times during the
voyage, the Pequod’s crewmembers reflect, with feelings ranging from cheerful resignation to despair, on the uncertainty
of their fate. This uncertainty parallels the doubts of religious faith. Ishmael notably remarks that “our souls are like those
orphans whose unwedded mothers die in bearing them: the secret of our paternity lies in their grave, and we must there to
learn it.” The implication is that complete knowledge of oneself and of God comes only in death. Ignorance is a condition
of human life. Human ignorance is also represented by a lack of knowledge, among the Pequod’s crew at sea, about the
world beyond its sight: the vessel must rely on encounters with other ships to gather news and information, as well as to
gather clues about where Moby Dick might be.
In this way, the Pequod’s doomed pursuit of Moby Dick symbolizes man’s futile pursuit of complete knowledge. In
explaining life at sea and the nature of whales, Ishmael’s narrative teems with detailed references to scientific, religious,
historical, and literary texts relating to the whale and whaling history. However, Ishmael also emphasizes that the whale is
“the one creature in the world which must remain unpainted to the last,” and that the only way to know what a whale is
really like is to go whaling oneself—a dangerous, often fatal enterprise. The whale, in its ultimate mystery, represents the
limits of human knowledge.
2. Fate and Free Will
Despite their awareness of the limits of human knowledge, Ishmael and other characters are often trying to interpret signs
of the world around them in order to determine their fates. At the beginning of the book, Ishmael intimates that it was fate
that led him to decide, after many merchant voyages, to sign up for a whaling ship—although at the time it felt like he was
doing so of his own free will. Over the course of the novel, it remains a question whether fate is a real force driving the
book’s events or whether it is something that exists primarily in characters’ minds.
As Ishmael and Queequeg head towards the Pequod to set sail, a mysterious and intimidating stranger named Elijah (like
the Biblical prophet) drops ominous hints about the voyage they have ahead. Prophecies, portents, and superstitions are a
major part of life on board the Pequod. No one believes more strongly in fate than Ahab, whose monomaniacal pursuit of
Moby Dick is based, not just on the desire for revenge, but a belief that it is his destiny to slay the whale. This belief,
combined with his egotism, actually leads him to ignore three major omens which suggest the voyage is doomed: the
breaking of his quadrant, the compass needles going haywire after a storm, and the snapping of the ship’s log-line. It remains
unclear whether it is fate or Ahab’s own free will that leads to his ruin.
3. Nature and Man
The novel centers on man's multi-faceted interaction with nature, whether by trying to control or tame it; understand it;
profit from it; or, in Ahab’s case, defeat it. The book implies that nature, much like the whale, is an impersonal and
inscrutable phenomenon. Man tends to treat nature as an entity with motives or emotions, when in fact nature is ultimately
indifferent to man. The cautious and pragmatic Starbuck is one character who sees the whale as just an animal; he
admonishes Ahab for seeking revenge on Moby Dick, saying, “To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab, seems
blasphemous.” Ahab gives a long reply that suggests he sees the whale, not just as an animal, but as the mask for a higher
entity, “some unknown but still reasoning thing… That inscrutable thing is chiefly what I hate; and be the white whale
agent, or be the white whale principal, I will wreak that hate upon him. Talk not to me of blasphemy, man; I’d strike the sun
if it insulted me.” The novel portrays this defiance as both insane and blasphemous, contrasting it with the attitude of
Starbuck, who avoids foolish risks and remains aware that he is there to kill whales for a living “and not to be killed by
them for theirs.”
4. Race, Fellowship, and Enslavement
The book explores many different forms of equality, fellowship, and enslavement in human relations. A notable example
of fellowship and racial tolerance is Ishmael’s close friendship with Queequeg. Although Ishmael is initially repulsed and
terrified by Queequeg’s appearance and background, he soon perceives Queequeg to be principled, loyal, affectionate, and
talented. The two men become “married,” in Queequeg’s parlance, meaning that they vow to join their fates and lay down
their lives for each other.
The organization of the Pequod is portrayed as more meritocratic and less racist than society at large. The crew is racially
diverse, with rank and pay dependent on skill; meanwhile, the men are financially interdependent, since none of them are
paid upfront and any profit will arise from collective success. This interdependence also takes a physical form: Ishmael
notes that the Pequod is distinct among whaling boats in that a harpooner and the crew member in charge of holding onto
him with a rope are tied together, so that if the harpooner is dragged into the sea, the corresponding crew member will be
dragged down too.
The Pequod does parallel conventional society in that the captain and mates are all white, while all the harpooners working
under them (as well as many lower-order crew members) are non-white. However, all members of the Pequod’s crew are
subject to Ahab’s whims and bouts of frenzy; in this sense, they are all equally enslaved. Early in the novel, Ishmael asks
rhetorically, “Who ain’t a slave?” He is referring to the fact that most people, and not just sailors like him, live at the beck
and call of others; everybody follows orders, and everybody is subjugated in some way. Notably, Ishmael’s chosen name
(“Call me Ishmael,” he says in the opening chapter, making it unclear whether it is his real or assumed name) is Biblical in
origin, and refers to the Prophet Abraham’s son with the slave woman Hagar.
5. Madness
Through the contrasting characters of Ahab and Pip, the novel presents two very different portraits of madness and its
consequences. Throughout the voyage, Ahab’s madness holds sway over the sanity of other characters, most notably his
reasonable and prudent first mate Starbuck. Insanity of a different kind is seen in Pip who, like Ahab, goes mad after a
traumatic experience at sea. However, while Ahab’s madness propels him to action, Pip’s madness effectively paralyzes
him and leaves his mind empty. Perhaps fittingly, then, Pip is the only person on board with whom Ahab develops an
affectionate and protective relationship.
One of the interesting implications of madness aboard the Pequod, however, is the willingness of the members of the crew
to go along with Ahab’s strange quest, even when they recognize how difficult, perhaps impossible, it would be to find a
single whale in all the oceans of the world. But the crew of the Pequod does sign on for the whale-hunt, motivated not
simply by the presence of the gold doubloon (which eventually goes down with the ship), but by the mania Ahab has
encouraged, the “monomaniacal” pursuit for one whale.
6. Religion
Religion is a major point of reference for Ishmael. In New Bedford, before the voyage, he visits a “Whaleman’s Chapel”
and hears a long and heated sermon, delivered by the stern Father Mapple, that centers on the story of Jonah and the whale.
The sermon recounts Jonah’s futile attempt to flee God, and suggests that the harder Jonah tries to escape, the harsher
becomes his punishment. Father Mapple emphasizes that, after being swallowed by the whale, Jonah does not pray for
deliverance, but accepts his punishment. Only then does God relent and bring Jonah to safety. After being saved from the
whale and the sea, Jonah goes on, in Father Mapple’s words, “[t]o preach the Truth to the face of Falsehood.” Jonah’s
preaching parallels Ishmael’s eventual telling of his own whaling story, when he becomes (whether through luck, fate, or
divine intervention) the lone survivor of the Pequod’s wreck.
Although heavy with references to the Bible and Christianity, the book does not espouse one religion, instead suggesting
that goodness can be found in people of any faith. After striking up a friendship with Queequeg, Ishmael quickly becomes
tolerant of his new friend’s religion, even going so far as to participate in Queequeg’s ritual homage to a carven idol—a
practice explicitly forbidden by Christianity. Religious tolerance is also a notable part of life on board the ship, with so-
called heathens and Christians working side by side.