Fate_and_Destiny_in_Moby_Dick

Fate and Destiny Herman Melville had an interesting assortment of odd jobs growing up as a young adult, but what he seemed to love as much as writing was the sea. Melville worked on whaling ships and experienced many adventures at sea. He turned many of his stories into best selling books. Melville’s most acclaimed novel, Moby Dick, wasn’t even that popular when he was alive. It wasn’t until twenty-five years after his death that Melville and his work were fully appreciated. Moby Dick was a novel that was too advanced for the time period. It was a radical antebellum novel in which Melville introduced the unpopular, uncommon racial and religious tolerance. Society was not ready or able to comprehend Melville’s work. Philosophy was intricately woven into the text as well as the interrelationship between fate and destiny similar to the Greek tragic hero. Through the chapters “Loomings”, “Chowder”, “Going Aboard”, “Merry Christmas”, and “Ahab”, Melville highlights this notion and creates his own “American tragic hero” through one memorable character emerging late in the novel. “Loomings”, the first chapter of the book begins with a small but strong statement, “Call me Ishmael” (18). Ishmael in the Old Testament was the eldest son of Abraham, but he was not the legitimate child. Because of his illegitimacy, Ishmael was an outcast. Melville can be easily seen through the character of Ishmael, especially since he too had experience with isolation and abandonment after his many voyages at sea. Ishmael in Moby Dick is verging on being suicidal but instead turns to the sea hoping for some sort of employment that he could attain. “Loomings” to some may not be an incredibly insightful chapter, but Ishmael refers to the Fates a number of times. The Fates in Greek mythology controlled human destiny, Clotho spun the thread of life, Lachesis measured it, and Atropos cut it. He even admits that he realized exactly why he has decided to work on a whaling vessel, because the Fates have decided. “Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those stage managers, the Fates, put me down for this shabby part of a whaling voyage […]” (22). Ishmael in “Loomings” previously admitted that his fate is not in his hands, it has already been determined and what is willed will be. In this chapter Ishmael is already foreshadowing the ending, because it has already been decided. Melville through this chapter established the basis for a classic Greek tragedy. In chapters’ one through fourteen, there are many different omens, especially in “Chowder”, that Ishmael finds peculiar i.e.; Coffin the innkeeper, the tombstones in the chapel, the black pots and the gallows. “Two enormous wooden pots painted black, and suspended by asses' ears, swung from the cross-trees of an old top-mast, planted in front of an old doorway. The horns of the cross-trees were sawed off on the other side, so that this old top-mast looked not a little like a gallows” (64). The imagery haunts Ishmael and he hopes that it is not a sign of the uncertain future. In following chapters, both Ishmael and Queequeg sign onto the Pequod whaling ship. But in chapter twenty-one, “Going Abroad”, the two of them run into a mysterious character as they are on their way to board the ship, Elijah. Elijah in the Bible was a prophet who made many prophesies and played a large role in the life of King Ahab. Elijah in Moby Dick repeatedly warns Ishmael about this voyage and also tells him that on Captain Ahab’s last passage, he prophesied that Ahab would lose a leg, which he did. In “Going Aboard”, Ishmael and Queequeg see many figures darting through the misty dawn. Elijah wishes them well on their journey, but poses a question that disturbs Ishmael. “Did ye see anything looking like men going towards that ship a while ago'" Struck by this plain matter-of-fact question, I answered, saying, "Yes, I thought I did see four or five men; but it was too dim to be sure." […] "See if you can find 'em now, will ye'"” (97-98). Ishmael is confused by this question at first, and once aboard does not see a living breathing soul. Not a single person is awake even though Captain Ahab is already on board. Ishmael wonders why no one is visible and still mulls over what Elijah said. Later on in the novel when Ishmael is having moments of doubt, the voice of Elijah enters his head. He ponders what became of those figures and what may become of himself on a ship with a captain that has yet to be seen. Chapter twenty-two “Merry Christmas” is full of the hustle-bustle of the crew preparing the ship to depart later in the day. Peleg and Bildad the ship owners are running about making sure all the supplies are in order and reassuring all the crew members that Ahab, the mysterious captain is in fact okay and not to worry. Peleg is a little drunk and has slurred speech while addressing men. Bildad tells the men to not forget their prayers for they will need them for the next four years. The origins of the word “goodbye” are resolute in this chapter, goodbye meaning “God be with ye”. Bildad is anxious for the men to have a safe and successful journey, while Peleg wants to leave as soon as possible. “Ship and boat diverged; the cold, damp night breeze blew between; a screaming gull flew overhead; the two hulls wildly rolled; we gave three heavy-hearted cheers, and blindly plunged like fate into the lone Atlantic” (104). Ishmael muses his fate aboard. Concluding this chapter, the Pequod and the crew are alone against the Atlantic. For another six chapters the vital person, the captain still had not appeared on deck, until chapter twenty-eight “Ahab”. He enters through the mist and is standing upon the quarter deck. “Reality outran apprehension […]” (120). Ahab is just as appears; ghostly, made of Bronze, a marked man, and unalterable. “An ungodly Godlike man” (120). Ishmael in awe if such a man begins speculation of him. In his mind, he hears Elijah’s voice. All of the prophecies and omens thus far in the novel add up. Ishmael is more afraid of Ahab than he could have ever imagined. To Ishmael, Ahab had a preternatural air about him. He was every bit mysterious as everything he had heard. Now more than ever, Ishmael begins to think about his fate and destiny aboard the Pequod. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus’ fate was carved in stone in Book I. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’ fate was also set in the very beginning of the play, as was Macbeth in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. All three of these pieces of classical literature have two things in common: omens and the tragic hero. The hero’s fate is always known in the very beginning the text. The hubris of Odysseus put him in difficult situations that further hindered him from returning home to Penelope and Telemachus. With Ahab he didn’t necessarily have hubris but his need to avenge the White Whale caused him to have this sense of arrogance and invincibility. The White Whale can be seen as the Cyclops in The Odyssey. Omens play a large role in all four works, but Ahab and Macbeth in their pride interpret their predictions faultily; both believe that they are immortal. Fedallah, who was one of the “phantoms” in “Going Aboard”, tells Ahab that he will not die until he sees two hearse’s float by; one not built by man, one build by American oak, Fedallah will die before him, and hemp will kill Ahab. But in the final scenes of the novel, Fedallah’s whale boat is the first one to be struck down upon and killed by the White Whale. Ahab flashes back to Fedallah’s prophesy but must continue. Ahab jumps onto the White Whale, the hearse not made by man, and gets caught in the harpoon rope and drowns. Death by hemp. After Moby Dick demolishes the rest of the whaling boats, he went after The Pequod and sunk it. The hearse made by American oak. And the sole survivor is Ishmael, as Odysseus was the sole survivor. In the end everything that was foreshadowed came true in Moby Dick, The Odyssey, Oedipus Rex, and Macbeth. Melville wanted to create an “American tragic hero” based off of the classics with their tragic heroes and their quests. Melville truly accomplished his goal of creating the “American tragic hero” and produced a new standard for future American heroic literature. Melville’s Moby Dick is a novel unlike any other. It goes into much depth over things normally overlooked. It was a radical novel for the time era. Melville highlights the ideas of fate and destiny within the novel in metaphors and philosophical expressions. Melville truly accomplished his goal of creating the “American tragic hero” and produced a new standard for future American heroic literature. Works Cited Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. 2nd Edition. Hershel Parker, and Harrison Hayford. New York: W.W. Norton Company Inc. 2002.