Analysis of Moby-Dick

The crew grew in eagerness as Ahab reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden doubloon that glistened in the sun. Previously, the crew had no interaction with Ahab; they only knew him by odd sightings and hyperbolic tales. Yet there he stood, with a single doubloon held high into the heavens, as he declared: “Whoever of ye raises me a white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow and a crooked jaw; whosoever of ye raises me that white headed whale with three holes punctured in his starboard fluke – look ye, whosoever of ye raises me that same white whale, he shall have this gold ounce, my boys” (Melville 233). With this golden doubloon, Ahab convinces his crew to hunt for the great ravaging monster known as Moby-Dick. In a story about implications and perspectives, where narratives shift from character to character, what does a doubloon mean to the crew? Melville paints the crew of the Pequod into a microcosm of actual society; every character represents some human facet and the golden coin nailed to the mast peers into the souls of each shipmate. The coin’s imprinted imagery is interpreted differently by each crew member, which leads the reader to ask what this piece of gold means. Why is a crew following a monomaniacal tyrant into the depths of hell? Although the coin shows us that each character has a specific motive for the actions he commits, ultimately the reader realizes that meaning is not integral to any single situation - like the hunt for the whale - every man must hunt for his meaning.

Simply, to some sailors, the talisman implanted against the mast is only a symbol for the possible wealth ahead. As the previous quote stated: “whosoever of ye raises me raises that sam...

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... of his leg, he will be the one that is nailed down because of the inner fury directing him towards his own grave.

Ultimately, it is the role of the reader to find meaning within this epic work. The doubloon stands as an allegory for the choices a man must make and the reasons for those choices. Each character throughout the passage, from Ishmael to Ahab, has separate reasons for partaking in the voyage to hunt for Moby-Dick. These characters represent different emotions and different reasoning of humans, however, they all are guided under one banner and one cause. The reader is left to dissect what each crew member is looking for and why Melville wrote this work. But perhaps it is this very pursuit for meaning that comprises Melville’s deep and elaborate story about a man and a whale.

Works Cited:

Herman Melville, Moby-Dick or, The Whale (Modern Library)