Man Against God in Moby Dick

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Man Against God in Moby Dick

Thee Works Cited "God, God is against thee, old man; forbear! 'tis an ill voyage! ill begun; ill continued..." (418). Humanity has embarked on a journey. A journey of choice that will lead into the end days; one which will determine mankind's fate and weave the mat of life to completion. Humanity, like Captain Ahab, has chosen to follow the direction of his own desires rather than reason and faith. Refusing to hear the voice of reason, man has seared Starbuck-his conscience and morals-to "a lipless, unfeatured blank" (459). Following the desires of the flesh, he has thrown out the compass and declared himself "lord of the level loadstone" (425). And like Captain Ahab, humanity will suffer the consequences of "all his fatal pride" (425).

Every person who lives believes he posses the power, the free will, to weave his mat of life, to make the designs come out the way he wishes. Yet, when the time of decision comes, every one will let "the ball of free will [drop] from [his] hand" and follow Captain Ahab in pursuit of the heart's passion and the mind's fantasy. The pressure of Ahab's voice drives the crew to compliance, and only Starbuck dares to stand up to him. But even Starbuck's courage wavers and he is unable to hold his ground. Seared into white noise, his silent pleas for obedience are seldom heard over Ahab's commands. For "[s]uch was the thunder of [Ahab's] voice," that "the men sprang over the railing" and into the sea (187).

Ahab realizes the power he has and declares it many times outright. Yet he does not respect the authority granted to him and abuses it by taking his ship and crew on a voyage of revenge and "foolish, impious ...

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... of God. Mankind has chosen to ignore the orders of the ship owners and the warnings of the compass, and like Ahab, has declared himself "immortal on land and sea" (411); therefore, "[I]nspite of all that mortal man could do," there will be "[r]etribution, swift vengeance" (468). "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place..." (381)

Works Cited

The Holy Bible. Concordance and end-of-verse references ed. by Russell L. Surls.

The Authorized King James Version. Iowa, World Bible Publishers, 1986.

Melville, Herman. Moby Dick: An Authoritative Text; Reviews and Letters by Melville; Analogues and Sources; Criticism. A Norton Critical Edition. Ed. Harrison Hyford and Hershal Parker. New York, W. W. Norton and Company, Inc. 1967.

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