The Duality of Man in Moby Dick

The Duality of Man in Moby Dick

In Herman Melville’s novel, Moby Dick, every character is a symbol of the

good and evil sides of humanity. However, none of the characters represent

pure evil or pure goodness. Even Melville’s description of Ahab, whom he

repeatedly refers to monomaniacal, which suggests he is driven insane by one

goal, is given a chance to be seen as a frail, sympathetic character.

Ishmael represents the character with the most good out of the crew, though

his survival is unclear because he never had a direct adversary to overcome.

He has his moments when evil thoughts pervade his mind. The unclearness of

morals in the universe is prevalent throughout Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

The outcome of choosing good or evil can not be seen as favorable or just.

Ahab, is the main human character of the novel. He is also the captain

of the vessel and is seen as the representative of evil. Then there is

Ishmael the young seaman making his first real voyage. He is pure in

comparison with Ahab because he lacks the need for revenge. Ultimately, it

is the dichotomy between the respective fortunes of Ishmael and Ahab that the

reader is left with. Herein lies a greater moral ambiguity than is

previously suggested. Although Ishmael is the sole survivor of the Pequod,

it is notable that in his own way, Ahab fulfills his desire for revenge by

ensuring the destruction of the White Whale alongside his own death.

Despite the seeming superiority of Ishmael’s destiny, Melville does not

explicitly indicate so. On the contrary, he subtly suggests that Ishmael’s

survival is lonely and empty upon being rescued: "It was the devious-cruising

Rachel, that in her retracing se...

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hierarchy, and in doing so, remains ambiguous. The reader is then left with

the possibility of assigning symbolic relations between the characters. If

looked at from the grandest scale, it is possible to see the whale and the

sea as a morally ambivalent cosmos. If so, then the fault of Ahab and the

crew of the Pequod is their futile attempt to master a force of nature far

beyond their comprehension, and are destroyed for it. The image of Ishmael

floating helplessly upon the ocean, without even the wreckage of the Pequod

then becomes a strikingly lonely image of humanity adrift in a universe

neither good nor evil. The uncertainty of each characters final outcome

leads one to wonder whether good or evil has triumphed in this novel.

Works Cited:

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. Ed. Charles Child Walcutt. New York: Bantam, 1967.