Essay about Mobey Dick - 1456 Words

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Herman Melvilles Moby Dick is a book which can be read as a general metaphor for the battle between the evil powers of the Devil versus the divine powers of God and Jesus, both try to obtain the souls of mankind in order to assist in each others destruction. In this metaphor, the Devil is shown through the person of Captain Ahab, God becomes nature, Jesus is seen as the White Whale, and the representation of mankind is the crew. The voyage of the Pequod, therefore, is a representation of a similar voyage of mankind on earth, until the death of Jesus, during the whole thing the influences of these three â€Å"supernatural forces† are connected. Thus, the basis of this idea is that†¦show more content†¦quot;The hand of fate had snatched all their souls, and by the stirring perils of the previous day; the rack of the past nights suspense; the fixed, unfearing, blind, reckless way in which their wild craft went plunging towards its flying mark; by all these things, their hearts were bowled along. The wind that made great bellied sails, and rushed the vessel on by arms invisible as irresistible; this seemed the symbol of that unseen agency which so enslaved them to the race,quot; (p.606) Relating to the metaphor, this passage can be viewed as giving the possibility of God as symbolized through the medium of nature in Moby Dick. The quot;wind†, thought about in this sense, is an quot;unseen agencyquot; of the motivation of God, which leads men’s souls to the right paths. However, it is not a representational term found just in Melvilles book. This quot;windquot; appears as an indication of God in the opening lines of the book of Genesis, and can also represented when God breathes life into man. Another similarity between the Biblical representation of God and this passage is shown through the thought of arms. Just as God acts in the Bible by stretching out his right arm and commanding good or