Ahab in Moby-Dick as an “He’s a grand ungodly, god-like man.` A charcter analysis of him.

Heaven and Hell on Earth

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Ishmael and Queequeg board a Pequod that betrays an inexplicable tranquillity after what appeared to be the entrance of a number of other sailors . The sailors , however , prove to be merely spectral , as all Ishmael and Queequeg find aboard is a sleeping sailor . They soon forget the mystery of the situation when Queequeg takes out his tomahawk pipe and reminisces about his past as connected with it . The tomahawk pipe has

been both an object of his defence and his comfort , as he has used it to kill his enemies and to soothe his soul . Queequeg shares his pipe with Ishmael , and as they pass it back and forth between them , the sleeping sailor awakens . He greets the smokers , and briefly mentions the captain . The dual nature of the pipe can at that moment be placed in comparison with the Captain Ahab . But Ishmael is thwarted in his attempt to find out more about him . Like the tomahawk pipe , a duality of purpose and of effect can indeed be found in the captain of the Pequod : Ahab , in whom can be found traits linking him to both God and the devil . Captain Peleg pin-points this duality in him , referring to him as both godlike and ungodly . The oxymoron presented in this reference underscores the mystery surrounding this captain , and his depiction in the novel is as one with a dual nature and a dual purpose , one who is at once godly and ungodly . He seeks the white whale , and throughout the voyage reveals the varied color of his own soul

For the first several chapters of the novel , Ahab lies shrouded in mystery . He is mentioned , but never seen . Yet , he is spoken of with reverence and awe , even by those who share a similar title . Captain Peleg says of him , Oh ! He ain 't Captain Bildad no , and he ain 't Captain Peleg he 's Ahab , boy and Ahab of old , thou knowest , was a-crowned king ' gracing Ahab with the name of a king , and endowing him with all the grandness of royalty . Yet , superadded to that is a hallowed quality that adds its weight even to his name . His name is like that of Yah-Weh : it must be spoken with reverence or not at all . Ahab 's initial facelessness accords with this idea , too , as in the Old Testament God lets man know that he cannot see His face . In the same way , Peleg lets Ishmael know that Ahab is not accustomed to seeing anyone . He remains in this godlike mystery for a large portion of the book , invisibly enshrined within his cabin ' As a shrine is both a place of worship and a tomb , he is Christ-like as he seems to be buried and untouchable in his cabin

Ahab also proves himself akin to a god in the way he rallies his men 's support for the whale expedition . Ahab admits that Moby Dick was the whale that reduced him to his current state , and his vengeance is what drives him to chase the whale around the flames of perdition . This idea is reminiscent of Christ 's descent to hell in pursuit of the devil 's authority , and Ahab identifies himself as a god who regains his power from one Moby Dick who has usurped it . Later on , he passes around a cup which again identifies him with Christ , who in a similar way ministered to his disciples at the Last Supper before embarking on his expedition to the cross . Ahab 's expedition draws near , too , and he borrows saintliness in his identification with Christ . He even claims the regal or papal power to anoint his men , conferring nobility and honor upon three of them . Melville writes , It seemed as though , by some nameless interior volition , he would fain have shocked into them the same fiery emotion accumulated within the Leyden jar of his own magnetic life ' He exudes a divine magnetism in the way he draws the men to himself . The men continue to respond to him as though he were a god , and at the wave of his hand , though they are drunk , they all disperse

In his death , too , can be seen aspects of the god who gives his life to the cause . It is mentioned in chapter twenty-three that the death of a mariner (at sea ) can transform him into a god . Yet , somewhere in all this deification , Ahab falls from grace , as a demonic nature is revealed . In fact , in chapter twenty-three there is a hint that his godlike qualities radiate from something of a baser quality . The final paragraph of that chapter implies the possibility of the representation of God in the meanest of mariners . Though it speaks literally of another man , it foreshadows the descent of Ahab into the vortex created by the sinking of the Pequod . His apotheosis ' leaps up from ocean-perishing ' and this shows that his saintly ascent to the status of a god is through a descent to Hades . This implies that the godlike qualities as demonstrated by Ahab may stem from something more sinister , deadly , and demoniacal

He is directly identified in this negative way later on in the text . He is no longer enshrined . Rather , he is described as a grey-headed ungodly old man , chasing with curses a Job 's whale ' and the subtlety of this lies in the comparison of the whale to Job , a man to whom cruelty was dealt out , but who did nothing to deserve it . The whale is placed in a position of innocence , and that places Ahab on the guilty side . He is accused of wickedness , of unprovoked vengeance . He is the satanic hero , who lost his leg (like the devil lost his pre-eminence with God ) because of presumption . He encroached upon the whale 's territory and received the due price for his sins . Now , the evil inherent in him does not allow him to see the justice in his lost leg and he cries out for ungodly vengeance . This cry for vengeance is even more satanic in light of God 's declaration that vengeance belongs to him . Here , again , Ahab identifies with the devil in repeating his sin of attempting to identify himself with God

His men that follow him are representative of the angels who were cast out with the devil . One get the feeling that such a crew , so officered , seemed specially picked and packed by some infernal fatality to help him to his monomaniac revenge ' and the men appear to become imbued with the evil that originates with Ahab . They are governed by the one whose task is infernal . Ahab unleashes his men upon the sea , off the course dictated by the owners of the ship . He is satanic in his determination to use his men and the Pequod to complete a task for which they have no official mandate

Ahab 's satanic quality is also represented in his commitment to darkness that is evident in one of the later chapters . Here he is seen as being the devil 's advocate , as Starbuck takes the flame that lights Ahab 's harpoon as a sign of God 's displeasure . The flame is described as forked , and in that image lie two references to the devil : his infernal fire and his torturous fork . Yet Ahab must have darkness , and rids the Pequod of all its light . He extinguishes the last flame and with that the last fear of all the men . His demonic nature makes it necessary for him to remove the light , as light and dark ought not to mingle . In fact this might mark the point at which he rids himself of his virtue and sacrifices all to the fulfilment of his evil plan

Further on in the novel , in the episode where the compass is affected by the lightning , the direction of the compass needles (in reference to the direction of the ship ) represents Ahab 's state of mind . He is one who feels himself justified in his quest for the white whale . Just as the needles point east while the Pequod goes west , so Ahab defiantly goes the wrong way , despite the uncertainty of the situation . His soul 's magnetic and unrelenting evil incites fear in his men , whose fear of Ahab was greater than their fear of fate ' Satanic hubris is also a player in this episode , as he feels himself capable of navigating the ship without the aid of a compass . He declares himself lord of the loadstone , and he is described as possessing a fatal pride ' similar to that of Satan when he was cast out of heaven . His pride causes him to think himself a god . In contrast to this , however , when Pip asks mercy of the big white God ' it seems very possible that the whale is better represented by each adjective . Since Ahab is the whale 's antagonist , he then becomes the equivalent of the devil

Ahab has an introspective moment where he voices several of the questions that readers have concerning his nature . He expresses confusion about the origins of his passions

What is it , what nameless , inscrutable , unearthly thing is it what cozening , hidden lord and master , and cruel , remorseless emperor commands me that against all natural lovings and longings , I so keep pushing , and crowding , and jamming myself on all the time recklessly making me ready to do what in my own proper , natural heart , I durst not so much as dare ? Is Ahab , Ahab

Here it is seen that Ahab has been so consumed by the sinister lust for vengeance that he no longer knows who he is . His actions no longer reflect him , but are the actions of an evil-doer . His past passions are lost to him , and he cannot do what he really wants he must carry out the desires of something other than himself . He is possessed of a demon and that demon has obscured the man that Ahab was to have been . In his place is a cruel master who , as Satan leads men into sin , leads his men remorselessly toward their death . Then , when he looks over to the dark side of the rail and into the water , Fedallah 's eyes are what he sees reflecting back at him . One gets the feeling that Fedallah , that most mysterious of all prophets of doom , and whom the sailors call the devil has been trying to pull the captain over to the dark side

Returning to the earlier scene where Ahab passes the flask for his soldiers to drink , one can detect a satanic quality creeping into the sacrament . Ahab describes the drink as hot as Satan 's hoof [ .] It spiralizes in ye forks out at the serpent-snapping eye ' and this coupled with the scene where he baptizes the harpoon in the name of Satan , crystallizes the image of Ahab as messenger and worshiper of Satan . The drink seems to do the very same thing that Ahab does to these sailors . It gets inside them and imbues them with its spirit and passion . Ahab possesses his men like a demon who desires an army to do its work

Between the two spectrums of good and evil lies a compromise in human form . Often , Ahab 's two tendencies mingle , and each might be said to lessen the effects of the other . Ahab shows himself human in his willingness to relent and fix the casks of oil that were depleting the profits of the whaler . In another instance , his humanity becomes evident in his weariness of the expedition . This is the episode in which the sailors talk of their families , and one remembers that it was once mentioned that Ahab has a young wife and an infant child . He is seen here as someone with whom one can sympathize . This is especially evident in the pathos of the scene in which he gazes at his reflection in the lake . The water delivers up an image , and Ahab sees himself for the puppet he has become

Herman Melville portrays a complex character in his depiction of Ahab The man possesses the qualities of divinity living in the depths of the demonic . He is godlike in his mystery , in the way he communes with his men , and in the magnificence of his presence as he anoints the sailors for the expedition . Yet mingled with all this is his demonism . He possesses his sailors in the same way that a demon would , filling them with his quest for the blood of a blameless whale . Ahab openly baptizes objects in the name of Satan and dishonors the Communion by mimicking it and then applying to it demonic qualities . Even his name grants him evil qualities . However , in this mingling of good and evil is the picture of humanity , in whom is mixed the divine and the wicked , and this is the conclusion to which Melville comes . His godlike qualities superimposed upon his devilish qualities seem almost typical of one made of clay yet into whom God breathed . In the end , his humanity and subjection to death are shown to be the qualities that define him most

Work Cited

Melville , Herman . Moby Dick : A Norton Critical Edition . Eds . Hershel Parker and Harrison Hayford . New York : Norton , 2001

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