MOBY DICK ESSAY

I apologize for this disclaimer, but I must say that the depth in the philosophies of Moby Dick are not done justice through this essay.

Still, I hope you can enjoy it:

Search for the Source

Moby Dick is Ishmael’s retold story of a variety of ways people around him seek in order to connect with and understand the source of existence. Ishmael is an ideal narrator, for he never attaches to or identifies with any of the opinions or philosophies that he describes throughout his story. He contains a “Catskill eagle in [his soul] that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces” (543). This capability enables him to survive his journeys, to recognize multiple quests towards one goal, and to simultaneously experience indisputable truths that only appear when unsought. With similar detachment to Ishmael, I follow the journeys described in Moby Dick as an outsider, and question the value of the quests he describes. 

The Pequod, chasing after Moby Dick, is seeking the supernatural. Taking up the idea that “in landlessness alone resides the highest truth” (149), the ship isolates itself at sea. But rather than find truth, the journey takes the ship further away from it. The leader of the voyage, Captain Ahab, nails a doubloon to the mast of the ship. It is described as the “ship’s navel”, symbolizing a severed connection from the source of origin (556). This doubloon becomes the pursued goal of the voyage. Ahab states that “fate reserved the doubloon for [him]” (688), signifying that the actual conclusion to his journey would not be a connection to the source, but a disconnection. This detachment becomes increasingly relevant, for, as the voyage continues, Ahab and the crew are often described as mechanical. The dehumanization of the people on the Pequod is a direct portrayal of their disconnection from the source, and their human origins. Ahab is unable to find what he set out for, for the truth does not reside in the places he looks. The “strife of the chase” is a result of the inability to find what is sought after (684), and that strife is the fundamental doom of the Pequod. 

After escaping the wreckage of the Pequod, Ishmael is rescued by another ship: the Rachael. The Rachael contrasts the Pequod, for the ship’s voyage is a “retracing search after her missing children” (724), an attempt to retain, rather than loose, human connections. However this search, this attempt to reconnect child to parent– the source– is unsuccessful, for the ship “only [finds] another orphan” (724). The Captain of the Rachael’s name, Gardiner, is significant to the ship’s quest. Although Captain Gardiner cultivates relationships, they are not restoring the severed bonds of the natural source, for the “secret of [their] paternity lies in [their parent’s] grave, and [they] must there to learn it” (624). While Gardiner’s objective may provide comfort to lost souls, it does not relieve the aching questions that it intends to. 

Ishmael reveals an approach to the source that contrasts the frantic hunts of the Pequod and the Rachael. Being unattached to any of the monomaniacal voyages he describes, Ishmael is able to truly experience the sea without looking for anything. He discovers a connection to the source when simply observing the sea; his “spirit ebbs away to whence it came; becomes diffused through time and space” (214). During these experiences Ishmael unconsciously connects with the entirety of the universe, but when his consciousness returns “identity comes back in horror” (214). Although only for a fleeting moment, Ishmael is able to feel the powerful connection that people are searching for when he separates from his identity. Ishmael’s experience proves that the source can be apparent in everything when nothing particular is being sought. Those who seek a definable thing cannot appreciate the simplicity of where the source truly is, nor the complexity of what it is. 

When I began to read Moby Dick I simultaneously embarked on a voyage in search of definitions. However Moby Dick is a seven hundred paged description on why no book, person, or quest can provide answers. Although answers and definitions cease relentless curiosity and questioning, they do not provide the truth. The peace of mind that is desired by myself, and by many characters in Moby Dick, can only be experienced when searches are concluded, and identities are cast aside. Moby Dick offers no key to peace or happiness, for peace and happiness can only be attained momentarily. However, the book provided me with the realization that what I search for is unreachable, and so I may let go of the strife that accompanies my seeking. Realizing the wisdom that the less one seeks, the more one finds, I conclude my journey.