Combat and Catastrophe
This chapter discusses the implications of Ahab's confrontation with the White Whale for the novel's interrelated themes of theodicy and eschatology. Since Ishmael is the only one who survives the wreck, the novel's conclusion shows that the messianic zealotry and metaphysical dualism...
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | English |
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Cornell University Press
2021
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9780875804644.003.0007 |
| Summary: | This chapter discusses the implications of Ahab's confrontation with the White Whale for the novel's interrelated themes of theodicy and eschatology. Since Ishmael is the only one who survives the wreck, the novel's conclusion shows that the messianic zealotry and metaphysical dualism of Judeo-Christian apocalyptic are ultimately self-defeating. The chapter examines Moby-Dick as a Christian tragedy with salient apocalyptic symbolism. It explains the similarities of the White Whale's role in undermining Ahab's overweening pride and God's final words to Job about Leviathan. The last chapter and epilogue of Moby-Dick thus resemble the traumatic ending of King Lear, wherein the future is in the hands of exhausted survivors. |
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