Moby Dick (1851)

by Herman MELVILLE

(1819-1891)

The white whale

• It’s far more than a natural creature• It’s a symbol of of the hidden and

mysterious forces of nature• It’s the personification of the evil in the

world• It’s a mirror of mankind’s quest for a

reason for existence• Its hunt stands for the archetypal conflict

between man and nature

The whiteness of the whale

• Absence of colour

• Absence of meaning

• An entire chapter is dedicated to the whiteness of the whale

Ahab

A tragic and titanic hero who -during his quest for the whale-

• equals himself to God

• has established a sort of alliance with the devil

American features

• pioneering the mystery of the sea

• mixture of races

• emphasising the strength and experience of the American whale hunters

Language and style

• everyday, colloquial speech • a highly symbolical style,• dictionary definitions, • different foreign languages, • quotations, • detailed descriptions of tools and anatomy,• political speech,• theological lectures, • soliloquies, asides, dialogue, stage directions

Narrative techniques

Melville used a wide variety of techniques

• The FIRST-PERSON narrator is completed by the OMNISCIENT narrator

• Irony and parody are employed

• Dramatic techniques are used in some scenes (< Shakespeare)

Sources

• Whale hunters narrative

• Ulysses journey (Ahab’s voyage)

• The Bible (Jonah)

• Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner

(parallel the Mariner & Ishmael)

• Romantic poets and their symbolical use of nature