Moby Dick by Herman Melville
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The human soul is always in a battle between choosing the good and the evil. It is for this reason, you will hear some talking of inner voices, more like the angels voice and the devils one. Whereas these voices speak to us all, some people are less inclined to admit or more so even heed to what they say. However, it is in human nature to fall for the wrong choices and overlook the right ones. Naturally, people are rebellious to the law, the correct choices, religion and all those things associated with the good in society. Some may try and resist the evil forces but they always find a way of catching up with them sooner or later. Failed attempts however, do not necessarily mean that we should not stop trying instead they challenge us to overcome them.
The god book tells us that temptations are there to make us stronger. How well we avert and deal with temptations is what defines us. In his book Moby Dick, Herman Melville shows profound examples of mans struggle against forces of evil.
Moby Dick was a big whale that destroyed a ship that was captained by Ahab. To add salt to injury, the whale severely injured his leg thus crippling him. The narrator of the story is a fictional character by the name Ishmael who played the role of a sailor. Ishmael talks of the obsessive quest of the ships captain, Ahab. He was so filled with anger and bitterness towards the whale, Moby Dick. The forces of evil come to play where this hate gave him the desire to revenge even though it meant losing his own life (Melville and Tanner).
In the play, we see Captain Ahab continually struggling with the forces of evil that were pushing him to revenge on the white whale. Despite the efforts of all the other sailors trying to discourage him from pursuing this vengeful at the same time suicidal act, Captain Ahab was so determined to kill it. The evil forces compelling him were too strong and powerful that they clouded his vision and impaired his judgment of the whale. The force made him underestimate the might of the whale or rather overestimate his powers. This is evident in the play because the whale eventually killed him (Furse, Gelev and Melville).
In his narration, Ishmael describes Captain Ahab as a grand, ungodly, god-like man who nevertheless had his humanities. This statement enough tells us that Captain Ahab was struggling with evil forces that made him compare himself to God. He did not acknowledge the presence of God and for this reason he took all matters to his hand as he thought he was all mighty (Maugman).
Moby Dick in the play is used to symbolize the evil; it not a real character as the narrator has no way of entering the white whales thoughts and intentions. In that sense, Moby Dick is an evil impersonal force that is all powerful yet mysterious to the humankind. The human can neither defy nor understand it and any attempt made in those lines is a total fail on the human side. The whale defies free will of sailors and seamen which is an evil thing to do. Therefore, the only way that the human can win this fight is by either accompanying or avoiding it. The seamen, led by Captain Ahab, fail to realize this and are defeated by the forces of evil (Watson).
Works Cited
Furse, Sophie, Penko Gelev and Herman Melville. Moby Dick. New York: Hauppage, 2007.
Maugman, W Somerset. "Moby Dick." Atlantic (1948): 98-104.
Melville, Herman and Tony Tanner. Moby Dick. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Watson, Elliot L Grant. "Moby Dick." London Mercury (1920): 180-186.
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