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This universe was created with the intention of it to be comprised of infinite meanings, but man if constantly settling upon one specific meaning. Melville suggests, in Moby Dick, that every event and every object have various meanings. The way an individual lives their life rests only upon their shoulders. Yes, God has already mapped out our lives, as we are here on this earth just mere puppets acting out this inevitable play we call our lives, but it is up to us how we get there.
If one goes through life seeing it as just black and white they will certainly miss the meanings that every object or event is comprised of. It is because of Ishmael s all-encompassing view on life that allows to be saved in the end. He strives to understand the reasons and interpretations a specific occurrence that happens where other characters, like Ahab, designate one reason for an act. Ishmael goes to sea to escape the world around him and to reflect on the fundamental meanings of the world. While reading this novel, Melville gives the sea a whole other meaning. I see the sea as a vast body of water that makes up 75 % of the world.
Melville, on the other hand, portrays the sea as representing the difficulty of life s meaning, the terror in which man must experience throughout life s journey, and possibly the one way man can understand life. In the chapter thirteen Melville says, How I snuffed that Tartar air! -how I spurned that turnpike earth! that common highway all over dented with the marks of slavish heels and hoofs; and turned to me to admire the magnanimity of the sea which will permit no records. What Melville is saying is that land is corrupt with stuff from the past that one can not fully understand life, but the sea leaves no marks and while at sea you can learn the importance of life. Ahab views the sea as the place where he must go to seek his vengeance, not the meaning of life. His meaning of life has been contaminated by his monomania.
Ahab is after one thing and one thing only, which is Moby Dick. He views the white whale and the symbol of all evil in the universe. Because he does not see evil throughout the world, just in the whale, it leads to his own downfall. After Moby Dick left Ahab with one leg, he piled upon the whale s white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down. Ahab feels that he must destroy these evil forces he sees in the whale in order to survive as a free man. Ishmael sees Moby Dick as a symbol of all the things in the universe rather than a specific one.
He explains this in the chapter entitled The Whiteness of the Whale by clarifying that the color white means so many things that in fact are conflicting at times. This explains the point that Melville tries to make that no one thing means anything definitely. White can mean both good and bad. Whiteness means innocence, beauty, gladness, strength, and even fear. It all depends in how the individual interprets the concepts in life.
The meaning of any object lies in the beholder of the object, not the object itself. One example is the object that starts out as a coffin in the shape of a canoe, than into a storage chest, next into a work of art, and lastly a life buoy that saves Ishmael in the end. This objects primary purpose was Queequeg s coffin, but when he didn t die he found other purposes for it. We are unaware if the object is really a canoe, a coffin, a storage chest, or a work of art. This just goes to show that we can t give objects one meaning. Each individual that encounters objects or events in life bring meaning to them.
Also the doubloon has many different meanings to the men on the ship, not just one. To Ahab it represents his determination and vengeance. Starbuck sees it representing the Trinity, which ties in his religious beliefs. To Study it represents the Zodiac and for Flask the doubloon only has economic value. In the chapter titled The Sperm Whale s Head-Contrasted View, Ishmael explains that the whale has its eyes on the sides of its head and this lets the whale see two different images. Unlike the whale, man is forced to focus on one thing because of the placement of our eyes.
This explains why man is monistic, attempting to see everything in one thing. The whale represents nature and the world and their ability to see many meanings to things. Ahab s problem is seeing Moby Dick as one thing, when really its many, and this leads to the destruction of himself and the other men aboard the Pequod. Ishmael is the only survivor because he is the total opposite of Ahab, never settling for one meaning in one thing.
I have learned that not everything in life will have answers because many things have different meanings. A person going after one thing in life, in Ahab s case the whale, and always being narrow minded will get nowhere in life and will completely miss the significance of life. Also, letting something take over your life, like Ahab s vengeance, life will pass you by. You will miss the important things that really matter. On the other hand, if you live life as Ishmael, understanding all aspects of life, you will succeed in this play we are apart of.
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