This is my rough draft. I had to totally change my concept after reading a great paper.
Greg Webster
What do you call a one-legged captain in a hot tub?: A study into Ahab's motivations
"There is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself." This line sets off the line of thought that perhaps Ahab's motivations for revenge and even the fact that revenge is Ahab's true quest may not be as simple as the reader initially thinks. Ahab himself has place all the world's evils into Moby Dick in his mind, as he hunts them down with a monomania that cannot be accurately described by himself or any of the other characters. To understand Ahab's motivations, it is necessary to first look into the text and discover who and what exactly Ahab is. It is then necessary to pinpoint the exact theme of Moby Dick. While there are many possible themes presented by literary critics such as Man vs. Nature, Good vs. Evil, or Fate vs. free will, the true meaning may lie in Self vs. Others, specifically in respect to race.
Since we are looking at Ahab through the perception of Ishmael it is important for us to try to look through his eyes. Ishmael suggests his race in the opening line of the book, “Call me Ishmael.” Why not, “My name is Ishmael” or “I am Ishmael”? By using the word “call” he suggests that his name may not be Ishmael. Perhaps it is merely a name he uses when he is sailing, or a name he has newly chosen? There is a historical precedent from the early 20th century for sailors to chose their own names while wandering or traveling: that of pre-Civil War blacks in America. Is Ishmael black? This question begs to be examined further, and while it is very questionable, there are suggestions that he is not white, or does not associate himself as being Caucasian. W. Jeffrey Bolster points out that Ishmael is sometimes a slave name, and that in the Bible the mother of Ishmael is said to be a “bondservant.”(Genesis, 21:10-13) Ishmael states that “there yet lurks an elusive something in the innermost idea of this hue [whiteness], which strikes more panic to the soul than that redness which strikes more panic to the soul than that redness which affrights in blood.”(Melville, p 180) This statement about whiteness suggests that there is a certain fear that Ishmael possesses against the inherent idea of whiteness. In terms of pay, Ishmael is being paid a significantly low amount, which he seems to think is appropriate for his position. While at first we think that it is due to his never having ridden a whaling ship, but could it perhaps be because he is black and is therefore expecting to be paid much less than anyone else? Ishmael’s self-description as a “great digger of ditches” suggests that he is poor, another possible hint towards his ethnicity, as most blacks at the time were extremely poor. A very leading statement by Ishmael is when he notices the “jeering glances” from other passengers at himself and Queequeg, he scoffs “as though a white man were anything more dignified than a whitewashed negro.” This could be taken to mean Ishmael refers to himself as a whitewashed negro, or a half-blooded black, or mulatto. Melville leaves the question of Ishmael’s race open, and while it is never explicitly stated, this is probably to draw attention to his race instead of divert attention from it. However, working on the assumption that Ishmael is either black or a mulatto, it changes the perception
When we are first introduced to Ahab, "he looked like a man cut away from the stake, when the fire has over-runningly wasted all the limbs without consuming them, or taking away on particle from their compacted aged robustness. His whole high, broad form, seemed made of solid bronze." (Melville, p. 125) While this statement seems relatively innocuous, in the relation of race it has a significant suggestion. Besides the obvious hint that Ahab is “bronze” the more menacing statement of him being “cut away from the stake” suggests he looks like someone who was being lynched, a possibility that while very rare for white men, would have been a strong thought for Ishmael upon seeing another mulatto man.
Now that we have established the possibility that both Ishmael and Ahab are mulattos, what does that mean? They would both be strongly affected by the prevailing thoughts of their times, that whites were superiors to blacks, and that they were part white and part black. Ishmael obviously views whiteness as something to be feared in most cases, even though it can be beautiful (as can be seen in chapter 42.) However, Ahab’s view on color is something that can only be speculated at. Is he hunting the whiteness of the whale, or the blackness? Ahab seems to have a double identity, as he is said to be “trying to make the white world his own” and that he “finds himself in a world where he does not belong.” In fact, it isn’t until his death when we could say he definitively joins the “black” world, whether he wants to or not. The fact that his death could be likened to a lynching, as the rope catches him “round the neck” and he suffers the fate that many unfortunate souls went through. With his death, Ahab’s indecision about his existence is taken from him and decided by fate, that since he is part black, the choice is not his. Melville makes a dark statement here about fate and race, that Ahab is not able to escape his blackness, that his dream of joining the white world is essentially impossible because of the situation of his birth.
Bibliography
Bernard, Fred V. The Question of Race in Moby-Dick. Massachusetts Review: A Quarterly of Literature, the Arts and Public Affairs. 2002 Autumn. 43 (3). 383-404.
Bolster, W. Jeffrey. Black Jacks: African American Seaman in the Age of Sail. Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press. 1997.
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