Moby-Dick

The best literature tells us something true about ourselves. In Moby-Dick, Herman Melville confronts us with our own reaction to the problem of evil. Sooner or later, we are all confronted with the problem of evil in our own lives; the question, how can an almighty and all good God allow evil in the world? The answer is part of the hidden will of God. Ultimately, we don't know the answer (except to say that sin is finally the cause of evil in the world, but how Satan originally came to oppose God is never answered in Scripture). And that is frustrating.

In Moby-Dick, Ahab blames God. Well, actually, he blames the white whale, Moby-Dick. But Moby-Dick represents an angry God who has caused every misfortune to come upon Ahab, including the loss of limb (and probably manhood). The biblical story of Jonah sets the tone for the whole novel. Father Mapple preaches on the account of Jonah and the whale at the beginning of the novel. God is just and righteous in His anger. Don't resist Him. Resign yourself to His will. The outcome is in His hands.

But Ahab must resist. He must have vengeance. Thus his mad quest. "All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby-Dick. He piled on the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down" ([New York: Barnes & Noble, 2004] p. 262).

Ahab's reaction to evil is natural to men. Adam essentially blamed God for sin when he declared, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate" (Gen. 3:12; NKJV). Man is born at enmity with God. Man thinks the solution is to kill the white whale. But it is really the old creature within that must be slain. "God help thee, old man, thy thoughts have created a creature in thee; and he whose intense thinking thus makes him a Prometheus; a vulture feeds upon that heart forever; that vulture the very creature he hates" (287).

Ahab confronts us with our natural hatred of God. In that respect, it is a fantastic preaching of the Law. I'm not sure that there is a Gospel counterpart to that preaching, however.

There is great baptismal imagery in Moby-Dick, particularly for Ishmael at the end, which would make a great literary study if only there were time. The whole novel is rich with theological meaning, though not necessarily good theological meaning. It is a rewarding read.

It is also a hard read... perhaps the hardest novel I have ever read. This is the proverbial book-club selection that none of the members actually read. The long chapters on cetology seem to have nothing to do with the plot. The prose, though beautiful, is antiquated to say the least. Conquering this novel is somewhat akin to conquering the great white whale himself. But it is well worth the effort.

For those of you not quite brave enough to dive into the novel, I recommend the 1956 movie starring Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab. I just saw the movie, which drove me back to the book. The movie is very well done, and compared to the book, fairly short.