Essay on Moby Dick

In Moby-Dick, Melville uses the characters of Captain Ahab and his first mate, Starbuck, to explore the conflict between human emotion and logic. Starbuck represents the reader’s rational perspective as he struggles to resist Ahab’s obsessive rhetoric. Melville crafts a powerful dynamic between the two characters, who embody opposing worldviews. This relationship not only establishes Starbuck as a foil to Ahab but also invites readers to view him as a stand-in for themselves. As Starbuck begins to waver in his judgment and even sympathize with Ahab, readers are drawn into a similar conflict between emotion and logic, a theme in the novel’s exploration of humanity’s inner conflicts.

Starbuck is very much like us. The rigger introduces Starbuck in chapter 21. He says to Ishmael, “He’s a lively chief mate that; good man, and a pious.” This is the description of a simple decent man. He is out to make a living. Ahab does not share this aim. In chapter 36, Ahab reveals that he is out to hunt the White Whale for revenge. Starbuck is shocked and reminds the captain that they are whaling to turn a profit. When Ahab explains his goal for the voyage we are surprised right along with Starbuck. We had thought that this book might just be about sailing and making a buck.

Starbuck is the lone voice against Ahab like Abdiel in Paradise Lost. Everyone else joins Ahab, even Ishmael. The pivotal moment is when Starbuck gets a gun (which was previously pointed at him) and debates whether he should shoot the captain. “Starbuck seemed wrestling with an angel” this passage reads. This is reminiscent of Jacob wrestling with God, but it seems that the angel is a bad one, tempting him to murder Ahab. He knows that Ahab would sacrifice the whole crew if he needed to. Starbuck worries that he may never see his family again. He even asks God if he should shoot. Starbuck never gives up trying to persuade the captain to desist from his vengeance, but he seems more resigned to fate after putting away the weapon. In one stunning passage, Starbuck looks out over the ocean and gives up fact to believe in the ocean’s goodness. “Let faith oust fact; let fancy oust memory; I look deep down and do believe.” He will ignore the shark in the sea and Ahab’s blasphemy and believe in their goodness.

I will not get into whether the sea or Ahab are good, but I will say that it is easy to see why Starbuck was sympathetic to the captain. Part of his power comes from the fact that he is the hero of the book in a classical sense. His fatal flaw turns what might have been a happy story into a tragedy, but Ahab has one important difference. His flaw seems forced upon him. After losing his leg, Ahab gets sick and shuts himself up. Unlike Starbuck, Ahab sees this turn of events as evidence that he and God are on opposing sides. Ahab’s force of character is more of an unanswered question than a statement. Just as the crew, we, and Starbuck, are struck by the force of Ahab’s question that is so hard to answer. The crew find themselves galvanized and will help Ahab in his quest for revenge till the end. Starbuck finds himself overcome with the tragedy of it all, and can’t help but find pity for this “forty-years fool”.

References

Moby Dick by Herman Melville