To start, I love Moby Dick! I really love the tone of Ishmael's voice because not only is it our lens to Melville and the plot but it has a certain energy that is deep yet energetic that I find fascinating.
Let's talk about religion. Does Ishmael really claim Christianity? What does he think of Christianity? How does his relationship with Queequeg influence his view of religion? These are the questions that are constantly scrolling through my thoughts as I finished the first 18 chapters.
Although I'm still working out the answers to these questions, I'm convinced that religion has been turned on its head and is extremely unconventional in the narration. Do you notice that every time we enter a church with Ishmael, we hear him reference it as hell when he walks into the room finding a " black Angel of Doom [...] beating a book in a pulpit." And if you remember, there's even wailing and knashing of teeth in this Angel of Doom's sermon.
Then as we read further, I'm fascinated by Queequeg diving in to save the sailor and Ishmael going nuts trying to get us to see that the "cannibals must help these Christians." Crazy! So everybody convert to cannibalism? I don't think so. Maybe we're looking at the hypocrisy of Christian faith.
When we see who's representing Christianity we see Ishmael, who feels obviously inferior to Queequeg the cannibal and then we see Captains Peleg and Bildad. These are the guys that interest me. They won't let Queequeg on the boat until he has documentation of Christian baptism, right? And they're constantly bickering... is Peleg bipolar? I don't know about you, but I don't think these captains are doing a good job of embodying Christian ideals, especially as they seem to ditch the rule about Christian baptism to fulfill self-interest or, in other words, employ Queequeg because of his sweet skills.
There's a reason we all love Queequeg, make no mistake about it. Christianity is being scrutinized and those who adhere to it are faulty and inconstant. To paraphrase Melville, maybe a sober cannibal really is better than an angry Christian.
I too noticed these religious undertones and the "turning of Christianity on its head" so to speak. What I have merely noticed though you have deeply thought about and you've presented your questions and thoughts on those questions beautifully.
ReplyDeleteI too wonder what Melville is getting at with regards to Christianity and Cannibalism. He certainly cannot be saying that Cannibalism is better than Christianity, right? At least, that's what we as good Christian readers think. Then again, if he is saying that, is he wrong? Is Christianity just as bad as Cannibalism and is Queequeg just as blind to the faults of his religion as the Christians in the book are to theirs? Or, is it a matter of living what is being taught and since Queequeg lives his religion fully, is he better than the Christians for doing so?
This book raises some deep questions about religion and I appreciate that you are so intensely exploring them. I look forward to future posts from you on the subject.
Great post. Yes, I think the whole contrast between Ishmael and Queequeg really embody Melville's feelings toward Christianity. I feel his push in wanting to understand Queequeg more and to support him.
ReplyDeleteI think Melville is trying to get us to consider the fact that good people don't have to have a Christian foundation. I definitely don't think he's suggesting cannibalism is better than Christianity, but perhaps he's using cannibalism as an extreme way of warming his readers up to the possibility that different can be good.
No, Bildad is bipolar.
ReplyDeleteAlso, notice what Ishmael says about Bildad living a Christian life on the shore and murdering lots of whales at sea. Is he suggesting that real Christians don't pillage the earth's resources?