In the opening chapter of Moby-Dick, Ishmael speaks of the ‘mystical vibration’ one undergoes when land is no longer in sight. Ishmael’s consciousness undertakes a transcendental experience when he is at sea, which he later asserts when he metaphorically refers to the ocean as ‘the great flood-gates of the wonder-world,’ insinuating his thirst for adventure, that ‘swayed (Ishmael) to my purpose’. Elizabeth Schultz regards Ishmael, stating that he and Ahab ‘respond to nature in transcendental terms, seeing themselves in relation to its infinite and unknown possibilities.’ I argue that her interpretation is correct, as evidenced by Ishamel stating his purpose is to voyage and discover what is in the sea but also by Ishmael’s pondering of ‘the great whale himself. Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all (Ishmael’s) curiosity’. The protagonist’s consciousness is disrupted by his questioning of the vastness of Moby-Dick. Later in the novel, Ishmael personifies the ocean, calling it ‘that deep, blue, bottomless soul pervading mankind and nature’. Melville’s use of the verb ‘pervading’ suggests that the sea’s salience is almost invasive in the novel, supporting Schultz’s claim that Ishmael separates himself from the sea’s capabilities. Schultz writes that he ‘understands his limitations more fully,’ unlike Ahab, whose consciousness is far more affected by the sea.
Ahab’s disrupted consciousness and his subsequent rash decisions are foreboded by Melville in the character’s introductory chapter. Upon his appearance, Melville writes that ‘reality outran apprehension’ implying that Ahab’s emergence was sudden and domineering. Despite ‘the barbaric white leg upon which he partly stood’ Ishmael is ‘struck with the singular posture he maintained’. Schultz puts Ahab’s ability down to his ‘incomprehensible life-force’ to ‘persist in perceiving Moby-Dick,’ supporting the notion that Ahab’s consciousness has been affected by the sea, for his inclination to kill the whale is what keeps him upright. This interpretation is confirmed in chapter thirty-seven; Melville writes a soliloquy from Ahab’s perspective. He speaks internally about how ‘(the crew) think me mad – Starbuck does; but I’m demoniac, I am madness maddened!’ Melville personifies Ahab’s foolish and chaotic behaviour, the Captain also metaphorically referring himself to that of a demon.
Similarly, to Schultz, Barbara Glenn notes how the ‘sublime passion of Ahab dominates the entire crew’ and that ‘Starbuck is helpless in the grip of the sublime.’ Glenn’s assertion maintains the concept of Ahab’s consciousness being disrupted by the sea whilst simultaneously discussing Starbuck’s inefficiency in dealing with Ahab’s inability to discern his surroundings coherently. Comparably to Ahab, Melville writes a soliloquy for Starbuck in chapter thirty-eight, where the character claims that ‘(Ahab) has blasted all my reason out of me!’ Starbuck’s inner conflict, which lacks the poetic language of Ahab’s and is instead hyperbolic likely due to Ahab’s more obvious goal and Starbuck’s moral compass, stems from allowing Ahab to reach his ‘impious end’. Whilst he feels Ahab’s irrational thirst for revenge is unfathomable, he believes an ‘ineffable thing has tied (Starbuck) to Ahab’. Starbuck’s consciousness is consequently disordered. Whilst this is not directly due to the sea itself, his loyalty to his Captain leads to an internal monologue of self-doubt and resignation. The powerlessness Glenn writes of is reflected in the quotation ‘I have no key to lift again’.
The impact the sea has on the consciousness of Starbuck and Ahab can be compared. Starbuck maintains early on that he is ‘here in this critical ocean to kill whales for my own living’. He is present for the economic benefits, whilst Ahab, upon an encounter with Moby-Dick, ‘dashed at the whale, as an Arkansas duellist at his foe, blindly seeking with a six-inch blade to reach the fathom-deep life of the whale’. Melville’s simile anthropomorphises Moby-Dick, his use of the noun ‘duellist’ likening Ahab and Moby-Dick to a pair fighting to the death. Ahab doing so ‘blindly’ emphasises his disrupted consciousness; Melville’s adverb regards him for having lost his judgement and performing unthinkingly. This differs from Starbuck, who despite expressing private concerns regarding Ahab’s irrational behaviour and briefly wishing to kill his captain, ‘waxes brave, but nevertheless obeys him. I interpret that the first mate’s more rational thought process can be put down to Ahab’s physical impairment; Moby-Dick having ‘reaped away Ahab’s leg, as a mower a blade of grass in the field’. Melville’s simile compares the whale’s wounding of Ahab to a mundane task and thus emphasising the authority and danger of Moby-Dick. Ahab’s consciousness is compared to that of Starbuck, the former having engaged in more illogical and baseless decisions and actions, is more disturbed as a result of his physical injury. Henry Alonzo Myers supports this suggestion, writing that after his injury Ahab ‘had been a little out of his mind, and ever since he had given away to a desperate and savage moodiness.’ Despite all ‘natural loving and longings’ Ahab acts according to the ‘nameless, inscrutable, unearthly thing’ that takes up his consciousness, the latter quotation a metaphor for his unnatural desire for revenge and the uneasiness Myers speaks of.
Ahab’s consciousness differs from that of Starbuck in that the former’s physical limitation, which comes about as a result of a sea creature, provokes his unpredictable psyche. Whilst Starbuck’s is also affected, the lack of physical imprint keeps him grounded. The same could be said for Ishmael at the end of the novel; the narrator writes that ‘one did survive the wreck’ himself. He does so by using Queequeg’s coffin to float, claiming he was ‘buoyed up by that coffin, for almost one whole day and night’. Ishmael’s consciousness, which as earlier defined by Freud also entails awareness, is maintained by his survival. He lacks the sea-related injury of Ahab and Starbuck’s loyalty to his captain, succeeding in prolonging his life.
Hi everyone, I hope you had a good week!
Moby-Dick was definitely the heftiest read at University but I'm so glad I finished it. I've been trying to stay active on Instagram though I wouldn't say I'm doing the best job - please follow me on there and bare with me!
Sending you lots of love,
Karisma xxx