Throughout the whole story the white whale is not only depicted as a an
unexplainable force of nature but is also given an almost divine quality , he is
constantly compared to God, and as the people fear and revere God they also fear
Moby Dick and whales in general.The Whalers of the town see the whales not as
thier prey but they see them as thier advisaries.An advisary that equals and
often times surpasses them in prowess.From the begining of the film we are
confronted with the image of the whale as the personificaion of power and
strength ,as Stubb says in the inn "If God where to be any fish he would be
a whale." From this qoute alone it is evident that the whale holds a great
deal of power.It is also obvious that to confront a whale is much like
confronting mother nature or even God , in both situations the odds are stacked
heavily against you. It is apparent that Moby Dick is the personification of the
wrathful persistancy of the Omnipotent , If not anywhere else this is most
obviously displayed through the crews reactions to the whale , and the mythical
legends that arise about the whale.One of the first remarks made about the whale
is "Aye, it was Moby Dick that tore my Body and soul until they bled into
each other." This qoute , by Captain Ahab , describes the whale as not only
having power to destroy in the physical realm but to also to mame in the
spirtual world as well.The many biblical allusions in the story reinforced the
notion that Moby Dick is an instrument of God if not God himself. Ahab having
accepted the fact that the beast was much more than an animal still persists in
his quest for vengence , this constant struggle between Ahab and the whale is
similar to mans ongoing conflict with god.Like Ahab no matter how often or in
what manner God makes his will known to us we always seem to stray a way from
that.Here Ahab, or man, does not only ignore the will God but he also challenges
it.Moby Dick stays true to the role of God , that is he only alows you to defy
him for so long , before exercising his power to destroy without compassion.
Although there is clearly many things comparing Moby Dick to a god there is also
a strict contrast , Starbuck who is obviously a devoute christian is the only
person on the Peqod that seems to think that Moby Dick is nothing more than a
whale, he says , "This whale is a dumb brute who acts out of instict."
Starbuck fails to see the power that most of the other sailors believe the whale
has.Consequently Starbuck also seems to be the only one on the ship that hasn't
been tainted with the influence of paganism.Although the crew is mostly made up
of christians thier actions on the boat closely resemble that of polytheistic
cultures.The blood oaths that they take is a good example , showing that they
are more accepting of a whale being a god than just simply an animal.Starbuck
throughout the story never doubts the fact that Moby Dick is only a whale, which
is evident when he says, "I do not fear Moby Dick I fear the wrath of
God''. Here Starbuck is saying that even though he doesn't believe that the
whale is anything more than a whale he does believe that the Almighty may be
using Moby Dick as his vessel and thus by defying him they may be incuring the
wrath of God.Another moment where Starbuck express his beliefs about the voyage
is when he says , "Do ye not see that by serving Ahab we share in his
blasphemy.", saying that by obeying Ahab in his defiance of god that the
entire crew as insulted or aggravated God and by doing so have signed away thier
souls. Although Moby Dick was viewed as god , an unstopable force of nature and
as simply a whale it is apparent that he represents more.He represents the
unatainable aspriations of man , the founatin of youth that will cause a man to
purge his soul and cast away his humanity to achieve it.But all actions that man
does to achieve it ,they are all an exercise in futility.The simple fact is that
in this life there are things that are meant for you and there are those things
that aren't , and to attempt the immposible is tempting fate.