Moby Dick by Herman Melville

¶ … Foreshadowing

IN MOBY DICK

In the great American novel Moby Dick, published in 1851, Herman Melville takes the reader on a fantastic voyage aboard the whaling ship Pequod that is bound for the open ocean in search of whales and for Moby Dick, the great "White Whale" which has become an obsession for Captain Ahab whose leg was bitten off by Moby Dick on an earlier sea chase to kill his arch-nemesis. In Melville's masterpiece of American literature, there are many events and situations related to the plot and the characters that signal things to come, meaning that these events and situations represent foreshadowing devices. It is nearly impossible not to notice these devices in the novel, and it is clear that without them Moby Dick would not be nearly as effective and thrilling.

The novel begins with Ishmael, the main protagonist and narrator, on the streets of Manhattan. Ishmael, a young man from New York, has decided to seek his fortune and adventures on a whaling ship, for he is drawn by "the overwhelming idea of the great whale himself. Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my curiosity" (pg. #). With this statement, the reader is given a hint of what is to come in the life of Ishmael. He then says "there floated in my inmost soul, endless processions of the whale... one grand hooded phantom, like a snow hill in the air" (pg. #). This is one of the first foreshadowing devices in the novel, for it symbolizes Moby Dick himself, the great "White Whale" that toward the end of the novel rises from the sea like a "snow hill" and comes down hard to kill all those aboard the Pequod except for Ishmael.

Once Ishmael has reaches New Bedford where he will join the crew of the Pequod, he meets up with a harpooner named Queequeg, a native from a far-off land in the Pacific. At the Spouter Inn, Ishmael and Queequeg end up sharing a room and a bed, and upon waking up in the morning, Ishmael finds "Queequeg's arm thrown over me in the most loving and affectionate manner" (pg. #). This symbolizes another foreshadowing device, for it will be Queequeg who saves Ishmael's life by having a coffin built when Queequeg sees his own death while aboard the doomed Pequod.

In Nantucket, Ishmael and Queequeg are confronted by an old sailor who goes by the name of Elijah, one of the great Biblical prophets. At first, Ishmael and Queequeg are amused by the old sailor, but he soon turns out to be a prophet of doom, for he tells them, "Good bye to ye. Shan't see ya again very soon, I guess; unless it's before the Grand Jury" (pg. #). What Elijah means is that the Pequod is a doomed ship and that all aboard her will perish. His reference to the "Grand Jury" symbolizes the final judgment before God in Heaven where all men will be judged for their sins.

Of all the major characters in Moby Dick, Starbuck, the first mate of the Pequod, is a native of Nantucket and by religion a Quaker, and as the second in command he is always under orders from Captain Ahab, but deep inside himself, Starbuck realizes that Ahab's obsession with the "White Whale" will eventually led to the crew's death. Starbuck's wrenched helplessness is compounded by his own internal demons which are based on his religious/moral attitudes. In one key scene, Starbuck tells Ahab, "Vengeance on a dumb brute that simply smote thee from the blindest instinct! Madness! To be enraged with a dumb thing... (is) blasphemous!" (pg. #). This is yet another foreshadowing device, for it shows that Moby Dick is nothing but an animal with no conscience and that Ahab's need for revenge will inevitably lead to his own death and that of the entire crew aboard the Pequod.

In a very moving moment in the chapter "The Musket," Starbuck's moral ethics are put to the supreme test, for after a severe typhoon, goes below deck to inform the sleeping Ahab that the dangerous weather has subsided. He finds a loaded musket just outside Ahab's door and in that instant "there strangely evolved an evil thought" in his head -- "Shall this crazed old man be... suffered to drag a whole ship's company down to doom with him?" (pg. #). Yet Starbuck, as a result of his religious/moral beliefs, finds it impossible to kill Ahab in order to save the crew from certain destruction. With this, Melville is foreshadowing the fact that it will be Moby Dick that destroys the Pequod and the crew.

Before the actual sighting of Moby Dick and the three-day chase that ends with the whale destroying the Pequod and the foreshadowed death of Starbuck, Ahab and all the rest of the crew except for Ishmael, Melville describes the sea as azure and steel-blue and then relates, "Slowly crossing the deck from the scuttle, Ahab leaned over the side and watched his shadow in the water... From beneath his slouched hat, Ahab dropped a tear into the sea... " (pg. #). This is yet another foreshadowing device which indicates that Ahab, by seeing his shadow on the surface of the sea, will one day become part of it through drowning, and the tear symbolizes his realization that this will surely come to pass.

In the chapter "The Whiteness of the Whale," Ishmael tells the reader that "It was the whiteness of the whale above all things that appalled me... The disguise of whiteness makes bloody creatures more horrible. The marble pallor of the dead, ghosts rising in the milk-white fog" (pg. #). This is another foreshadowing device that symbolizes death for the crew of the Pequod, for they will all become "ghosts" after drowning, and their faces will take on the "marble pallor" of death. In Melville's mind, whiteness is far more terrible than blackness, for white represents true death, much like the draining of blood from a body; it also represents the sea itself, the waves of white as they roll endlessly and forever.