Anti-Transcendentalism Behind Moby Dick

Cody Westover

January 28th, 2012

American Literature

Anti-Transcendentalism Behind Moby Dick

Herman Melville is the author of one of the greatest American novels in history. He wrote on many years he had spent out on the open sea, and the experiences he had with cannibals. Herman Melville never rose to complete stardom with his tales, but today he is seen as a legend. Moby Dick, published in 1851, was never understood by his readers. At the time, many people in America never got out and saw the world for what it really was, now being over a hundred and fifty years old, reader's can comprehend what Melville saw in his life. Moby Dick is a novel based upon the hunting of the great white whale. Many of the ideas throughout the book are based upon an anti-transcendentalist philosophy. Anti-transcendentalism was a writing style that rose in the mid 19th century, that focused on the dark side of humanity and the guilt of sin. In this style, free will was questioned, and fate ruled over everyone's life. An anti-transcendentalist would view nature as incomprehensible, being a reflection of struggle between good and evil. In Moby Dick, Herman Melville demonstrated his anti-transcendentalist beliefs all throughout the novel, using his well developed characters and plot.

Herman Melville was neighbors with Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of another famous American Novel, The Scarlet Letter. The two were very close, and talked a lot about their writings. Nathaniel Hawthorne was the older one of the two, and was the role model for Melville. Both authors wrote novels based upon anti-transcendentalist ideals. Upon completing Moby Dick, Melville wrote to Hawthorne saying, "I have written a wicked book, and feel spotless as the lamb." This can be interpreted as a biblical reference, where he had written a novel that not many of his peers would accept at the time, but yet feels proud of his work. The lamb is a sign of innocence, Herman Melville didn't regret his sinful writing and felt much pride in his writing. In Melville's writing, he questions the powers of God, and refers to many hellish details.

The first night that Ishmael spends in Nantucket, he sets out to find a motel that is not too expensive or too jolly. He ends up staying the night at The Spouter Inn. "We are a-whaling, and there is plenty of that yet to come. Let us scrape the ice from our frosted feet and see what sort of place this "Spouter" may be."(Pg. 10) This quote shows that this is the starting place for Ishmael's journey, and he is going to go where ever destiny brings him. As Ishmael books his room, he finds that he would have to sleep with, 'The Harpooneer". Several times throughout the night, he had changed his mind on whether he would want to share the same room, so he decided to try out a couple benches. "I now took the measure of the bench, and found it was a foot too short..." (Pg. 16). No matter how much Ishmael went back to the landlord and questioned the harpooner, there was no way no way he could get himself out of this situation. One can argue that is was his destiny, and that he had no control over where he stayed.

Upon arrival in New Bedford, Ishmael spies a Whaleman's Chapel. Within the Chapel were many sailors who were eyeing these marble tablets on the walls. Ishmael reflects on these tablets, explaining how people had faith in death. Instead of the physical existence of a being, it was about what each person did with their time on this earth. "But Faith, like a jackal, feeds among the tombs, and even from these dead doubts she gathers her most vital hope." (Pg. 35) Everyone on this world, must live for the here and now, instead of regretting what one could have done. Instead of being one of the world, one has to go out and experience life for its true meaning. "Methinks that

in looking at things spiritual, we are too much like oysters observing the sun through the

water, and thinking that thick water the thinnest of air." (Pg. 36) This can be seen as an anti-transcendentalist belief since nature is simply incomprehensible to the human mind. Man is simply blind to the world around him, and only see what they want to see. The only way

In Chapter 19, titled The Prophet, a stranger appeared from the shadows and stopped Ishmael and Queequeg in their tracks. "He was but shabbily appareled in faded jacket and patched trousers; a rag of a black handkerchief investing his neck." (Pg. 88), and he asked if they have set sail on the Pequod before. The stranger, named Elijah, seems to keep rambling on about nonsense when he asks if they had met 'Ol' Thunder', Captain Ahab yet. This instantly grabs their attention, and say they haven't. Ishmael quickly ends the conversation by saying, "Look here friend, if you have anything important to tell us, out with it; but if you are only trying to bamboozle us, you are mistaken in your game; thats all I have to say." It wasn't until a couple days later when Elijah once again stops the pair about to board the Pequod, slapping them on the shoulder. Neither Queequeg or Ishmael wanted anything to do with the lad, started to make distance between them. Elijah caught up once again, and asked, "Did ye see anything looking like men going towards that ship a while ago?" (Pg. 95). The two fledgling settlers looked at each other, and were dazed in confusion, and left the stranger. This quote is actually a prophecy from Elijah, which is evidence of anti-transcendentalism in the novel. It is predetermined future, controlling the fate of the sailors on the ship. Elijah may have been a crazy soul, but he saw the fate of the ship before anyone else did.

Later in the novel, the reader see's Elijah's prophecy come true. Captain Ahab stands in front of his crew and demands that he has his own whaling ship and crew, so he can be the one to kill Moby Dick. This is extremely rare for a Captain, especially one of which in his physical condition. When there was no crew assigned to the boat, it raised suspicion among the crowd. Then, out came the, 'subordinate phantoms,' amongst the ship's hold, that Elijah spoke of. The men that Elijah saw boarding the Pequod, were actually Ahab's personal crew. When the prophecy was fulfilled, it showed that the future was already planned, and there was no free will among the ship.

The ruler of the Pequod was Captain Ahab himself. He had been crippled by Moby Dick in their first encounter, and and ever since, Ahab had set sail in search of one thing, his revenge. The great white whale left a permanent scar on Ahab