Call Us Ishmael: Divinity, Identity, and Mystery in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick

Often, critics addressing the multiplicity of religious allusions in Moby-Dick; or, the Whale (1851) try to determine what Herman Melville believed rather than assess how religion functions within the logic of the novel: namely, that the manners in which Ishmael, Ahab, and Queequeg conceptualize the supernatural relates to how they understand themselves. Therefore, after cataloging the religions alluded to throughout the novel, this dissertation analyzes these three characters’ interweaving concepts of God and self. Ishmael approaches the divine with sublime wonder, investigating the mysteries he encounters without requiring an answer. Ahab, however, seeks knowledge to determine or somehow define the supernatural: mystery is a problem to solve not an event to experience. Queequeg is content with mystery, but, unlike Ishmael, he prefers to remain incurious toward it rather than investigate it, dutifully practicing his religion with a sense of utility or practicality. Moby-Dick presents these three attitudes toward the divine as distinct methods whereby one can reflect upon one’s experience, ultimately concluding that Ishmael’s complex narrative poses a similar problem to the careful reader, challenging us to contemplate how we, too, make sense of our lives.