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Definition of Allusion
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals, historical events, or philosophical ideas... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to... read full definition
Allusions
Explanation and Analysis—Biblical Allusions :
Moby-Dick is packed with allusions to the Bible that reflect both the dialogue that the novel is in with Christianity as well as more generally the scope of Melville’s ambition for Moby-Dick as a novel. Indeed, from the very beginning, the Bible’s presence is clear, with the first extract coming from the book of Genesis. This choice immediately establishes the timelessness and grandeur Moby Dick aspires to have, with the novel starting at the very beginning of time itself. Allusions to Jonah, Gabriel, and Lazarus (among others) are also present in the novel, and they all work to reflect the grandeur of the subject matter and scope of the novel.
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Allusions
Explanation and Analysis—Fedallah as Devil :
Moby-Dick contains many allusions to the Christian conception of the devil, particularly in descriptions of the Pequod’s “pagan” harpooners. Throughout the novel, these figures are repeatedly associated with darkness and the supernatural in ways that link them to sin and dark magic while also highlighting unfortunately common racial prejudices at the time.
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Chapter 1: Loomings
Explanation and Analysis—Narcissus:
In the first chapter of Moby-Dick, Melville makes an important allusion to the Greek myth of Narcissus. According to the Greek poet Pathenius, Narcissus, cursed by the gods, falls in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. However, unable to have the object of his desire, Narcissus eventually kills himself. When reflecting on the entrancing nature of water, Ishmael references this tale:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Surely all this is not without meaning. And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting, mild image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all.
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Explanation and Analysis—Life as a Play:
The idea of life being a play forms an extended metaphor throughout Moby-Dick and reflects man’s inability to fight his own fate. This metaphor also asserts the power of art. Ishmael introduces the metaphor in the very first chapter:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those stage managers, the Fates, put me down for this shabby part of a whaling voyage, when others were set down for magnificent parts in high tragedies, and short and easy parts in genteel comedies [...] yet, now that I recall all the circumstances, I think I can see a little into the springs and motives which being cunningly presented to me under various disguises, induced me to set about performing the part I did, besides cajoling me into the delusion that it was a choice resulting from my own unbiased freewill and discriminating judgment.
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Chapter 9: The Sermon
Explanation and Analysis—Jonah and the whale :
Father Mapple’s sermon on the biblical tale of Jonah and the Whale foreshadows the sinfulness and ill fate that awaits the Pequod’s voyage while also alluding to Ishmael’s future role as a type of prophet. Father Mapple explains how Jonah was punished for not following the commands of God but was later rewarded when he repented. The tale shares many obvious themes with the tale of Moby Dick itself, with it featuring a voyage, a whale, and ideas of sin and punishment.
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Chapter 19: The Prophet
Explanation and Analysis—Faust:
When Ishmael and Queequeg sign the shipping papers to commit themselves to the Pequod, Melville makes an allusion to the German legend of Faust, which hints at the ill fate that awaits the shipmates. After Ishmael and Queequeg have signed their shipping papers, they are accosted by the prophet Elijah, who asks if they have just signed onto the Pequod:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Yes,” said I, “we have just signed the articles.”
“Anything down there about your souls?”
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Chapter 117: The Whale Watch
Explanation and Analysis—Macbeth :
Shakespeare was one of Melville’s biggest influences, and many allusions to his works can be found throughout Moby-Dick. One example is Fedallah’s cryptic prophecy of Ahab’s death, which mirrors the prophecy in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. After having a prophetic dream, Fedallah tells Ahab:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“But I said, old man, that ere thou couldst die on this voyage, two hearses must verily be seen by thee on the sea; the first not made by mortal hands; and the visible wood of the last one must be grown in America.”
Chapter 135: The Chase. – Third Day
Explanation and Analysis—The Albatross:
The final scenes of Moby-Dick contain many allusions to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a poem that recounts the long voyage of a sailor. Tashtego’s killing of the hawk before the Pequod is sunk is one example of this, with it alluding to the ancient mariner’s fateful killing of the albatross. Melville recounts how, just before the Pequod is fully submerged, a sky-hawk is killed by Tashtego and pinned to the mast:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And so the bird of heaven, with archangelic shrieks and his imperial beak thrust upwards, and his whole captive form folded in the flag of Ahab, went down with his ship, which, like Satan, would not sink to hell till she had dragged a living part of heaven along with her, and helmeted herself with it.
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