NCHS AP English Language

#6: Starbuck's soliloquy - Nathan Sheptock

Chapter 38 refers mainly to Starbuck's fear of the future of the voyage, claiming it to be "doomed" and associating it with the "horror" of life which has overcome him in his "miserable office." This refers to the unexplainable obligation he feels towards the now hated "madman," captain Ahab to help him see his "impious end," the capture and killing of Moby Dick. At the same time, he is in addition fearful of the seemingly entranced crew who now seems willing to follow Ahab in his doomed mission, even to the point of death. At this observation he portrays the whale itself as a demogorgon (any supernatural being worshipped as controlling some part of the world or some aspect of life or who is the personification of a force) to the crew. This, (the white whale is their demogorgon), seems to be the central trope of the chapter because it explains the influence of the whale on not only Ahab, but also nearly the entire crew and what seems to be the entire voyage in itself. Moby Dick, in the sense that he is a demogorgon, can be seen as more than just a very sought after whale to what the name demogorgon signifies, a supernatural force or being which possesses the ability to personify itself in some worldy aspect. In this sense, the whale itself, Starbuck believes, is not only a whale, but more importantly a force with the power to "blind" Ahab and the crew into a seemingly unexplainable, meaningless hunt that is only certain to lead them all to their deaths. This force has undoubtedly overpowered them to a point where they are no longer their true selves, to which Starbuck fear the most because if their true selves are lost, then what they have come to find in themselves in taking this voyage is lost also, and the entire venture is indeed doomed. Starbuck also states, in reference to this blinding demogorgon of a whale, that there is some hope which may arise, hope of never finding Moby dick in the "round watery world" surrounding them, if it is the will of God, which will certainly spare them of impending doom and eventual death along their voyage. To this supernatural force and doomed future as a result, he finally states that he will try to fight these "phantom futures," possibly in the hope that he may be able to save his comrades, if it be God's will, and will hold His "blessed influences" as a sign of future deliverance from the death which awaits him.

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 2:27 PM