The meaning of Fedallah by Bobby Katoli
The origin of Fedallah is Middle Eastern. It means literally "in the hands of God." Fedallah is Ahab's harpooner who is shadow, stare, and uses wordless communication. He is a sort of a supernatural character. Fedallah is a sort of prophet for Ahab. His prophetic dreams warn Ahab of the danger of pursuing Moby Dick. Fedallah delineates a malignant figure for the crew on the Pequod. Rumors on the boat disperse among the crew that maybe Fedallah is the devil himself disguised as a human. Fedallah is a reserved character who seldomly speaks. in the course of the book, Fedallah has dreams of a certain demise of someone, but he and Ahab believe the dreams mean that is close to the end for Moby Dick. The meaninig of his name, "in the hands of God", might unveil that he is closely tied to the supernatural. Maybe that is the reason why the crew thinks he is the devil because they sense an other worldly presence.
posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 6:04 PM
1 Comments:
Fedallah - good points. Most scholars think his name means ransom or sacrifice of God. 5/5
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