Biblical And Mythological Allusions Of Moby Dick - 851 Words

Moby-Dick is Herman Melville’s masterpiece, a purposeful novel that acts both as a documentary of a sea voyage but also a philosophical allusion on life as a whole. Moby-Dick is far beyond its time in reference to its use of allusion within its text. In this novel, Herman Melville frequently uses biblical and mythological allusions. With these strategic allusions, the reader is able to begin to understand the topics of discussion within the book and is also exposed to the wisdom and potential knowledge Melville possesses. Melville uses many Biblical and mythological references in the form of character stories, which I found beneficial in helping interpret the texts meaning (Howard, 27). This paper will discuss the Biblical and Mythological allusions that Melville’s use in Moby-Dick in the hopes to develop a deeper understanding of the issues Melville was hoping to address. An Allusion is a brief and indirect reference to a well-known person, place, thing, cultural, hist orical, or literary work (Delahunty, 24). As Described by Andrew Delahunty in the Oxford Dictionary of Reference and Allusion, allusions form a colorful extension to the English language, drawing on our collective knowledge of literature, mythology, and the Bible to help us connect and interpret literature (26). Though an allusion is used to reference something significant, it does not describe in detail the person or thing to which it is referring too. Writers often use allusions as just a passing commentShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Death of Identity in DeLillos White Noise2934 Words   |  12 Pageslie within Orest Mercators name. Orest may take his first name from Orestes, the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, who avenged his fathers death by killing his mother and her lover. The Classical allusion repositions Orest as a mythological origin who blends both Greek myth and Biblical allusions (by returning to Eden and confronting the serpent) with his indeterminate lineage. The binary extends to the quasi-palindromic nature of his name, beginning and ending with or. This is different