Moby Dick & The First Testament

Moby Dick 2010 by Moby Dick 2100 by Jürgen TetzlaffIf you had told me a year ago, that I would be currently restraining myself from writing over 20 pages analyzing the connections between the First Testament of the Bible and Moby Dick…. I would have probably walked away from the conversation.

If this novel truly interests you, I beg to you re-read the novel alongside the First Testament of the Bible. As someone who was only slightly familiar with both of the texts, I find reading the two texts together absolutely fascinating and it has deepened my appreciation for the novel to my very core.

Don’t worry, I didn’t write 20 pages for our ‘short paper’ assignment. For our first paper, I am writing about the biblical names, symbols, and themes found throughout the novel as they relate to fulfillment of prophecy. This essay is more of a close reading / analysis of Moby Dick.

I am currently taking ‘The Bible’ with Professor Stein and we are covering the First Testament. For her class, I have chosen to focus my final paper quite specifically on the biblical names found within the novel and their significance. I will examine the Hebraic translations and perform close readings of chapters of the Bible in which relevant character names are found.

While researching the connections between the Bible and Moby Dick, I stumbled across this fantastic essay- The Hebraic and Biblical Elements in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick by Ed Rosenthal. I plan to use this article as a source for both of my essays. Generally speaking, I dread taking the time to read long outside sources but this article was absolutely fascinating. As I read through Rosenthal’s theories, I felt as if I was solving a great mystery. Could Melville’s novel be an attempt to trace the origins of religion? Truly fascinating and thought provoking article.

(I forgot to post this last Tuesday)

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