Hell on a Whaling Voyage

Building on what I’d discussed previously about Melville’s representation of the human soul in the chapter ‘Brit’, and his likening the ocean to God, the chapter ‘Try-Works’ conjures up an alternative image of the sea – the image of hell. The try-works are now in use and so the fire on the ship is overwhelming.

There are numerous biblical references throughout the novel, but in ‘Try-Works’ Melville conjures up an image of hell; “shot her red hell further and further into the blackness of the sea and the night” (327). The hellish red fires on the ship are surrounded by the dark sea, and ocean full of unknown horrors, and the black night. At one point Ishmael becomes disorientated in the dark, and loses his bearings. He describes how a “stark, bewildered feeling, as of death” (327) came over him.

When Ishmael describes the harpooneers ‘huge pronged forks’ (327), it brings to mind images of the devils fork. These references to the devil hint at the horrors of whaling, and the way the harpooners violently kill the whales.

There are many other references to hell in this chapter; “devils in the forking flames” (328). These references could mean a number of things. Is Ishmael becoming disillusioned with the whaling voyage? Has he begun to see just how dangerous it is, that death is almost certain. The idea of almost certain death, combined with having to violently kill whales could be a situation close to hell for some. Alone in this darkness Ishmael begins to see things differently; “Wrapped, for that interval, in darkness myself, I but the better saw the redness, the madness, the ghastliness of others” (327). He may be starting to see the realities of the voyage he is on, and his doubts are represented by these hellish images.

It is also interesting how he refers to the whale as a burning martyr in this chapter, supplying its own fuel to burn its own body. The way he refers to the whale as a martyr could be ironic, or maybe his is hinting at his admiration and respect for whales. They are creatures Melville finds so fascinating that he wrote a whole book about. Since the only way to become so familiar with whales is in a whaling voyage, maybe Melville does view them as martyrs. He makes a biblical reference about the day of judgement when the whale has died, could this be interpreted to mean he believes whales have some form of judgement day? He has applied human traits to whales before, presenting Moby-Dick as an evil whale, so it makes me wonder how Melville views whales.