Allusions To Christianity In Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick'
English 1102
Mr. Sweat
Research Paper
In his book Moby-Dick, Herman Melville makes many allusions to Christianity. None of which are as prominent as the one dealing with the doubloon. Melville uses the doubloon and man’s thoughts as well as reactions to it to portray the different views of God. In addition, he uses the thoughts of the readers as well to show this. The reader creates his or her own understanding of the doubloon. Melville shows that each individual person has their own interpretation of who God is. Each person uses God for their own concerns and problems. Similar to the way people today create their own view of God, the various characters in this book give meaning to the doubloon based upon each individual’s experiences and …show more content…
In looking at it this way, the doubloon is what is keeping the ship from falling apart. This small coin is providing the sailors with something to strive for. It functions as the heart of ship. This point of view of the doubloon can easily be associated back to Christianity. In the eyes of Christian believers, Jesus is their upmost desire. Christians so strongly attempt to have Jesus as a part of their life. They believe that a close and intimate relationship with Jesus is the way into heaven. The overall view of the ship mates is that the doubloon shall provide a financial status that they desire. The three points of the doubloon represent the Holy Trinity to Starbuck. The Holy Trinity is composed of the three parts of God. Christians look at God as being divided into three beings that work in unison; each in its own separate way. The three parts are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the book of Matthew, Christians are instructed to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (New International Version, Matthew …show more content…
Unlike the other crew members who find some awe-inspiring meaning in the symbols on the coin, Flask only views it for what it is. To him it is worth sixteen dollars or nine hundred and sixty cigars (334). Flask’s view of the doubloon is very closely related to the Agnostic view of God. “An agnostic is someone who maintains that he lacks enough knowledge regarding a particular issue to be able to make a definite judgment about it” (McInerny 92). Agnostics’ views of God are based on physical things. They believe that God exists but only base their beliefs on what they can see and
Mr. Sweat
Research Paper
In his book Moby-Dick, Herman Melville makes many allusions to Christianity. None of which are as prominent as the one dealing with the doubloon. Melville uses the doubloon and man’s thoughts as well as reactions to it to portray the different views of God. In addition, he uses the thoughts of the readers as well to show this. The reader creates his or her own understanding of the doubloon. Melville shows that each individual person has their own interpretation of who God is. Each person uses God for their own concerns and problems. Similar to the way people today create their own view of God, the various characters in this book give meaning to the doubloon based upon each individual’s experiences and …show more content…
In looking at it this way, the doubloon is what is keeping the ship from falling apart. This small coin is providing the sailors with something to strive for. It functions as the heart of ship. This point of view of the doubloon can easily be associated back to Christianity. In the eyes of Christian believers, Jesus is their upmost desire. Christians so strongly attempt to have Jesus as a part of their life. They believe that a close and intimate relationship with Jesus is the way into heaven. The overall view of the ship mates is that the doubloon shall provide a financial status that they desire. The three points of the doubloon represent the Holy Trinity to Starbuck. The Holy Trinity is composed of the three parts of God. Christians look at God as being divided into three beings that work in unison; each in its own separate way. The three parts are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the book of Matthew, Christians are instructed to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (New International Version, Matthew …show more content…
Unlike the other crew members who find some awe-inspiring meaning in the symbols on the coin, Flask only views it for what it is. To him it is worth sixteen dollars or nine hundred and sixty cigars (334). Flask’s view of the doubloon is very closely related to the Agnostic view of God. “An agnostic is someone who maintains that he lacks enough knowledge regarding a particular issue to be able to make a definite judgment about it” (McInerny 92). Agnostics’ views of God are based on physical things. They believe that God exists but only base their beliefs on what they can see and