A Study of Allegories in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick with ‎Religious Approach

Zahra Gholami Nasrabadi¹ Seddygheh Heidari² Zahra Hajizadeh³ Mahya Aliaghayi Arani⁴

1) Payam Noor University of Kashan
2) Payam Noor University of Saveh
3) Payam Noor University of Kashan
4) Payam Noor University of Kashan

Publication : 4th International Conference On Research Science And Technology(4rstconf.com)
Abstract :
The research attempts to study the role religious allegories in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. ‎Moby Dick is now considered one of the greatest American novels; it was not until the ‎‏1920‏s ‎that Moby Dick began to conquer its dignified status. Some literary critics see religion in ‎Moby Dick as a struggle between Melville s personal adoption of Unitarianism, and the ‎Calvinism of his father and mother. In the story, the author has a message for his readers, but ‎he suggests his message through a fascinating array of symbols and religious allegories; ‎therefore the moral message comes across through the biblical stories in the novel. The author ‎deliberately makes an indirect reference to the novel’s message, Melville does not agree with ‎this Christian philosophy that says that man’s life is but a shadow on earth” and instead ‎states through symbolism and the journey of the Pequod that there is only one life, and man ‎pays for his deeds during his lifetime and not after death. This view seems to agree with the ‎religious revivalism in the ‎‏1830‏s, which spoke of instant or immediate salvation. In his literary ‎works, both short stories and novels alike, Herman Melville uses allegories to demonstrate life ‎lessons. In fact the reader must seek something beyond the characters, scenes and ‎events ‎represented in the novel. A study as such, undoubtedly requires a theoretical basis. The most ‎appropriate approach will be to use allegorical analysis in religious form. ‎
Keywords : Religious Approach Allegory Herman Melville Moby Dick Pequod