Religion: Why bother?
Job was a man of the purest faith. When the world shunned God, Job's
faith never declined. Job was a wealthy, handsome man with a beautiful wife
and a vast amount of property. At some point in time, Satan made a bet with
God that if Job situation was changed, his faith would quickly falter. On
this note, God took Job's wealth, his property, his family, and his wife.
When times were at their worst, God gave Job pus welts on Job's face, taking
his looks. Job's faith, however, did not falter, instead it becamestronger.
Job passed the test. God then healed Job, gave him more land, greater wealth
, and a better wife. Job was baffled, he wondered the purpose behind his
fall and rise. When he asked God this, God replied: "...Because I'm
God." That was answer enough.
On an opposite note, Jonah was a man whom God called upon to become a prophet.
Jonah refused because he didn't desire a life of servitude. Knowing that
he had committed an ultimate sin, Jonah fled to the ocean, risking hundreds
of crew members' lives, believing that God would not be able to follow.
In the sea, Jonah was swallowed by God in the form of a whale In the whale's
belly, he repented and prayed for forgiveness. He was spit up by the whale
upon dry land and all was forgiven.
Man fears God. God created all life and all matter, he maintained it, and
he can very easily take it back. Man realizes this, and those of the purest
faith must pay a lifetime of homage and servitude. At least this is the
key behind all God-believing religions. In a part of the Hindu faith, there
is a God called Shiva. He is believed to be the "restorer and destroyer
of worlds." Shiva is one of the most temperamental gods of any faith,
he'll destroy the world on a simple whim. At one time, he even cut off his
son's head and turned it into an Elephant face. One example of the type
of faith Shiva requires is found in the story of a man who desired power
more than anything. In order to obtain this power, he had to get sacred
weapons created by Shiva. He began a deep meditation to obtain the weapons.
This went on until his meditation clouded the heavens and angered Shiva
himself. Shiva challenged the man to a battle, and easily conquered. Impressed
by the determination and will of the man, Shiva gave him the weapons. The
ideal Hindu has strong enough faith to challenge god.
Religion appears at every turn of life; in music, in art, throughout history,
and especially in literature. It is one of the few constants which can be
traced to man's earliest presence. Some have more faith than others, but
does this matter? In comparing the stories of Jonah and Job, faith makes
no difference to God. Job had strong, unfaltering, pure faith, while Jonah
had faltering faith. Yet Job was punished and his faith put to the test,
while Jonah fled, yet was forgiven. Faith may not matter in the long run.
The good man was screwed, while the bad one was rewarded. So does one man
who deeply worships god in his Christian form weight more in the eyes of
god than a apathetic Hindu?
Man obviously needs god, judging by his unimaginable popularity, and he
must be necessary to have lasted this long. Man just wants to believe that
there is a superior creature in the world, some explanation for our presence.
He is worried that he is just an ant and nothing more. Man just wants to
be sure that there is something after this life, and not just a void. And
subconsciously, man even realizes that without God, and without an afterlife,
there is no consequence, but the basic goodness within man wants to maintain
order, and not promote chaos.
In our world, everyone has unique skills, abilities, and gifts. One man
may have the physique of he-man and the mind of Lenny. His brother has the
mind of Stephen Hawking and the body of Moby Dick. Rewards from God may
be one explanation for why some people are blessed physically, some mentally,
some spiritually, and some all around. Reward may be proportional to faith.
A rich man may be a strong believer, while a poor man may be a blasphemer.
Or there might be no relation between faith and reward at all, which would
be much easier to believe, judging by the increasing number of sinful rich
people. Believers might not be any better off than the non believers. But
the question which needs to be asked is this: ultimately, is religion good
or bad? Questions of faith, reward, and reason, float about subliminally
in Moby Dick in the lives and fates of all the players.
At my first glimpse of the pulpit, it had not escaped me
that however convenient for a ship, these joints in
the present instance seemed unnecessary. For I was not prepared
to see Father Mapple after gaining the height, slowly turn
around, and stooping over the pulpit, deliberately drag up the
ladder step by step, till the whole was deposited within,
leaving him impregnable in his little Quebec.
The Pulpit
Strong faith can mean isolation, alienation. To be isolated or alienated
is to be set apart from the crowd, to be different. Father Mapple is one
of the truest believers in this novel. Mapple sets himself up at a higher,
distant, protected place. He assumes that he is a direct messenger of god.
The pulpit in this chapter is built unlike any other. According to Mapple's
specifications, it is extremely tall with only a rope ladder leading to
his platform; climbing this setup is very similar to boarding a vessel,
which is probably what the Father wants. When Mapple is out in the city,
he is just an extremely popular whaleman, but once he withdrawals the ladder,
he is in an isolated world of his own. A possible reason for his necessity
of such an isolated island is that the real world is no longer a place in
which one can communicate with God. Mapple is located on a ship by himself.
An nearly empty, isolated ship may be all that's left of religion in the
long run. This can be taken to mean that man is alone on his vessel with
nothing but silent emptiness surrounding him. Mapple must climb the simple
ladder upward toward heaven, in order to escape the land of the sinners
and to communicate God's word. He then pulls it up, preventing invaders,
visitors, or any distractions. A real vessel would set off toward the seas,
which spiritually Mapple has to do. He stands up high, looking down on the
congregation, he is superior. At the foot of the Pulpit there hangs a painting
of a ship fighting off a massive storm, but through the clouds, an Angel
can be seen, creating light to guide the lonely vessel home. This vessel
is the same as the vessel represented by the pulpit and Mapple is at the
Helm. At the tip of the pulpit is a podium from which Mapple reads his bible.
This bible is guiding the ship through the storms which represent evil.
Religion is this lonely vessel which must break through the storms before
the world can be holy, and the only crewmember on this vessel is Mapple,
who represents mankind.
Religion is a lonely vessel, and man is alone on this vessel. This solitude
is further expressed by Coleridge through his tale of the Rime of the Mariner.
The mariner was a man cursed to walk the earth, telling his tale to those
he felt were fit.
I pass, like night, from land to land;
I have strange power of speech
The moment that his face I see
I know the man that must hear me;
To him my tale I teach
(Rime of the Ancyent Marinere)
He was a seaman whose crew encountered some bad times during a voyage. Their
salvation was discovered in a special Albatross that guided their path,
created a swift wind, and cleared their passage. But once they were out
of the clear, the mariner killed theblessed creature with an arrow. Immediately
their situation deteriorated and the entire crew of two-hundred dropped
dead, leaving the mariner to fend for himself in freezing, stormy weather.
After he repented, his boat was guided by the ghosts of his crew to an old
hermit who sent him on a solitary quest. This quest was travel the world
for the rest of his life, telling his tale to those he felt fit. This might
very well be Elijah's predicament. He appears to be an insane old bum who
won't stop trailing Ishmael and Queequeg. He first implies that by signing
the Pequod's papers, Ishmael and Queequeg have in effect, signed away their
souls. He then talks of a prophecy concerning Ahab's fate. Ishmael passes
him off for a senile fool. Elijah has a purpose, he is aprophet. He brings
about a sense of pessimism before the journey even begins. He is much like
the ancient mariner in that he is damned to eternity of prophecy and warning.
This warning concerns a mistake which shall lie ahead on the hunt. To the
mariner, the Albatross is hunted despite the fact that it was their salvation
sent by god. Elijah might be warning the deaf Ishmael that Moby Dick is
the Albatross sent from god. In any case, Elijah's sealed fate forces him
into a life of solitude. He is a true believer, a prophet, and perhaps even
some incarnation of God. Once again faith leads to solitude.
Elijah's life may be the ending to Jonah's story. After Jonah repented and
was forgiven, he was reborn as a prophet. As a prophet, or a direct servant
of god, his journey will be a solitary one, he will be left to fend for
himself, much like Elijah was. Everyone looks upon Elijah with suspicion
and ridicule, this comes with the territory. Although Jonah's story never
ended, his fate was written in stone, and Elijah's life is that fate. Faith
destines him to a life of solitude.
By the end of the hunt (just like Elijah and Jonah), Ishmael as well is
left to his fate of spreading his tale to those he felt fit. He is the mariner.
His voyage killed the albatross and paid the price, leaving Ishmael alone
in an empty ocean with only a coffin as a life buoy. In all likeliness,
God will not allow Ishmael to shake this off or move on. The tragedy will
consume him for the rest of his life. The cycle will never end because there
will always be Ishmaels and their Pequods.
Starbuck is the most faithful Christian on the Pequod. He is the voice of
reason in the crew and maintains his faith while the majority of the crew
disregard it. But his religious faith, like with so many others, leads to
solitude. When in 'The Quarter-deck', Ahab describes his experiences with
Moby Dick and announces the goal of the mission, the entire crew becomes
excited and goes along with his insane quest. Through this, Starbuck was
the only crew member whose faith showed him that Ahab had become obsessive
and wasn't the same as before the incident.
"Vengeance on a dumb brute!" cried Starbuck, "that
simply smote thee from blindest instinct! Madness!
To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab,
seems blasphemous."
The Quarter-deck
From the beginning, his faith isolates him from the rest, he could have
easily followed the crew, but that would mean his faith would falter. He
is completely different from the rest of the crew. He refuses to drink sinfully
as the rest do to the insane and impossible quest of Ahab. Ishmael describes
the crew as being detestable, but Starbuck is the ideal man, God's blueprint.
This is quite a difference. Yet the only factor which separates Starbuck
from the crew is his faith. He is a believer, but all this gets him is isolation
from the crew. His faith is pure but at one point it falters. He realizes
that Ahab's obsession has grown with each passing day and will eventually
kill them all. Ahab at one point threatened Starbuck's life with a musket
after a difference of opinions, and when Starbuck obtains the musket, he
is forced to choose between his faith and justice. He chose faith because
he knew that no matter the outcome, it would be God's will.
A difference of faiths completely alienated Queequeg from the crew. Queequeg
came from the island of Kokovoko, where he was prince. He developed an interest
with Christianity and found his way onboard an English whaling vessel. Although
he attempted to assimilate into Christian society, but quickly lost interest
and returned to his own faith. All he truly learned were the skills of whaling.
He felt Christianity had made him less than pure and therefore didn't return
to claim his throne. Although he is greatly respected by the crew, he is
nevertheless isolated for his unique faith and culture. During Queequeg's
Ramadan, he is in deep meditation and must sit still for a full day, worshipping
his God. Ishmael had never seen anyone do this and tried his hardest to
get Queequeg's attention by knocking down the door.
I then went on, beginning with the rise and progress
of the primitive religions and coming down to the
various religions of the present time ,during which time
I labored to show Queequeg that all these Lents, Ramadans,
and prolonged ham-squattings in cold, cheerless rooms were
stark nonsense; bad for the health; useless for the soul;
opposed, in short, to the obvious laws of Hygiene and
common sense. I told him, too, that he being in other
things such as an extremely sensible and sagacious savage,
it pained me, very badly pained me, to see him now so
deplorably foolish about this ridiculous Ramadan of his.
Ishmael
The Ramadan
Ishmael is the fool, but tries to cover it by mocking Queequeg's god. He
wondered what kind of savage religion would require loyalty and discipline.
His negative reaction indicates the lack of respect Christianity has for
God in comparison to other faiths. Queequeg is definitely not the inferior
party here. Ishmael's faith may be so weak and insecure that he must convert
and condemn every "savage" he sees. He says that Christianity
has "progressed." He may very well be using a different dictionary
than the rest of the world. Unless "progressed" means declined
to such an extent that a faithful Christian and a prophet are considered
freaks and are shunned and isolated.
Ishmael's belief that Quequeg's faith is inferior is further shown when
he prays to Yojo. To confirm their marriage, Ishmael and Queequeg perform
a pagan ritual of smoking to the doll.
I was a good Christian; born and bred in the bosom
of the infallible Presbyterian Church. How then could
I unite with this wild idolator in worshipping his piece
of wood? But what is worship? thought I. Do you suppose
now, Ishmael, that the magnanimous God of heaven
and earth- pagans and all included-can be possibly be
jealous of an insignificant bit of black wood? Impossible!
"Ishmael"
A Bosom Friend
Ishmael doesn't realize that he is in denial. He will not readily accept
that Queequeg's God and the Christian's God are the same being in different
forms. He does not have enough faith to see the idol as anything more than
a piece of wood. This is where the problem in their relationship lies. Ishmael
does not have any solid proof that the church is "infallible."
He only believes this because the idea has been force fed to him for his
entire life. Queequeg on the other hand, has spent enough time worshipping
his God to truly believe in him. Ishmael's close-mindedness makes him refuse
to accept Queequeg's faith as anything but inferior, therefore isolating
him from Ishmael normal "Christian" standards of friendship. In
other words, in Ishmael's eyes, Queequeg's faith makes him more like a pet
than a friend.
Queequeg is much like John the savage from Huxley's Brave New World. John
was raised apart from civilization, and therefore had his own opinions,
ideas, and ideals. On the other hand, all of the members of the new society
had been brain washed as children to fit into their assigned classes. They,
like Ishmael and the Christians, believed that everything that they knew
was infallible. They believed in their soma as a means to escape their reality,
while John knew that this soma was only a diversion. They believed that
the feelies were the only form of art, while John knew of poetry, literature,
and Shakespeare. John was open minded because he wasn't a brainwashed conformist.
Maybe Ishmael could have become more open if he hadn't been raised by the
church.
Queequeg is discriminated against for his faith when he first boards the
ship. There is one criteria for working aboard the Pequod, that you are
Christian. Any type of Christian will be accepted. Killers, thieves, and
scum are all welcome with open arms, but Queequeg must prove himself before
he can work. It takes a dramatic experience for Queequeg to prove his worth
to the crew. This experience occurred when a fool who ridiculed Queequeg
is knocked overboard by a loose post and is knocked into the ocean. Queequeg
then dives into the icy water without hesitation to save this man, and succeeds.
His faith required him to prove himself to his shipmates while it wasn't
necessary for others (Christians) to do so. Faith unfairly separates Queequeg
from his shipmates. Christianity completely screws over Queequeg. He is
completely rejected by the Christians. An interest in Christianity leads
him from his people. The corruptness of Christianity drives him away from
it. And his purity is tainted by Christianity, making him unworthy to return
home to claim his throne.
Strong faith has not been a positive factor in the lives of the mentioned
believers. Job was put to a humiliating test by the God he loved. Mapple
was forced upon an isolated pulpit in order to communicate with God. Elijah,
the mariner, was deemed a humbug by everyone he encountered because he preached
the direct word of God. Queequeg was discriminated against by everyone,
including his own tribe, because of the two faiths he was involved with.
It seems that there is no advantage to having faith. In fact, in the long
run the entire crew ended with the same fate: a watery death. All except
for Ishmael, who would conclude his life as a prophet. Religion had no effect
but pain and isolation. There were no rewards or advantages for loving God.
To the opposite effe
ct of the believers, there was a clear advantage to having no religion at
all.
A life without religion is a life with leisure. Stubb is the second mate
of the Pequod who is an opposite of Starbuck. Where Starbuck goes on the
voyage to earn his living, Stubb goes for the thrill of the hunt and kill.
During the entire voyage, Stubb has had a good time. His days are worry
free. His supper is one of example of his irreverence and carefree attitude.
He is in a conversation with the black cook, Fleece. The conversation leads
to questions about death. Stubb asks where Fleece plans to go after his
death, and Fleece subtly points straight up. Stubb doesn't understand this
and tells Fleece that they don't need a corpse hanging from their masthead.
" You said up there, didn't you? and now look
at yourself , and see where your tongs are
pointing. But, perhaps you expect to get into
heaven crawling through the lubber's hole,
cook;but, no, no , cook, you don't get
there, except you go the regular way, round
by the rigging. It's a ticklish business, but must
be done, or else its no go. none of us
are in heaven yet."
"Stubb"
-Stubb's Supper
He may believe in heaven, but it is in a very distant corner in his mind.
He just wants to live his life and not worry about heaven until the last
possible moment. He is basically calling faith useless, he is not a believer.
He asks how Fleece intends to get into heaven, because he believes the effort
is more trouble than its worth. The "regular way" in Stubb's mind
involves Starbuck-type loyalty, which he definitely does not want to give.
His question is: why bother ? When he says "none of us are in heaven
yet" he is basically saying that he has no proof and cannot be sure
that heaven even exists. Therefore, he lives a life of enjoyment with no
religion, yet he shares the same fate of "God's blueprint", Starbuck.
Starbuck does not fear or consider death at all, this is how he lives without
fear, superstition, or worries. Much like Timone and Puumba from the , he
probably follows the phrase Hakuna Matata, which means no worries(for the
rest of your days). One weak explanation which Ishmael gives for Stubb's
lack of religion and faith is his pipe. This pipe is described as a part
of his face. Ishmael thinks that it acts as some kind of "disinfectant",
protecting him from God's wrath. Ishmael doesn't want to believe that there
is no consequence. Stubb has no religious conviction, yet can live freely
and easily, which unlike most other Christians.
© Finestkind Productions and Erik Tai