Metaphysical Ideologies in Moby DickAt first glance, Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick appears to be the story of a man, his captain, and the whale they seek to destroy . But a closer look reveals the author's intense view of several metaphysical ideologies. It explores some of the most difficult dilemmas of its time, including the existence of evil, self-knowledge and the existential, and the possibility of a determined destiny. All of these were questions that philosophers had addressed and written about, but Melville took them to a new level: not only writing about these things, but also doing it in lovely poetic language supported by a tale. full of intrigue. It explores the general existence of evil in its antagonist, the white whale, and through the general wickedness that nature presents to humans throughout the novel. The narrator, Ishmael, gains much knowledge about himself through his experiences on the whaling voyage, where he is also able to learn much about the phenomenon of existence itself. Additionally, through Captain Ahab, he sees more about the existence of man and the things that exist in the heart of man. Especially through Ahab and his continued quest for the white whale, and also in general conversations among the whalers, the question of fate and whether one's destiny is predetermined is addressed in detail, with much thought and of insight interpolated from the author's own views on the subject. subject. Evil is something whose imagery is constantly found throughout the novel. The first being the whale: whose color is white. Again, this is a hidden theme. At first I thought that the persecuted white whale would make people believe that it is a picture of innocence...... middle of paper ...... Simplicity seems to be something something that Melville denies in his writings. Much like the philosophers of his day who wrote about metaphysics, he believed that behind what seemed to be simple things, there were always more complicated, and therefore much truer, answers that needed to be sought. His book, read simply from the perspective of the story of a crew, their ship and the sea, has many themes. But these themes multiply exponentially when we consider the metaphysical implications of Melville's tightly woven words. Perhaps that was his intention. As its narrator says, his voice throughout the novel: “Such is, and so magnifying, the virtue of a broad and liberal theme! We expand to its volume. To produce a powerful book, you must choose a powerful theme (104). » Works cited: Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. Ed. Charles Child Walcutt. New York: bantam, 1967.