Andrew Jackson And Ahab Analysis

Melville displays allusions to Andrew Jackson in various instances throughout Moby Dick and certainly for good measure. The significance itself, though lies in the fact that Andrew Jackson and Ahab, the infamous ship captain, are both merciless towards the minorities. With an imagination, arguments can be proposed that Andrew Jackson and Ahab are the same person. In order to back up the argument one must understand Andrew Jackson’s presidency, the two’s personalities, Ahab’s role in the novel, and the hickory pole.

Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, possesses the reputation of being a ruthless, barbarous, and ignorant man. Instances such as the Trail of Tears, Jackson’s Force Act of 1833, the creating of the spoils

For Andrew Jackson, the Force Act of 1833 clearly exemplifies his supremacy over the minorities. The Force Act allowed for Jackson to, “ to use military force to override South Carolina’s Ordinance of Nullification” so he could ultimately prove his dominance. Comparable to Ahab, who throughout the entirety of the novel puts the blame on fate, “Is Ahab, Ahab?” he asks. “Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm?” Instead of living as noble leaders and detecting flaws in their conduct, both notably look past their foolishness. Andrew Jackson, notoriously flaunts his ego using the “Spoils System”. The spoils system is a frowned upon concept for being, “ a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends and relatives as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party.” Ahab in the same sense wipes out (or in this case ignores) anyone who stands in the way of Moby Dick. The captain’s madness proves most evident in the scene where he exclaims, “if thou could’st, blacksmith, glad enough I lay my head upon thy anvil, and feel thy heaviest hammer between my eyes. Answer! Can’st thou smooth this seam?” (the forge) The scene clearly shows that Ahab is both mentally insane and emotionally insane even to the extent that he would offer up his head to “be smoothed out” clearly exhibiting his insanity