The Themes Of Nature In Herman Melville's Moby Dick

Moby Dick is a multifaceted novel in which Herman Melville tries to explain several themes that show up within the book. Some of the more important themes being those of finding the hidden truths in a person’s life, trying to control nature and conquer it, and the ideas of free will versus predestination. Melville tries to use his main character, Ishmael, to try and help the audience and even himself discover the deeper hidden truths of life, those things that can only be discovered by going out into nature and experiencing them. Melville wrestles with the ideas of being able to control nature with the notorious Captain Ahab, a man whose internal struggle lies deep within a need to control and conquer what he thinks is nature- Moby Dick. His

In chapter 54 of Moby Dick, titled “The Town-Ho’s Story”, details a story told to one of the men on the Pequod at a ‘gam’, or an event that takes place where two ships make contact while on the open sea. The story is told to a man named Tashtego, who swears to keep the story a secret until he reveals many key details in his sleep, so many that the rest of the crew demand him to tell the

Steelkilt remained calm but still denied Radney’s order, which infuriated Radney. He began to angrily swing a hammer of his at Steelkilt, who calmly told Radney the consequences if he hit him. But, the furious Radney his Steelkilt, and in an instant Radney fell to the floor with a jaw that was “spouting blood like a whale” (Melville, 224). A brawl begins between Steelkilt, (joined by a few men) and two men loyal to Radney. The fight ends with Radney trying to negotiate with the captain, who threatens to shoot him. Steelkilt says that everything will go back to normal as long as no punishments happen, but if the captain shoots Steelkilt, a mutiny will ensue. The captain is relentless in agreeing, so when the men go to the forecastle, he locks them in there. The men are in there for four days with very little food and water. By the fourth day, all but three men have left. Steelkilt and the two others plan to storm up from the forecastle and take control of the ship by force, but the plan is foiled when the two men tie of Steelkilt and bring him up to the main deck in hopes that their punishment will be less