Moby Dick, Herman Melville

Moby Dick, Herman Melville

From the beginning of the novel we find numerous autobiographical allusions and similarities between the protagonist, Ishmael, and the author, to such an extent that wecan see that the fictional character is Melville’s alter ego: both of them went to the sea as simple sailors, when they had previously been teachers. Besides, there are some references to Ishmael’sDutch origins that coincide with Melville’s autobiography. 
Through the whole text, we find allusions that explain the density of the novel. Ishmael resolves to say that since whales are enormouscreatures his novel had to be very big in order to talk about them properly. This explanation evidences Ishmael’s absurd notions of writing. This mediocrity makes itself evident with the pompous andredundant style that characterises the novel; the narrator tends to use sequences of verbs and adjectives to say something that can be expressed with fewer words. Malapropisms and chaotic syntax also showthis lack of professionalism. There is a present concern for talking about every single detail of the animal and the sea world, details that cannot be overlooked, which can be interpreted as adesperate attempt to extend the novel and to allow Ishmael to continue existing. 
The beginning of the novel is composed by an explanation of the etymology of the word whale and then, the narrator introducesseveral quotes which include references to the whale. Nevertheless, these quotes are not satisfactory since they cannot explain the content of the novel. This is seen as another attempt from the partof the narrator to make the novel more professional and scientific. Quotes underline the real attempt of Melville to explain that knowledge is not achieved by means of accumulating facts but byunderstanding them. 
Within the novel, we can find examples of narrative discourse, scientific discourse, religious discourse and even legal discourse. 
• Legal discourse is present in the novel (P....