Melville's Use Of Biblical Names In Moby Dick

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Textual evidence indicates that Melville clearly understood that the Hebrew scriptures were a link between various religions. In this circumstance, the use of Biblical names is understandable. Yet some of us, readers, still might have some questions as to the significance of Melville’s choice of names from the Old Testament. Were they chosen on a whim or is there a story behind the story? Matthew 7:7 reads: “Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you”. So let’s seek and find, shall we? The narrator of Moby Dick - Ishmael, is portrayed in the book as a very complicated and mysterious character. He is inexperienced when it comes to the art of whaling and is viewed as an outcast to the other sailors upon the Pequod. In the end, Ishmael turns out to be the only survivor of the shipwreck, clearly showing us that he truly is the lonely outsider. In the Holy Scriptures - Abraham had prayed to God for a son and God heard his prayer. The Bible states that Sarah (because she herself was barren) asked Abraham to marry her Egyptian handmaiden Hagar. Hagar soon bore Ishmael, who was the firstborn son of Abraham. Sarah, years later, had a son in her old age named Isaac. He was named the true heir to Abraham. Hagar’s jealousy forced her to have to leave with Ishmael who later went on to build a ‘new nation’.…show more content…
He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of

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