Philosophy and Allegory in Moby Dick

Philosophy and Allegory in Moby Dick

In Chapter 58, Ishmael compares the land and the sea and talks about the similarities and differences between the two. Then he takes the discussion of land and sea to a more transcendental level when he says:

Consider, all this; and then turn to this green, gentle, and most docile earth; consider them both, the sea and the land; and do you not find a strange analogy to something in your self? For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encompassed by all the horrors of the half known life. God keep thee! Push not off from that isle, thou canst never return!

Ishmael then continues at the end of Chapter 60 to explain that the metaphorical whale-lines represent the constant perils of life, that we do not recognize until we become aware of our own danger:

All men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life. And if you be a philosopher, though seated in the whale-boat, you would not at heart feel one whit more of terror, than though seated before your evening fire with a poker, and not a harpoon, by your side.

To what extent can this novel be read as an allegory? Is that the main point of the novel or can its literary aspect be just as meaningful as its allegorical aspect?