Intro
Even if you've never read this novel, chances are you're familiar with its plot. It starts out in first-person mode as its narrator introduces himself as a sailor called Ishmael. Ishmael is looking to get a post on a whaling vessel, and after spending some time hanging out with the right crowd, he secures a position on the Pequod: a fearsome-looking ship whose captain, Ahab, lost one of his legs in a battle with a whale, the one and only Moby Dick.
When Ahab finally appears, it's clear that he's geared up not just for a standard whaling mission but specifically to seek out Moby Dick at any cost. So begins an epic voyage, with Ishmael describing day-to-day life with his fellow crewmen, the details of whaling, and the seemingly fateful—and, for all but Ishmael, fatal—showdown with Ahab's archenemy.
Though Ishmael starts off as our narrator, the narration in this novel is pretty varied: there are some chapters in which Ishmael uses second-person narration or retreats into the shadows. Additionally, we switch between chapters that focus on the action and those that go into the details of whaling and have a more academic, scientific vibe that sets the novel apart from a standard adventure. Some chapters even take the form of a play: instead of description, these chapters are made up of back-and-forth dialogue between crewmembers, or else they're presented as soliloquies.
These scenes are fitting, given that Ishmael compares the story to a drama; plus, they give us a direct window on the characters' dialogue and thoughts. Ahab's soliloquies, in particular, bring to mind Elizabethan tragedy, flagging up the novel's thematic and emotional stakes.
This mix of narrative styles may seem like a mishmash, but it adds variety and helps with the novel's pacing. Given that the story is set at sea, there's something fitting about the narrative having this rhythm (you know, like the waves). These choices also relate to what Melville wants to convey or bring into focus—what's right for one chapter may not right for another.
This mixed narration reflects Ishmael's character, too. When it comes to the history of whaling, for instance, he's devoted to the facts and clearly knows what he's talking about. However, he has a poetic streak: even when he's discussing whaling, he sometimes puts a romantic spin on it and shows an interest in mythology. Let's take a look at one of these passages.
Quote
Reference to nearly all the leviathanic allusions in the great poets of past days, will satisfy you that the Greenland whale, without one rival, was to them the monarch of the seas. But the time has at last come for a new proclamation. This is Charing Cross; hear ye! good people all,—the Greenland whale is deposed,—the great sperm whale now reigneth!
There are only two books in being which at all pretend to put the living sperm whale before you, and at the same time, in the remotest degree succeed in the attempt. Those books are Beale's and Bennett's; both in their time surgeons to English South-Sea whale-ships, and both exact and reliable men. The original matter touching the sperm whale to be found in their volumes is necessarily small; but so far as it goes, it is of excellent quality, though mostly confined to scientific description. As yet, however, the sperm whale, scientific or poetic, lives not complete in any literature. Far above all other hunted whales, his is an unwritten life.
Now the various species of whales need some sort of popular comprehensive classification, if only an easy outline one for the present, hereafter to be filled in all its departments by subsequent laborers. As no better man advances to take this matter in hand, I hereupon offer my own poor endeavors. I promise nothing complete; because any human thing supposed to be complete, must for that very reason infallibly be faulty. I shall not pretend to a minute anatomical description of the various species, or—in this place at least—to much of any description. My object here is simply to project the draught of a systematization of cetology. I am the architect, not the builder.
Analysis
Disclaimer alert: Moby-Dick weaves together so many narrative styles and voices that no extract can do it justice. Still, this snippet gives us an example of a chapter that deals with whaling while touching on poetic and mythic themes.
Ishmael is clearly aware of this, referring to ideas about the whale as "monarch of the seas." This "monarch" used to be the Greenland whale, but Ishmael argues that times are a-changin', and "the great sperm whale now reigneth!"
Though Ishmael presents useful info and research, he brings humor into the mix and has a storyteller's flair. For him, whaling isn't just a mechanical task but an art. One passage, in particular, stands out: "As yet, however, the sperm whale, scientific or poetic, lives not complete in any literature […] his is an unwritten life." These sentences tell us not only that the sperm whale hasn't been researched at length but also that Ishmael is into the scientific and the poetic.
As with different types of narration used in this novel, Ishmael isn't a straight-down-the-line character. His attitude toward the reader is mostly friendly and helpful, but he can come across as stuck-up and bossy. Even when he's sympathetic, we could ask whether this is a way of getting the reader on side. That he's a storyteller helps explain why he sometimes exaggerates or describes the thoughts of other crewmen as though he's reporting facts.
Ultimately, the novel may be informative, but it's still as a piece of fiction, and its narrator isn't necessary 100% reliable. As Ishmael himself says elsewhere, "sailors of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable."
At one point in the novel, Ishmael notes that the sperm whale is covered in markings that seem like engravings or hieroglyphics. For all his research, Ishmael realizes that he'll never truly understand the whale, admitting, "I know him not, and never will." The whale is therefore a text that invites multiple readings, and the same goes for a doubloon (a Spanish coin), the markings of which prompt various interpretations from the crew.
These motifs highlight that we're reading and interpreting a text—a text mediated by a narrator. And, of course, the narrator doesn't invite a simple interpretation, either. If the novel is about seeking truth, then the ever-changing nature of the narration—and narrator—complicates this task. To quote Melville himself, "Lord, when shall we be done changing?"