The novel Moby Dick was the sixth novel published by Herman Melville, a landmark

of American literature that mixed a number of literary styles including a fictional adventure
story, historical detail and even scientific discussion. The story of the voyage of the whaling
ship Pequod , the novel draws at least partially from the experiences of its author while a
sailor and a harpooner on whaling ships before settling in New England as a writer. Moby
Dick was written out of Melville’s personal experiences. Moby Dick is a story of the
adventures of a person named Ishmael.  Ishmael is a lonely, alienated individual who wants to
see the “watery part of the world.”  Moby Dick begins with the main character, Ishmael,
introducing himself with the line “Call Me Ishmael.” (Melville 1). Ishmael tells the reader
about his background and creates a depressed mood for the reader.  Ishmael tells the reader
about his journeys through various towns such as New Bedford, Nankantuket.  Eventually
while in Nankantuket, Ishmael signed up for a whaling voyage on the Pequod.  The Pequod
was the whaling boat Ishmael sailed on where such characters as Queequeq, Starbuck, and the
captain of the ship, Ahab, all journeyed together. Not long once at sea, the captain of the ship,
Ahab reveals his plan to hunt down a white whale named Moby Dick. Ahab was a veteran
sailor, a man that had a heart of stone.  Ahab had a personal grudge against Moby Dick. 
Moby Dick was responsible for taking off Ahab’s leg in a previous voyage. Ahab’s plan was
essentially an unauthorized takeover, what the whaling company had not in mind. Ahab was
very irrational and ludicrous; his plan seals the fate for himself and the crew of the Pequod. 
In the tragic ending of Moby Dick, all of the characters die except for Ishmael. Ishmael
survived Moby Dick’s attack of the ship with the help of a coffin that his close friend
Queequeq built. 

Moby Dick can sustain numerous, if not seemingly infinite, readings generated by

multiple interpretative approaches. One of the most fruitful ways to appreciate the novel’s
complexity is through the names that Melville gave to its characters, many of which are
shared with figures of the Abrahamic religions. The very first line of Moby Dick, for instance,
identifies Ishmael as the narrator; Ishmael was the illegitimate (in terms of the Covenant) son
of Abraham and was cast away after Isaac was born. Ishmael of Moby Dick  was a special
character because he closely relates to the author’s own life.  There are many symbolism’s
between Ishmael of Moby Dick and Herman Melville’s own life.  The name Ishmael can be
traced back to the Bible.  The Biblical story of Ishamel is one of a rejected outcast.  This
“rejected outcast” can be linked to Ishmael of Moby Dick and Herman Melville’s own life.
 There are a number of other Abrahamic names in the book as well, including Ahab—
who, according to the Hebrew Bible, was an evil king who led the Israelites into a life of
idolatry. Melville’s Ahab is obsessed with Moby Dick, an idol that causes the death of his
crew. The ship that saves Ishmael, the Rachel, is named for the mother of Joseph, known for
interceding to protect her children. It is Rachel, as depicted in the Book of Jeremiah, who
convinced God to end the exile placed upon the Jewish tribes for idolatry. The rescue of
Ishmael by the Rachel in Moby Dick can thus be read as his return from an exile caused by his
complicity (because he was on the Pequod’s crew) in Ahab’s idolatry of the whale. Melville’s
use of these names grants his novel a rich layer of additional meaning. The whale itself is
perhaps the most striking symbol in Moby Dick, and interpretations of its meaning range from
the Judeo-Christian God to atheism and everything in between. Between the passages of
carefully detailed cetology, the epigraphs, and the shift from a hero’s quest narrative to a
tragedy, Melville set the stage for purposeful ambiguity. The novel’s ability to produce
numerous interpretations is, perhaps, the main reason it is considered one of the greatest
American novels.