Ahab’s is the only one who uses charts and scientific reason, partly because he is seen to be this self-reliant character and partly because he is obsessed with the thought of capturing the white whale, to the extent that he does. Ishmael explains that to those who do not understand whaling and whales in general, attempting to chart where they will be in a giant ocean appears to be hopeless. He responds to this by saying, “but not so did it seem to Ahab, who knew the sets of all tides and currents; and thereby calculating the driftings of the sperm whale’s food; and, also, calling to mind the regular ascertained seasons for hunting him in particular latitudes; could arrive at reasonable surmises, almost approaching to certainties, concerning
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He responds to Peleg’s question of why he wants to join the Pequod by saying, “I want to know what whaling is. I want to see the world.” If whaling is a metaphor for finding God, then Ishmael is using whaling to find the certainty about the presence of God. He never says he wants to capture and hunt the whale, but he wants to, “see and know him” (Schlarb). Ishmael attempts to know God and find the whale by mixing science with religion by taking what he knows about the sperm whale and applying it to biblical explanations that will help him understand whales as godlike creatures. He also comes to find that measuring the whale will not bring him any closer to what he, Ahab, and Melville are looking for. He tries to take scientific measures of whales, dissect them, and think of them in terms of their skulls and by doing this he is, “simplifying Melville’s quest for spiritual certainty” (Schneider). He is reducing God’s power because he is suggesting that he can be measured in an “earthly” way and that it can be done by humans. Ishmael is the religious figure of the novel and his effort to gauge the size of the whale can relate to Melville and even religion’s confusion in how to interpret God in the 19th century. Even priests had a difficult time with the possibility of knowing God and how to get past the uncertainty of his existence. It is difficult to comprehend to what extent can humans, “physically measure God.” Consequentially, although the answer is uncertain to Ishmael, he realizes that it must be more than science
He responds to Peleg’s question of why he wants to join the Pequod by saying, “I want to know what whaling is. I want to see the world.” If whaling is a metaphor for finding God, then Ishmael is using whaling to find the certainty about the presence of God. He never says he wants to capture and hunt the whale, but he wants to, “see and know him” (Schlarb). Ishmael attempts to know God and find the whale by mixing science with religion by taking what he knows about the sperm whale and applying it to biblical explanations that will help him understand whales as godlike creatures. He also comes to find that measuring the whale will not bring him any closer to what he, Ahab, and Melville are looking for. He tries to take scientific measures of whales, dissect them, and think of them in terms of their skulls and by doing this he is, “simplifying Melville’s quest for spiritual certainty” (Schneider). He is reducing God’s power because he is suggesting that he can be measured in an “earthly” way and that it can be done by humans. Ishmael is the religious figure of the novel and his effort to gauge the size of the whale can relate to Melville and even religion’s confusion in how to interpret God in the 19th century. Even priests had a difficult time with the possibility of knowing God and how to get past the uncertainty of his existence. It is difficult to comprehend to what extent can humans, “physically measure God.” Consequentially, although the answer is uncertain to Ishmael, he realizes that it must be more than science