I’ve summarized some of David W. Noble’s analysis of Moby Dick ( The Eternal Adam and the New World Garden ) in the past, but the notes below highlight Noble’s take on the religio-political themes of Melville’s novel.

Ishmael, he notes, begins the novel looking for redemption in the sea. Not only does this suggest a hope for quasi-baptismal renewal, but it also represents an attempt to “to recapitulate the exodus of his ancestors from the crowded cities of Europe, across the purifying waters of the ocean, to a promised land in the west where death . . . would no longer haunt mankind.” His wish has a political/national dimension since his need for redemption arises from his sense of the corruption of American civilization; America is no longer the unspoiled Edenic frontier, but a land of cities, and Ishmael represents the American desire for renewal.

Yet, Ishmael’s desire for renewal, Noble argues, is not innocent. It is a Narcissistic dream of perfection, and his apparent love of the sea is only a projection of his own self-love: “Americans have looked upon nature, and there they have seen the reflection of their belief that they are earthly saints,” a “saving remnant” with no sins of their own to cleanse. Americans have lost an essential feature of Christian faith, humility.

Father Mapple’s sermon at the beginning of the novel sets the moral terms for the rest of the book. Mapple says that obedience to God requires self-restraint, “disobeying ourselves.” Jonah doesn’t accept that demand at the beginning, and his pride leads only to judgment. Jonah’s fate foreshadows the fate of Ahab, who also refuses to obey God by disobeying self, and, because he remains impenitent, suffers a more thorough destruction than Jonah.

Also early in the novel, Melville presents Queequeg as the alternative to Ahab, the humble noble pagan who will teach Ishmael proper humility, acceptance of his fate, and will finally save Ishmael’s life. Queequeg is a kind of Christ figure, “incarnate” among the Christians on orders from his father, he suffers only mockery and hostility, but still insists “we cannibals must help these Christians.” Through Queequeg, Ishmael learns about the universality of sin: “Heaven have mercy on us all – Presbyterians and Pagans alike – for we are somehow dreadfully cracked about the head.”

In contrast to the free pagan Queequeg are the Christian, Quaker managers of the Pequod. Peleg and Bildad are happy to turn their ship over to Ahab – on Christmas day! – knowing full well that he “is a blasphemous believer in some dark faith,” because they expect that he will bring them a healthy profit. Devil he may be, but if he can keep good discipline, and bring back the blubber, he’s tolerable. For Melville, “the practicality of Peleg and Bildad [is] itself a fanaticism that can lead to death.” Starbuck, for all his good qualities, is cut from the same cloth. He tries to curb Ahab’s fanaticism with financial enticements: “Sperm, sperm’s the play! This at least is duty; duty and profit in hand.” He hopes that Ahab’s evil will “disappear under the discipline of the ship’s work,” just as Americans in general believe that fallen Adams can be perfected by a healthy work ethic and comfortable business profits.

Ahab is the great instance of the disappointed post-Christian man. He is on a quest to destroy whatever it is that took his leg, that disturbed his perfection. He knows the world is flawed, and he “cursed God for failing,” hoping to bust through the pasteboard mask behind which God lurks.

Ishmael is redeemed by accepting death, by following the way of Queequeg, by learning humility, the lesson of Mapple’s sermon. Noble asks, “Would Americans comprehend that Ahab and his crew had disappeared into the deep because they believed in their own perfection? Could they understand that Ishmael alone was saved because he had been converted by Queequeg to the acceptance of his identity with the Eternal Adam whose salvation was not of this world?”