I am using the Tower of Babel to make connections with Moby Dick. I am still gathering the sections that support the claim that Moby Dick and the Tower of Babel are making similar moral lessons about unity and doom. I’m still not sure exactly what the claim is, but I do have the asynchronous peer review’s submission as a guide. It has something to do with Ahab and everyone else on the Pequod.
I was planning to make a creative project, but I don’t have the tools to put the effort I wish I could into it, so I’ll probably just do a formal essay.
I do wonder if I can reference the Bible despite not being a reading for the course. My only reference anyways is Genesis 11:1-9, while in Moby Dick, I have to look at Chapter 36 and Chapter 135. I’d appreciate some pointers and other chapters that may help, though these two are the most explicit I can grab from my notes.
Moby-Dick
ECL 522: Fall 2025. Professor Pressman
Hey Zach, the Tower of Babel is a great comparison. You could maybe tie in Noah with Ishmael since they were both chosen to survive and that is how we have the stories? There are so many biblical references in this book I am sure you could compare the two!
-Kate Fletcher
What is the lesson that you see being taught in Moby Dick and the Tower of Babel story? What is the ‘ similar moral lessons about unity and doom.”? I think teasing out that connection might help you to better explain what you’re after. Babel is largely about language and communication, and God’s punishment in the form of misunderstanding and the need for translation. So… I think you need to spend a bit more time asking yourself what you’re actually interested in here. You might also do some research to see what other critics have written on the topic of the tower of Babel and/in the novel. But I’m not sure that I can see yet what you’re putting forth.