The final project is on human greed in commercialization with exploitation of the carcass as a way to inadvertently dissect religion in society. Near the end of chapter 104 is the passage that will be evaluated. By deconstructing the location of the unknown place of worship, and the Diety in replacement of the whale, it is exposed that we place our faith in seen symbols, taking away the focus on the true point of worship– God, in this case– and use these symbols from a place of security, or weaponization of the religion. I found the use of demonstrating the carcass as sacrifice critical in instigating the foundation of religion as exploitive, manipulative, and cruel. Ultimately, the premise is to examine the androgynous nature of the temple and the whale in this passage, and how this becomes a social commentary on the Industrial Revolution. This paper will be an essay.
Moby-Dick
ECL 522: Fall 2025. Professor Pressman
I think your main point is here: “demonstrating the carcass as sacrifice critical in instigating the foundation of religion as exploitive, manipulative, and cruel’. So, the novel is critiquing religion in this scene? This is clear and strong, and there are other scene that might support this larger claim. I would strip the extra, and extraneous, words and ideas ( “androgynous nature of the temple” and “a social commentary on the Industrial Revolution”), as they, currently, take away from your primary focal point. Yet, I think the idea is there.
You might also check out Alyssa N’s post, as she too is writing about how the novel critiques Christianity.