For my final project, I have decided to focus on the topic that I wrote about for my second close reading essay, which is the critique of Christianity within Moby Dick. As we read through the novel this is something that I truly didn’t focus on much until I came into class and heard all of the different ideas from my peers. Which then caught my interest and I have started re-reading some of these chapters even closer with this idea in mind. I will be focusing my essay around chapter 17 titled “The Ramadan” and another chapter which I have ideas for but haven’t decided which I want to incorporate the most. My project will not include a creative piece, it will be an essay revolving around Melville using Ishmael as a vessel to push forward a powerful critique of Christianity through the use of Ishmael’s moments of condescending and hypocritical language. My essay will also include the two scholarly sources that will help push forward this critique. I have found a couple of sources that relate to my topic and I will be making the final decisions this week of what works best.
Moby-Dick
ECL 522: Fall 2025. Professor Pressman
I think this is coming along! Your thesis is here: ‘Melville using Ishmael as a vessel to push forward a powerful critique of Christianity”. I am not sure about “through the use of Ishmael’s moments of condescending and hypocritical language,” but I do think the novel has many opportunities to critique of Christianity. Indeed, I would just ask you to refine your claim so that it is clear which aspects of Christianity the novel is critiquing, and at which moments. Sometimes it is critiquing hypocrisy, mostly, but sometimes it is critiquing blind faith… so just be clear about WHAT, HOW/WHEN.., so that you can develop a robust SO WHAT that isn’t just “this is a critique of Christianity.” Melville was particularly appalled by the hypocrisy of Christian missionaries when he was a young waiter in the south Pacific– Marquesas and Hawaii, in particular; there’s a lot of scholarship and this and even evidence from his own writing . So hypocrisy might be a specific aspect of Christianity that you want to focus on. But, good ideas, and eager to read more!