In Chapter 113, “The Forge”, Ahab uses the blood of the harpooners to forge his harpoon, claiming that he is baptising the weapon in the name of the devil. He creates this harpoon specifically for Moby Dick, intent on killing the whale with it. Through the bloody baptism of the harpoon by Ahab, a binary model of religion is created, bringing into question how religion is used to create ideas of good and evil.
The blacksmith creates Ahab’s harpoon, and then tells Ahab to grab the water to temper the barbs, but Ahab refuses, insisting on using blood as the temper liquid. From everyone on the ship, Ahab chooses to use the blood of the three harpooners, whom he calls the pagans: “‘No, no–no water for that; I want it of the true death temper… Tashtego, Queequeg, Daggoo! What say ye, pagans! Will ye give me as much blood as will cover this barb?’… a cluster of dark nods replied, Yes” (p.532). In this passage, Ahab calls out the harpooners, who do not conform to the Christian religion and have their own beliefs, to become part of his religion of Moby Dick. Ahab continues on to say: “‘Ego non baptizo te in nomine patris, sed in nomine diaboli’” (p.532), which means ‘I do not baptize you in the name of the father, but in the name of the devil’. With this verse, Ahab makes the harpooners the sacred liquid of his religion, as they are the ones who take the first strikes at the whales. Since they are the initial point of contact, they are the most important in Ahab’s hunt for Moby Dick. By choosing the harpooners, who are considered to be on the lower part of the hierarchy of the ship, Ahab creates a group of saints in his religion from the lower rank pagans.
Another way that this binary model is created is through the use of blood in a baptism. Baptism is usually a sacred ritual in the Christian faith used to signify entry of a person into the religion. In addition, water is used for baptism, not blood. Ahab clearly states his intention to baptize the harpoon intended for Moby Dick in blood, as he cries his verse in Latin, followed by: “Deliriously howled Ahab, as the malignant iron scorchingly devoured the baptismal blood” (p.532). In this scene, Ahab takes the blood of the harpooners to forge his weapon, and the language used creates an uneasy, evil feeling. Ahab and the weapon transform into different entities—as Ahab howls he becomes animal-like, monstrous, and the harpoon becomes anthropomorphized as it scorchingly devours the blood offered by Ahab. In this scene, Ahab is submitting to the weapon in a baptismal worship, surrounded by malevolent connotations, such as ‘malignant’ and ‘devoured’. This tone implies an evil nature around Ahab’s ritual, and creates a bootleg version of Christianity.
In addition, the choice to use blood separates Ahab’s religion from the natural world, providing further implication of evil. We are born in water, we are made of water, and this boat is, quite literally, surrounded by water. However, instead of making use of this natural element, Ahab restricts his ritual to humans, sealing himself and his practice away from nature.
By using the structure of Christianity to create his harpoon, Ahab fabricates an evil religion, but it is only one that seems this way because of the binary model it fits into opposed to Christianity. Had there not been replications of Christianity and malevolent connotations, this scene would not have held such defiance toward the Christian faith and ideals.
The use of Latin in this scene further draws a direct parallel to Christianity. Latin holds historical importance in the Christian faith, and by using Latin, Ahab creates a mockery of the religion. Not only is he using a holy language, but he is also using it to worship the Devil, a symbol of evil in Christianity. Ahab chooses to use the Devil as his instrument of worship because he perceives what he is doing as evil and chooses to defile Christianity. This further shows the ability of religion to be used in a binary sense of good and evil, as certain words can evoke feelings of evil or wrongdoing, like ‘the Devil’.
This scene draws attention to the structures that religion, especially Christianity, builds. In this passage, Ahab’s religion is contrasted to Christianity, and becomes the evil half because of the binary nature created in their similarities. With the use of pagan saints, blood baptism, and Latin, Ahab assumes multiple dimensions of Christianity and purposefully bends the faith to fit his own goals. This creates a dualistic nature with Christianity being good and Ahab’s religion being malevolent. This is important because Ahab’s religion only appears in this negative light because of the contrast with Christianity. Without this original structure, this scene would not seem religious, or perhaps not necessarily evil, but driven by other intentions.