Herman Melvilles’s novel, Moby-Dick, serves as a critique of capitalism and its effect on American society. Throughout the novel Melville uses the whaling industry as a metaphor for capitalism; he demonstrates the life-threatening labor of workers in the whaling industry and how crewmembers on the Pequod are merely seen as a commodity for profit, how material wealth overrides the morality of those working and living in a capitalist society, and the disconnect between the consumer and the laborer. The novel shows readers that capitalism in America has created an individualistic society in which profit and gain take precedent over morals and lives.

In Chapter 93, “The Castaway,” Melville uses the character Pip to highlight how workers are seen as a commodity for profit in American capitalist society, and how the life-threatening labor of those in the whaling industry are put aside in order to make a profit.. While chasing a whale, Pip leaps overboard and is caught by the rope connected to the whale. With the only option to save him being to cut the rope and freeing the whale, Pip is reluctantly saved by Stubb, who berates him for the incident: “ ‘Stick to the boat, Pip, or by the Lord, I wont pick you if you jump; mind that. We can’t afford to lose whales by the likes of you; a whale would sell for thirty times what you would, Pip, in Alabama. Bear that in mind, and don’t jump any more.’ Hereby perhaps Stubb indirectly hinted, that though man loves his fellow, yet man is a money-making animal, which propensity too often interferes with his benevolence” (Melville 452). Pip is told by Stubb that his life is not worth more than any amount of money that could be made from the whale. Profit over life, unsurprising considering the money is made off of the killing of whales. Melville shows the harsh reality of the industry, how workers are seen as expendable and should not be considered anything more than a commodity and a way to gain wealth. Directly after this, Pip falls overboard once more, and the cruelty of capitalism is shown in full effect: “Pip jumped again… when the whale started to run, Pip was left behind on the sea, like a hurried traveller’s trunk. Alas! Stubb was but too true to his word… Stubb’s inexorable back was turned upon him; and the whale was winged. In three minutes, a whole mile of shoreless ocean was between Pip and Stubb… For the rest, blame not Stubb too hardly. The thing is common in that fishery” (Melville 452-454). This time, Stubb sticks to his word and puts the potential profit of the whale over the life of Pip. Melville also points out how this is a common occurrence in the industry, and to not judge Stubb too harshly for his immoral decision. Too often it is seen in America that the lives of workers are less important than the money that is made off of them. Capitalism has created a society that does not care about the loss of life so long as the money keeps coming in. Pip’s life did not matter to Stubb or to any of the other members on the boat, as they were too focused on killing the whale that could make them some money. Perhaps even more so, Melville uses Pip, a Black American, to demonstrate how another industry puts the importance of profit over life and morality; slavery. Still the major issue in America at the time of the novel’s publication, slavery is capitalism in its most cruel form. The gaining of profit off of the buying and selling of humans, forcing them into unpaid labor, and treating them like they are inferior. This chapter goes to the full extent in showing the brutality and viciousness of capitalism in America, and how money overrides morals.

In Chapter 36, titled “The Quarter Deck,” Melville demonstrates how Captain Ahab is able to use a form of currency, in this case a golden doubloon, to influence the crewmembers into overriding their moral obligations to the original journey, allowing Ahab to take full control of the Pequod and manipulate and bribe the crewmembers into doing his bidding. “ ‘Whosoever of ye raises me a white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow and a crooked jaw; whosoever of ye raises me that white-headed whale, with three holes punctured in his starboard fluke – look ye, whosoever of ye raises me that same white whale, he shall have this gould ounce, my boys!’ ‘Huzza! huzza!’ cried the seamen, as with swinging tarpaulins they hailed the act of nailing the gold to the mast” (Melville 176). Captain Ahab is able to use the gold doubloon as an economic incentive for the crewmembers on the Pequod, demonstrating how monetary items can be used to exploit workers into doing harmful and dangerous things. Here, Ahab is using the doubloon as a way to gain the trust of the crewmembers on the ship, and to steer them into dangerous waters away from their original whaling expedition in order to conquer his own personal and malicious goal, which will result in the death of most of those on board. In this chapter, Melville is showing the reader how the doubloon is a metaphor for capitalism; under capitalism, it is normalized for morals, ethics, and safety to take a back seat to money and personal profit. Melville is criticizing how capitalism has essentially bribed everyone into thinking that money is at the top of the pedestal, and all other values and ethics must be ignored if you wish to be at the top. The pursuit of wealth results in the loss of morals, and the men on the Pequod do not care what it takes to be the one who gets Captain Ahab’s gold doubloon.

Throughout the novel Melville shows the dangers of the whaling industry. He goes into the harsh details of killing whales and the production of whale oil, a product used by many Americans at the time; by doing so Melville is able to demonstrate the disconnect between consumers and laborers under capitalism. In Chapter 61, titled “Stubb Kills a Whale,” Melville gives the reader a brutal detailing on the killing of a whale by Stubb: “And now abating in his flurry, the whale once more rolled out into view; surging from side to side; spasmodically dilating and contracting his spout-hole, with sharp, cracking, agonized respirations. At last, gush after gush of clotted red gore, as if it had been the purple lees of red wine, shot into the frighted air; and falling back again, ran dripping down his motionless flanks into the sea. His heart had burst! ‘He’s dead, Mr. Stubb,’ said Tashtego” (Melville 311-312). The production of whale oil comes at a cost. The harsh killing of whales in a most vicious form, of course dangerous for whales but also the men tasked with killing them. Consumers are not the ones going out into the ocean and harpooning a whale until it is dead, yet they are the ones using the oil for simple things like candles, lamps, and soap. The reader sees the production of squeezing the sperm out of the whale in Chapter 94, “A Squeeze of the Hand.” While this chapter may be known for other things, it demonstrates what the worker sees versus what the buyer sees. Ishmael describes the grisly process which goes on inside of the blubber-room: “With his gaff, the gaffman hooks on to a sheet of blubber, and strives to hold it from slipping, as the ship pitches and lurches about. Meanwhile, the spade-man stands on the sheet itself, perpendicularly chopping it into the portable horse-pieces. This spade is sharp as hone can make it; the spademan’s feet are shoeless… If he cuts off one of his own toes, or one of his assistant’s, would you be very much astonished? Toes are scarce among veteran blubber-room men” (Melville 458). The process of creating this oil is unknown to the consumer, yet they use it to light lamps and to make soaps, candles, and other cosmetics. Melville here is showing the reader how the consumer doesn’t see what goes on inside the blubber-room, but rather they only see the finished product as something that is clean and seemingly pure. Capitalism thrives on consumers not knowing how products are made. Capitalist societies are able to make huge amounts of profit as a result of the harsh labor of others, those who lose limbs doing a job that they hardly get paid for, and the buyer is ignorant to all of it. Poor working conditions and cheap wages are the backbone of capitalism, for its exploitative nature will allow for nothing else.

A scholarly titled, “Moby Dick and the Crimes of the Economy,” written by author Vincenzo Ruggiero and published by the Oxford University Press, explores the idea of Moby-Dick in terms of an economical system in which the reader should note that in the novel we see the exploitation, the violence, and the corruptness in capitalism. When discussing the comparison of the whaling industry and Captain Ahab, Ruggiero writes: “Ishmael’s criticism of Ahab’s excesses diverts him, though not completely, from criticizing the whaling industry itself (Moretti 1996: 32). His condemnation wavers because he is unable to establish whether it is the logic of that industry which creates the Ahabs or whether the captain’s excesses are the result of a subjective, pathological, drive…Surely, Ahab is full of ira et studio and is incapable of running his business with a spirit of formalistic imper constant violation of the official rules, however, can only partially be attributed industry in which he is involved, and his crimes are mainly extrinsic to that industry” (Ruggiero 103-104). Here it seems as though Ruggiero suggests that Ishmael is more comfortable with critiquing Ahab rather than criticizing the whaling industry as a whole. While Ahab’s behavior is certainly inexcusable, it does not take away from the fact that the entire industry is flawed, and that its immoral values is what could have led to the madness of Ahab and the corruption of the crewmembers on the Pequod. Ruggiero is offering the idea that the systemic structure of capitalism should be at blame, not just one man who takes it to the extreme. In another scholarly article, “Melville’s Economy of Language,” published by Cambridge University Press, author Paul Royster criticizes the blame of Ahab for what is the fault of the whaling industry. He writes, “Viewing Moby-Dick as a less than radical critique of American capitalism coincides with one of the plot’s central features: Ahab’s rebellion against God, economy, and nature. Ahab has no respect for the commercial purposes of the Pequod’s voyage, yet the form of his opposition to the system of eco­nomic relations serves ultimately to reinforce the values of the bourgeois order. Ahab’s madness, his usurpation of power, and his rigid authoritarianism all deflect criticism away from the economic system that launched the Pequod” (Royster 322). Just like what Ruggiero is suggesting, Royster believes that by blaming Captain Ahab for what happens in the novel, the whaling industry and capitalism are not held at fault. Ahab goes against the original plan of the Pequod’s journey, yet he still reinforces the standards of the bourgeois in his acts of self gain, harsh labor conditions, and ruling by authoritarianism. However this should not take away from the fact that the Pequod is only in this position because of the whaling industry and capitalism. Without the whaling industry, there would be no Pequod nor would there be a Captain Ahab, and the capitalist values that attempt to conquer the ocean would cease. Both Ruggiero and Royster are asking the readers to look more in depth into what Melville is writing; do not look at a character like Ahab without seeing the underlying meanings in the novel. Captain Ahab is a product of capitalism and the whaling industry, and to solely blame him for the destruction of the Pequod and the men on board is to not hold capitalism’s systemic issues responsible.

Herman Melville’s novel, Moby-Dick, is a critique of capitalism and how it has severely affected American society. Melville uses the whaling industry to criticize capitalism, while demonstrating the poor treatment of workers, the disparity between consumer and laborer, and the immorality of capitalism. Both scholarly articles also discuss the importance of blaming the entire whaling industry and capitalism as a whole for what happens in the novel, not just the actions of Captain Ahab. To read Moby-Dick is to inherently read a novel that discusses how capitalism is to blame for turning America into a country in which profit is more important than lives, whether that life be whale or human.

Works Cited

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick: Or, The Whale. Edited by Andrew Delbanco and Tom Quirk, Penguin Publishing Group, 2003.

Ruggiero, Vincenzo. “Moby Dick and the crimes of the economy.” British Journal of Criminology, vol. 42, no. 1, 1 Jan. 2002, pp. 96–108, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/42.1.96. 

Royster, Paul, “Melville’s Economy of Language” (1986). Faculty Publications, UNL Libraries. 1. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libraryscience/1