Moby Dick was written by Herman Melville in 1851, a time when the United States was going through much turmoil and tension. But there was also a reaction from such turmoil and tension. It is often seen in history that when things start to get rough, people flock to religion. While Christianity was still very popular in the United States, it became ever more popular during the years leading up to the Civil War. Abolitionists and slave owners were both using the bible to prove their points about slavery. Mothers were teaching their children how to be good Christian children. Church attendance was almost a mandatory thing. Religion, and Christianity specifically, were running rampant across the nation when Herman Melville was writing and when he published Moby Dick. Melville incorporates biblical references into Moby Dick in order to incorporate a familiar topic and to break the traditional mindset of religion.…show more content… So, while some people may not be familiar with whaling or the culture of New England, the biblical references that Melville makes helps to orientate the reader, and gives them something they are familiar with. The first line of the book is, ‘Call me Ishmael” (21). Ishmael was the son of Hagar, who was on of Abraham’s servants. Abraham could not have children with his wife Sarah, and had children with his servant as a way of preserving his family line. In the Literary Allusions and Notes section of the book, it says, “The name Ishmael was commonly associated with the figure of the exile” (563). The exile is an event that is specifically associated with Christianity and Judaism, and one that most Christians immediately recognize. By using a biblical reference in the first line of his book, Melville draws his reader in with something that they are familiar and comfortable reading
