Images of Storm in Melvilles Moby-Dick

Abstract

Apart from revealing a rich repository of Romantic and Transcendentalist elements, Melvilles oeuvre testifies to some Modern and even Post-modern traits, which makes him a forerunner of his time. Not only does his multiple and versatile use of storm images in Moby-Dick illustrate the Romantic and Transcendental cultural context of the novel, it also provides evidence of its precocious Modernity and latent Post-modernity through the realized psychological and philosophical storm image exponents. With a view to verifying the above premise, the article provides a detailed analysis of the seven centers around which images of storm group in the novel: the tempestuous winds of the Euroclydon, ekphrastic storms, Father Mapples moral storms, the theoretical storms of The Lee Shore,storms occurring during the Pequods voyage, Ahabs stormy character, and finally, the antagonism of storm and calm.