Herman Melville's The Vexations Of The Garden Of Earthly Delights?

In the novel “Moby Dick” by Herman Melville, the author gives the reader insight into all of the characters and his own thoughts and soul throughout the story by associating each character with different moods and metaphors. With this insight one can determine what the probable reactions of these characters could be to a situation, and what they would feel. Art can have a powerful impact on an individual, and for instance Ahab would probably relate to the painting Right Wing Hell of The Garden of Earthly Delights created by Hieronymus Bosch. Melville himself would see himself in the painting The Vexations of the Thinker by Dechirico, while Ishmael would prefer Duchamp’s sculpture The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors Even. Each work of art

“All that most maddens and torments...he burst his hot head’s shell upon it” (200). From this paragraph it is clear that Ahab blames all evil and misfortune on the whale, and might relate the image of the painting to Moby Dick. His obsession has rendered him insane, much like the image of all the people in hell doing strange and inhumane actions. However, Ahab might also see himself in it, because ever since the introduction of Ahab into the story Melville has compared him as one with the whale. “Ahab… last came to identify with him, not only in his bodily woes, but all his intellectual and spiritual exacerbations” (199). Melville also uses language that suggests that Ahab is the Devil, so he’d probably feel right at home when viewing the painting. For instance, he refers to him as a “supreme lord and dictator” (136) and as the “prince of air” (???). He would probably enjoy looking at the hellish scene since it is similar to his soul. It seems as if nothing could possibly untangle the painting or Ahab, and the more one examines further it, it just becomes messier and

The glass is split up into two different realms, and it seems as if the bride is flying blissfully away from the rest of civilization. Ismael has gone through several experiences where he has become lost in thought, like when he has to watch for whales. “In the serene weather...and your bill of fare is immutable” (170). In this paragraph he describes what it is like to look out into the ocean, and the affect it has causes one to slowly drift away. The sculpture also depicts the harsh realities that try to bring one down from their out of body experience through the bachelors shooting arrows at the bride to get her attention. He describes the way back down in the quote, “Move your foot or hand an inch; slip your hold at all; and your identity comes back in horror” (pg 174). This is because if he had continued to drift, he would’ve ended up dying by falling into the sea, and then there’d be “no more to rise forever”