The white whale Donald Trump aims to destroy
Herman Melville’s “Mobydick,” published in 1851 when he was 32, remains a repository of profound meditations on industrializing nature for profit, the power of democracy as an ideal to strive for, the deep injustice of slavery, the brutal conditions on whaling ships, and the destructive forces of egomania and desire for absolute power that reside in the soul of despots clinging to power.
Naturally, it applies to this political moment and Donald Trump’s quest to return to the White House.
There is a moment in the story when Captain Ahab appears on the quarterdeck to address the crew for the first time. The narrator, Ishmael, has signed on board the Pequod for a voyage of three years.
Ostensibly, the wounded Ahab signed onto the Pequod to make money by slaying whales. But he conceals his true design until they are well on their way south to whaling grounds.
He gathers the 30 crew members from many countries, who signed on to earn a pittance for their work, then outlines the real intention of this voyage. He relates a series of grievances about a prior confrontation with the white whale, Moby Dick, during which he was “dismasted” of his left leg. His only objective in life now is to seek it out and slay it.
To seduce the crew to his designs, he dramatically holds up a gold coin from Quito, Ecuador, hammers it to the mainmast while announcing: “whosever of ye raises me that same White Whale, he shall have this gold ounce, my boys.”
As he speaks with increasing passion, Ahab’s narcissistic rage breaches the surface, making the crew cower in his presence.
Because the novel is timeless, it’s possible to see parallels in Trump’s election denial from 2020 and the subsequent insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.
Ahab slips back and forth between the personas of innocent
victim and outrageous tyrant. Trump does this, too.
His hubris gains momentum. In response to the criticism from his first mate, Starbuck, Ahab bursts forth: “Talk not to me of blasphemy, man: I’d strike the sun if it insulted me.”
His arrogance, coupled with his wound, creates a figure who is pitied and feared. Under pressure, the crew swears an oath to slay the white whale
above all other duties.
There are dozens of interpretations of what the white whale symbolizes. When the white whale finally surfaces, Ishmael sees it as a god from the depths. Through the eyes of wounded Ahab, Moby Dick embodies malicious evil that must be destroyed.
I see Trump as carrying his own narcissistic wounds. Defeated in 2020 but unable to accept it, he rallied his crew from the quarterdeck of his platform, calling them to Washington, D.C., where they attacked the Capitol and our democracy. In this way, he placed himself above democracy much the way Ahab spoke of the sun insulting him.
Many insurrectionists brought flags on poles and used them almost like harpoons to attack police and gain entrance to the Capitol. It was not a peaceful demonstration; it was an attack on the foundation of our country’s identity and the white whale of democracy.
The threat to the ship of state became palpable in the violence, frenzy and chaos of Jan. 6, 2021, even as Trump’s crew members, including members of Congress, have since tried to minimize it.
We have only one white whale; we must protect it from further attacks that could slay the soul of America.