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Motifs
Definition of Parody
A parody is a work that mimics the style of another work, artist, or genre in an exaggerated way, usually for comic effect. Parodies can take many forms, including fiction... read full definition
A parody is a work that mimics the style of another work, artist, or genre in an exaggerated way, usually for comic effect. Parodies can... read full definition
A parody is a work that mimics the style of another work, artist, or genre in an exaggerated way, usually... read full definition
Chapter 113: The Forge
Explanation and Analysis—Inverted baptism :
When forging the harpoon with which he intends to kill Moby Dick, Ahab parodies the Christian ritual of baptism but in a way that inverts it to represent his defiance of the gods. When forged, Ahab rejects the water for the harpoon and instead asks the three “heathen” harpooners if they will be pricked by the barbs to “baptize” it in blood.
Three punctures were made in the heathen flesh, and the White Whale’s barbs were then tempered.
“Ego non baptizo te in nomine patris, sed in nomine diaboli!” deliriously howled Ahab, as the malignant iron scorchingly devoured the baptismal blood.
Ahab’s use of Latin references the Christian church, which also traditionally uses Latin in its ceremonies, but it significantly perverts the meaning. Translated, Ahab declares that he baptizes the barb “not in the name of the father, but in the name of the devil,” a declaration that clearly inverts the meaning of baptism, a right that is meant to represent purification and virtue. By baptizing the barb in blood rather than water, Ahab further perverts the ritual, injecting it with a sense of the macabre that references the intended bloody purpose of the weapon. The irony in the use of baptism, a ceremony meant as a ritual to cleanse sins, as a rite to incite violent acts is also not lost. Overall, the use of parody and irony work together to emphasize the godlessness and blasphemy of Ahab’s mission. The closing remarks of this chapter, which details the "unnatural" and "most piteous" sound of Pip’s “wretched laugh,” make clear that no good will come of this ritual.
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