Ahab as Christ Figure

[lethargic1]

In Robert Milder's book, Exiled Royalties, he makes an interesting point about how one can view Ahab as a Christological figure. This of course depends on whom you believe to be the hero of the tale, as well as how you view the whale. Ahab indeed creates a new covenant with the crew, using his blood as a baptism of sorts, and he even holds his own mass, a dark mass of courser, but still. If you view the whale as a satanic deity, then Ahab becomes a salvific figure, or in the least, a martyr. Or, perhaps, and even more intriguing, he becomes a failed messenger of God. It's interesting to look at the book in these terms, although I don't. I still believe there is too much of Milton's Satan in him to be heroic. If anything, he is an anti-hero, a Melvillean figure run wild with passion and pride. Nonetheless, he remains an interesting figure.