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*Comparing and contrasting the novels Moby Dick (by Herman Melville), and Macbeth (by William Shakespeare).
By William Van Zyl (Published in 2021) Article.
*Listen to the podcast of the full article:
Table of Contents
Fantasy Prophecy is a fascinating and compelling technique for Writing Fiction and Non-fiction.
Prophecies, or a prophecy, can add a fascinating plotline to a novel. It gives depth. It cleverly weaves mystery and suspense into the fabric of the story. It elevates the storyline. It intrigues!
[Prophesy] instils [a] story with a great sense of importance – as if the ages were just waiting for this one conjuncture of events, or particular character to come to prominence. It can sometimes be found in historical novels, but it is fantasy writing that the use of prophecy is far more common, becoming almost an art form in itself. Many readers may think that creating a fictitious prophecy would be straightforward, but it certainly isn’t, and it is especially difficult if you wish to imbue it with a high level of mystery and complexity. After sprinkling prophecy throughout Game of Thrones, George R R Martin said ‘Prophecies are, you know, a double edge sword. You have to handle them very carefully; I mean, they can add depth and interest to a book, but you don’t want to be too literal or too easy…’
Credit: Thomas M D Brooke. Link https://thomasmdbrooke.com/2016/08/11/great-fantasy-prophecies/
When writers use this technique successfully – just like Herman Melville in Moby Dick and Shakespeare in Macbeth – it advances their stories to a new level. The two famous authors display their accomplished writing skills by applying this technique very successfully. They produce anticipation, mystery, and suspense.
Strategically, the message behind the prophecy is usually hidden. The reader has to wait for it. The prediction could also be ambiguous – that produces a second layer of suspense. Like in the case of Queequeg in Moby Dick, the anticipated ‘death’ turns into ‘life.’ The life of Ishmael – the narrator in the story – is saved by the coffin. The reader is prompted – in a very subtle way – to read on. The writer has small rewards and mysteries popping up throughout the story. Very clever indeed! It is as if the world has been waiting for this prophecy, and now it is time. The power of the words in the text arrests the attention of the reader. Like in Macbeth, the witches give three prophecies – in the opening scene. How innovative a technique for fiction! And, then later, more follows.
Herman Melville – Author of’ Moby Dick.’
Three famous quotes by Melville (Moby Dick):
It is not down in any map; true places never are.
Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.
To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell’s heart, I stab at thee; For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee.
Planning prophecy in fiction is a fine art.
The writer has to plan and consider how much information will be revealed in the prophecy. A touch of mystery is recommended. In fact, including a sort of code will also work well. The writer has to plan the structure of the story. Alternatively, if no planning is included, the writer has to go back and do much editing. It is best if the writer spends a considerable amount of time thinking about the storyline, including the prophecy and the eventual fulfilment, or an unexpected twist. Lean into the ideas before writing. Sleep it over. Think on paper: A diagram or a simple freehand sketch with annotations – before the writing begins – could save the author many hours of rewriting and editing. Read typical prophecy-based-stories to develop the skill before attempting the story. It could also be subtle words and concepts that point to future events in the novel. The same technique could also be implemented in non-fiction. However, it is pretty challenging.
Non-fiction prophecy-skill techniques
A great example of non-fiction storytelling is the book: Hiroshima.
Hiroshima is a 1946 book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Hersey. It tells the stories of six survivors of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It is regarded as one of the earliest examples of the New Journalism, in which the storytelling techniques of fiction are adapted to non-fiction reporting.
Here is a short excerpt of the book Hiroshima. I have added – just for fun – a prophecy at the beginning (in brackets, the first three sentences). The rest of the excerpt is the excellent non-fiction work of John Hersey – outstanding non-fiction writing:
[Little Boy had a tumour in its belly. The tumour had a self-fulfilling prophecy written in damaged DNA code. What would Little Boy’s message be?]
‘At exactly fifteen minutes past eight in the morning, on August 6th, 1945, Japanese time, at the moment when the atomic bomb flashed above Hiroshima, Miss Toshiko Sasaki, a clerk in the personnel department at the East Asia Tin Works, had just sat down at her place in the plant office and was turning her head to speak to the girl at the next desk. At that same moment, Dr. Masakazu Fujii was settling down cross-legged to read the Osaka Asahi on the porch of his private hospital, overhanging one of the seven deltaic rivers which divide Hiroshima; Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura, a tailor’s widow, stood by the window of her kitchen watching a neighbor tearing down his house because it lay in the path of an air-raid-defense fire lane; Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge, a German priest of the Society of Jesus, reclined in his underwear on a cot on the top floor of his order’s three-story mission house, reading a Jesuit magazine, Stimmen der Zeit; Dr. Terufumi Sasaki, a young member of the surgical staff of the city’s large, modern Red Cross Hospital, walked along one of the hospital corridors with a blood specimen for a Wassennann test in his hand; and the Reverend Mr. Kiyoshi Tammoto, pastor of the Hiroshima Methodist Church, paused at the door of a rich man’s house in Koi, the city’s western suburb, and prepared to unload a handcart full of things he had evacuated from town in fear of the massive B-29 raid which everyone expected Hiroshima to suffer. A hundred thousand people were killed by the atomic bomb, and these six were among the survivors. They still wonder why they lived when so many others died. Each of them counts many small items of chance or volition—a step taken in time, a decision to go indoors, catching one street-car instead of the next that spared him. And now each knows that in the act of survival, he lived a dozen lives and saw more death than he ever thought he would see. At the time, none of them knew anything.’
The reader could be waiting to see what Little Boy’s message was. The name of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima was called ‘Little Boy.’ The long-term effects – which could be revealed at certain stages in the story – are:
- An increased incidence in cancer development (with a strong correlation between the dose of radiation and frequency of cancer)
- Reduced T-cell counts and altered immune functions, leading to higher rates of infection
- A wide variety of organ-specific health effects (e.g. liver cirrhosis, cataract induction, etc.)
Here are two such prophecies – I will compare the two famous authors’ work briefly in this short article. When I compared Macbeth and Moby Dick, the application of this technique stood out for me. It is so powerful! See the watercolour illustrations from my sketchbook.
MACBETH:
Macbeth will not be defeated till “Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane (castle).” Not until Wood (Dunsinane forest) comes to Stone (the castle).
MOBY DICK
For Captain Ahab (Moby Dick), a prophecy is given that he “will die when two hearses, one ‘not made by mortal hands’, and one made of wood from America.”
Excerpts from Macbeth
For Macbeth, there is a range of prophecies, which builds the drama. The three weird Sisters prophesied, “The power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” The three weird sisters produce several prophecies in the opening of the play:
First Witch
All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis!
Second Witch
All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!
Third Witch
All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!
Macbeth is the Thane of Glamis, and shortly after meeting the three witches, he is promoted to Thane of Cawdor. His wife, Lady Macbeth, plans and take action – the king is murdered – and Macbeth is crowned king. The readers are now aware of the powerful prophecies in the story and wait for the fulfilment.
Here is the wood [Birnam forest to stone (castle on the hill)] prophecy in Macbeth:
THIRD APPARITION
Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care
Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are.
Macbeth shall never vanquished be until
Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill
Shall come against him.
From Macbeth
Then, as the armies — under cover of Birnam Wood branches — march up the hill to Dunsinane Castle, Macbeth comments desperately —
[Macbeth:] “I pull in resolution and begin To doubt th’ equivocation of the fiend that lies like truth. “Fear not, till Birnam wood do come to Dunsinane”; and now a wood comes toward Dunsinane.—Arm, arm, and out!—If this which he avouches does appear, there is nor flying hence nor tarrying here. I ‘gin to be aweary of the sun, and wish th’ estate o’ th’ world were now undone.—Ring the alarum-bell!—Blow, wind! Come, wrack! At least we’ll die with harness on our back.”—
Shakespeare’s MacBeth (Scene 5, Act 5)
The Moby Dick Prophesy: The Two Hearses
The dark, ominous atmosphere, almost a feeling of doom, increases aboard the Pequod despite the capture of four whales. Spending the night with his private crew on their open boat, guarding one of the whales that could not be taken to the ship in daylight, Ahab wakens to tell Fedallah of a recurring dream about hearses. The mysterious Fedallah then reminds Ahab of a private prophecy, which he now expands. When Ahab dies, he will have no use for either a hearse or a coffin, according to Fedallah. Before he can die on this voyage, the captain must see two hearses on the sea. One will not be made by mortal hands; the other will display wood grown in America. Fedallah will die before Ahab but later appear to the captain and serve as his guide. Finally, only a hemp rope can kill Ahab. The captain is first amused and then confused by the prophecy. How can there be hearses on the sea? And how can he die by rope — the gallows? No, Ahab must live forever if these prophecies are to come true. He will “slay Moby Dick and survive it!”
The sudden typhoon challenges even Ahab’s fury and reveals more of his character. The crew wants to flee the storm, but Ahab insists on fighting it. His response to the power of nature is defiance. We learn conclusively that a lightning bolt caused Ahab’s long scar, but he does not cower when lightning sets the three masts to flaming like some giant religious candelabra. When his own harpoon is set ablaze, he brandishes it at the crew, threatening to impale the first sailor to quit his post. Starbuck pleads with him: “God, God is against thee, old man; forbear! ’tis an ill voyage!” Ahab stands fast. He reminds the crew of the oaths they took to hunt the White Whale. Finally, he claims to “blow out the last fear,” and, with a blast of breath, he extinguishes his harpoon’s flame.
Source: https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/m/mobydick/summary-and-analysis/chapters-116119
Comparing the two novels
Prophecies
They both believed these prophecies to be absolutely ridiculous, which caused them to believe they were invincible. But because of their reckless actions, they’re dead.
Prophecies are also given in both selections in which they predict the way the main character will die.
Motif
One of the motifs of both works is lightning; which illustrates the fate and disaster that lays ahead.
Theme
Moby Dick
A recurring theme in both Macbeth and Moby Dick is that of how obsession or power can make a person corrupt or mad.
Moby Dick
In Moby Dick, the main character, Ahab, is so wilful to take revenge and kill the whale that took his leg, that he loses many men on his crew but refuses to end the mission.
Macbeth
As Macbeth constantly obsesses over his new found power, he has no problem killing innocent people or even his best friend to keep his crown.
SOURCE: https://prezi.com/vatgffboa1vo/comparison-of-macbeth-and-moby-dick-by-herman-mellville/
Macbeth is told that he will only be defeated when Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane. Later, his enemy’s army comes through Birnam Wood, and each soldier cuts a large branch to hide himself so that when the military moves on, it looks as if the wood is moving. Macbeth is defeated and killed.
Shakespeare and the Bible have inspired Melville.
Here is an excellent example of a prophecy fulfilled from the Bible:
Luke 4: 16 to 21
16
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.
17
The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
19
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
20
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,
21
and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Imagine the drama that is to follow after Yeshua reads this prophecy from the book of Isaiah!
It is a prophecy from hundreds of years ago – fulfilled in real life. Powerful. It uncovers an age-old mystery and develops into more mystery right there in the Jewish synagogue. Who is this man?
More on prophesy, self-fulfilling prophesy, and writing
The movie The Matrix, referring to the vase scene, is an excellent example of how powerful a story’s prophecy is. See the exciting event 33 seconds into the video.
Here is a link to the short video of the vase scene:
Are you interested to learn more about self-fulfilling prophecies?
Read more here: https://literaryterms.net/self-fulfilling-prophecy/
Copyright © 2021 by William Van Zyl
Writing Skills – Wood and Stone: How Prophecy Changes Everything.
Article: ‘Fantasy Prophecy is a fascinating and compelling technique for Novel Writing.’
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Published by Five House Publishing (New Zealand)
First Publishing, 2021
About the Author:
The author had an exciting and unique childhood. Not as you would expect – not travelling abroad – but venturing through the fields, bushes, tools sheds, and mysterious underground tunnels around his neighbourhood. His happy place was – and still is – tinkering with ideas, science, and new possibilities. While cycling, he will often get new ideas; he brings the unexpected, unique, and creative flurry on a page or a sketch. To this day, he dreams of vicious wars and sophisticated weaponry in an innocent child’s scout cave. He loves diagrams, timelines, cross-sections, sketches, and details of sinister and hidden concepts and ideas; always looking for a new mystery to decode and encode. He investigates and explores extravagant thoughts that he includes in children’s books and stories; he loves to include philosophers’ perspectives, articles, intriguing stories, and poetry. Academic and research work are his forte. He always offers a practical but straightforward explanation within an engaging context. Not your ordinary thinker! A lifelong scholar and teacher.
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