In the short chapter "The Lamp, " light imagery is common. What is meant by "the food of the light?" Melville says that the oil that is burned by sailors is the purest known. What is the significance of the fact that the oil used by sailors has never been touched by light, shown in the quote "a fluid unknown to solar, lunar, or astral contrivances?" Think about relations between cannibalism and light.
Devil imagery is common when talking about the Doubloon. Ahab invokes it, as does Stubb and Starbuck. What is the significance? Could Ahab, who sees himself in the coin, be calling himself a devil? Is this true? Is Ahab conscious of this?
Ishmael tells us that "some certain significance lurks in all things, ... else just to sell by the cartload, as they do hills about Boston, to fill up some morass in the Milky Way" (331). Is Ishmael correct in this? How does this relate to themes of common man being a hero? How does it relate to America? The rest of the book? If all things have meaning, does this mean all the interpretations of the Doubloon are correct? How does this fit with previous statements of the book?
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