Whenever a group of whales is spotted, Ahab's officers go after the whales to command the rowers and harpooners, like priests who would preach the commandments of God. Therefore, the practice of whaling is very religious. However, the only way to practice the religion of whaling is to isolate oneself from the world and go out to sea. A strong faith, in God or in Moby Dick, demands isolation. .
Captain Ahab's faith lies at sea with Moby Dick. Ahab is obsessed with pursuing the whale because to him, hunting Moby Dick represents a way to strike at God and prove that Ahab is in control of his own actions. For Ahab, "naught's an obstacle" (143). At its core, Ahab's mission is a fight against fatalism. An "emperor commands [Ahab]" (406) to keep sailing and looking for Moby Dick. Ahab questions if he is in control of his actions, "Is Ahab, Ahab" (406)? His faith in God is torn. Ahab must find out that he is in control of his actions and not "God [who] does [the] beating, does [the] thinking, does [the] living" (407). Though he wants to fight again God and does not have a strong faith in God, he believes in his mission wholeheartedly, making his faith strong. Moby Dick represents a way to fight God. In The Quarter-Deck, Ahab reveals that "all visible objects are but as pasteboard masks" (140), and to punch through the mask is to strike at the thing behind it which is God. Ahab, here, is talking about Moby Dick, who is the pasteboard mask. If Ahab were to kill Moby Dick, he would achieve his goal in proving that he is in control of his life and his actions. He has complete faith in this mission. Of course, to achieve his goal of striking at God, Ahab must leave his family and isolate himself at sea to chase Moby Dick. Ahab had a family. Captain Peleg tells Ishmael a little bit about Ahab, saying "he has a wife" (79). The word "has" implies that Ahab sees her from time to time.
