The Blurred Line between Good and Evil in Moby-Dick and Post-WWII Cinema: How John Huston Read Melville for his Movie Adaptation

Abstract

John Huston found ambiguity between good and evil in Melville’s Moby-Dick, which he represented in his 1956 movie adaptation. Hans Robert Jauss’ reception theory complements this analysis of both works through the reactions of their audiences. Moby-Dick is analyzed together with its adaptation, considering the work as a fluid text, to offer a deeper perspective on its ambiguity between good and evil. While the novel responds to Transcendentalism’s enthusiastic view of nature and its search for essential truths, Huston’s adaptation reflects how post-WWII cinema was influenced by the conflict and the consequent difficulties in separating good and evil in humans, who were seen as capable of both sublime noble acts and devastating evil.