Swimming Deeper. 

     "I say so strange a dreaminess did there then reign all over the ship and all over the sea, only broken by the intermitting dull sound of the sword, that it seemed as if this were the Loom of Time, and I myself were a shuttle mechanically weaving and weaving away at the Fates. There lay the fixed threads of the ward subject to but one single, ever returning, unchanging vibration, and that vibration merely enough to admit of the crosswise interblending of other threads with its own. This warp seemed necessity; and here, thought I, with my own hand I ply my own shuttle and weave my own destiny into these unalterable threads. Meantime, Queequeg's impulsive, indifferent sword, sometimes hitting the woof slantingly, or crookedly, or strongly or weakly, as the case might be; and by this difference in the concluding blow producing a corresponding contrast in the final aspect of the completed fabric; this savage's sword, thought I, which thus finally shapes and fashions both warp and woof; this easy indifferent sword must be chance–aye, chance, free-will, and necessity–nowise incompatible–all interweavingly working together. The straight warp of necessity, not to be swerved from its ultimate course–its ever alternating vibration, indeed, only tending to that; free-will still free to ply her shuttle between given threads; and chance, though restrained in its play within the right lines of necessity, and sideways in its motions directed by free-will, though thus prescribed to by both, chance by turns rules either, and has the last featuring blow at events." (Melville 259-260)

     Aside from Melville's obtuse chapters on Whales 101 and futile biblical references, his language and use of rhetorical devices is superb. The quote above said by Ishmael is a metaphor in portraying the intertwining of fate, free will, and chance and is also one of the many themes in Moby Dick. Melville's skilled rhetorics and vivid description provides the reader with an impressive way of binding fate, free will, and chance, by the warp being as fate because it has been already fixed in position. Ishmael's shuttle as free will for he could roam about in. Queequeg's sword as chance since the usage of it is not planned yet there is a choice in choosing to use it or not.
    Fate vs. free will vs. chance in the larger context of the novel is portrayed throughout the story. It is fate when Ishmael misses the ferry to Nantucket in New Bedford, Massachusetts forcing him to stay at an inn over night, which is how he met Queequeg and going on a voyage together. Fate also plays a role in Captain Ahab's death, yet free will could be argued to led to his downfall. Then there's chance, chance takes place when the Pequod is approached by other whales and whaling ships by random means.
 
    Another theme is Religion. Religion is a theme in Moby Dick that cannot be missed, considering the fact that Melville overworked the story with his religious knowledge. A mass of biblical references are found in Moby Dick. One being the names of the characters–Ishmael and Ahab– and their allegoric roles. Referring to the Story of Ishmael, that name 'Ishmael' develops a sympathetic mood in the novel, and 'Ahab' referring to King Ahab establishes a malicious mood. Also, through the biblical allegoric role of Ishmael, it could be said that the theme is also between man nature, or in this case God. In the Story of Ishmael, God is said to have given Abraham the power to be the father of many nations. God is the almighty here, he has the ability to grant man their wishes, and man is inferior to God, but in Moby Dick, Captain Ahab does not realize that he is inferior to the Great White Whale.
     The second biblical reference is when Elijah warns Queequeg about Captain Ahab, which links to the prophet Elijah. Then the third reference is Melville's entire chapter of the whiteness of Moby Dick, chapter 42. Chapter 42 describes how the whiteness of Moby Dick, which in biblical senses, represent purity and righteousness.