“…Without imagination no man can follow another into these halls,” writes Ishmael in Chapter 42 of Moby Dick, “The Whiteness of the Whale,” as he attempts to explain the mystical sway of this color on the soul (1472). These white halls that Ishmael guides us through parallel the journey Herman Melville’s characters embark on as they grapple with fate and the fear that it perpetuates of mortality, the unknown, and the indifference of nature. From the perils of the sea and prophecy, to Captain Ahab, Ishmael, and the whale, Moby Dick is a story that is removed in an entertaining way from the everyday and the ordinary. Throughout select chapters, Melville takes this turn from the unusual through his use of imaginative settings, characters, and ideas that continually return back to the idea of fate, and the fears that it arouses. One of the ways in which Melville creates a sense of terror is through the mysterious, fatalistic, and adventuresome spirit of Ishmael. At the beginning of …show more content…
With regard to Moby Dick, Ahab proclaims, “Sometimes I think there’s naught beyond. But ‘tis enough. He tasks me; he heaps me” (1460). Nothing is something to Ahab, whether malice, evil, or just as scary, apathy. The inscrutability that he hates so much about Moby Dick is that there is some higher, unfair, and invisible culprit that he cannot access. He curses God and the universe for being intangible, and using such agents in nature to deliver the devious works. He says to Starbuck, “Talk not to me of blasphemy, man…not my master, man, is even that fair play” (1460). As the Pequod finally spots Moby Dick, Ahab seems to be at the peak of his madness as he progresses in thoughts about the wind. At first that the wind is foul and contaminated, then it is “heroic” and “unconquerable” before taking it back and deciding it is cowardly1475). He then proclaims his
Analysis: Melville's Great American Novel draws on both Biblical and Shakespearean myths. Captain Ahab is "a grand, ungodly, god-like man … above the common" whose pursuit of the great white whale is a fable about obsession and over-reaching. Just as Macbeth and Lear subvert the natural order of things, Ahab takes on Nature in his
"He tasks me; he heaps me; I see in him outrageous strength, with an inscrutable malice sinewing it. (280)" At first glance, a modern reader might mistake this quote for that of a social justice warrior complaining about the patriarchy and not a line proclaimed by Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. However, as one deconstructs Herman Melville's classic, he will observe that this gaffe is actually justified. Despite originating over a hundred years before the equality movements, Captain Ahab symbolizes one of their ambassadors because of his hatred for the system that wronged him; his driving will to enact revenge; and being disdained upon for his actions. To commence elaboration, the first characteristic exemplified by Ahab that establishes his symbolism is his loathing for the body that ruined him.
In Moby Dick, it follows the accounts of a young man named Ishmael. Ishmael is looking for money in the whaling business, the same thing as hunting game, but for whale blubber and whatever else they have to offer. At a tavern, he signs up to go whaling upon a ship named the Pequod, under the captaining of a man named Ahab. At first, Ishmael thinks he’s just your average whaling trip, but soon realizes there’s a deeper story behind Ahab. Ahab’s true intentions are to find a specific whale called Moby Dick. The whale is famous for sinking hundreds of whaling ships, and one was Ahab’s previous ship. In that process, Ahab also lost part of his leg at the knee. As you can imagine, most of the story Ahab is almost insane. At nothing anyone calls
This sentiment, this anxiety over lack of control is most certainly connected to his leg. By losing his leg, Ahab has lost a part of himself and seeks Moby Dick to avenge this loss. He is not able to perceive that the leg is simply a physical part, he...
Before exploring Ishmael, Ahab, and Moby Dick and their Biblical counterparts, it is important to understand Melville's background. He grew up as a baptized Calvinist in the Dutch Reformed Church. His parents trained him to obey God at all times, even if God’s commands seem unjust and cruel. However, he quickly turned against his faith after his father died. During his travels, he witnessed diseases, catastrophes, and hatred throughou...
Herman Melville’s stories of Moby Dick and Bartleby share a stark number of similarities and differences. Certain aspects of each piece seem to compliment each other, giving the reader insight to the underlying themes and images. There are three concepts that pervade the two stories making them build upon each other. In both Moby Dick and Bartleby the main characters must learn how to deal with an antagonist, decide how involved they are in their professions, and come to terms with a lack of resolution.
Ahab’s quest for the whale is not an honorable pursuit of God, but man’s vain endeavor in his hatred of God to destroy the all-powerful deity. The symbol of the whale as God makes sense as it is white a color that is associated not only with purity and honor but the deity of God himself. Because this whale caused him personal damage in an earlier encounter, Ahab views the whale as an “inscrutable thing”, making it his life’s quest to get revenge (335). Not only does he associate the whale with this damaging experience, he connects the deity of God with “the white whale that razeed me; made a poor pegging lubber for me forever and a day!” (334). His quest for vengeance distorts his ability to have a relationship of God as who can endure the pursuit of such a being if the pursuit is driven by enmity? Ahab’s pursuit of Moby Dick, “Be [he] agent, or be [he] principal” is driven strictly by hostility and a lack of righteousness (335). Only those who have experienced the sweetness of reconciling grace can look at the tremendous
However, upon closer analysis it becomes clear that trying to fill in all the places where Moby Dick leaves off would be impossible; such a feat could not be imagined in one text. This is because Moby Dick opens up so many niches to be filled, not only responses to its specific text or story such as Ahab's Wife but also places in the succession of literary tradition. For example, it was evolutionary in assigning heroic qualities to characters traditionally seen as renegades. The picture becomes clearer if one regards Moby Dick not as the premise but coming from an evolutionary line itself, responding to the treatment of characters in texts such as the Bible and Shakespearean plays.
People's dreams can make them insane. One person can be entirely focused on a particular event that the event soon begins to take over their life and influence others. Captain Ahab's intent is finding and killing Moby Dick, the whale that maimed and disfigured him years ago. His obsession with this whale puts many others in danger, such as Ishmael, Starbuck, and himself. Captain Ahab uses his shipmates as bait for Moby Dick himself. The day the ship leaves the dock on a search for whales, the men are trapped in a world gone mad with no escape. Ishmael, Starbuck, and Captain Ahab are all trapped in an unfortunate tragedy.
In addition Ahab in "Moby Dick" is considered not only as an evil and sinful person but is selfish and greedy. The reason why he is sinful, evil, selfish, greedy, mainly is because he didn’t care what the other people on the ship wanted or that what he was going to do would or could bring dangers, and what he was doing was a waste of time, because instead of getting vengeance on "Moby Dick". He could be hunting whales for food and selling what’s left of them and make money.
One might think it a difficult task to find a tragic hero hidden in the pages of Moby Dick. Yet, there is certainly potential for viewing Ahab as heroic despite unfavorable responses to him by the reader.
Captain Ahab sights Moby Dick from afar and continues his hot pursuit on the White Whale. For three days, a relentless chase occurs because of Ahab’s desire for revenge. The indomitable whale continually destroys boat after boat. During the latter days of the struggle, the whale finally attacks the Pequod, plunging the ship to the bottom pits of the ocean. Determined to reach his final goal, the captain makes a last ditch effort and launches his harpoon towards Moby Dick. Ironically, Ahab’s harpoon catches around his neck and strangles him to death. Obviously determined to avenge his leg, the Captain causes his own downfall through his own desire for retribution. In The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark, Shakespeare creates two characters, Hamlet and Laertes, who endure a series of events and unveil Shakespeare’s similar belief that revenge causes one to act blindly in anger. Through Shakespeare’s distinct language and diction, the characters’ motivational factors and personality traits, the write conveys his strong belief regarding the desire for vengeance.
At first glance, Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick, appears to be the story of a man, his captain, and the whale that they quest to destroy. But a closer look reveals the author’s intense look at several metaphysical ideologies. He explores some of the most ponderous quandaries of his time, among these being the existence of evil, knowledge of the self and the existential, and the possibility of a determined fate. All of these were questions which philosophers had dealt with and written about, but Melville took it to a new level: not only writing about these things, but also doing so in a lovely poetic language backed by a tale packed with intrigue. He explores the general existence of evil in his antagonist, the white whale, and through the general malice that nature presents to humans throughout the novel. The narrator, Ishmael, gains a lot of knowledge about himself through his experiences on the whaling voyage, where he also is able to learn much about the phenomenon of existence itself. Also, through Captain Ahab, he sees more about the existence of man and the things that exist within man’s heart. Especially through Ahab and his ongoing quest for the white whale, and also in general conversation amongst the whalers, the issue of fate and whether one’s destiny is predetermined are addressed in great detail, with much thought and insight interpolated from the author’s own viewpoints on the subject.
... and conflicts in the book and leaves the ending in question. Following this logic, Ahab could never kill Moby Dick as Moby could never kill Ahab. Like matter and anti-matter, they would merely cancel each other out.
Captain Ahab in the novel Moby Dick is quite a character. He is the Captain of the whaling ship the Pequod and is out on a voyage to kill the great white whale named Moby Dick. Throughout his journey on sea, Ahab maintains focus on one thing, and only one thing, killing Moby Dick. It comes to show throughout the story that a close-minded man is blind to his surroundings.