Moby Dick or White Whale
analytical Essay
1047 words
Ishmael, the narrator, announces his intent to ship aboard a whaling vessel. He has made several voyages as a sailor but none as a whaler. He travels to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he stays in a whalers’ inn. Since the inn is rather full, he has to share a bed with a harpooner from the South Pacific named Queequeg. At first repulsed by Queequeg’s strange habits and shocking appearance, Ishmael eventually comes to appreciate the man’s generosity and kind spirit, and the two decide to seek work on a whaling vessel together.
They take a ferry to Nantucket, the traditional capital of the whaling industry. There they secure work on the Pequod, a savage-looking ship adorned with the bones and teeth of sperm whales. Peleg and Bildad, the Pequod’s Quaker owners, drive a hard bargain in terms of salary. They also mention the ship’s mysterious captain, Ahab, who is still recovering from losing his leg in an encounter with a sperm whale on his last voyage.
The Pequod leaves Nantucket on a cold Christmas Day with a crew made up of men from many different countries and races. Soon the ship is in warmer waters, and Ahab makes his first appearance on deck, balancing gingerly on his false leg, which is made from a sperm whale’s jaw. He announces his desire to pursue and kill Moby Dick, the legendary great white whale who took his leg, because he sees this whale as the embodiment of evil. Ahab nails a gold doubloon to the mast and declares that it will be the prize for the first man to sight the whale.
As the Pequod sails toward the southern tip of Africa, whales are sighted and unsuccessfully hunted. During the hunt, a group of men, none of whom anyone on the ship’s crew has seen before on the voyage, emerges from the hold. The men’s leader is an exotic-looking man named Fedallah. These men constitute Ahab’s private harpoon crew, smuggled aboard in defiance of Bildad and Peleg. Ahab hopes that their skills and Fedallah’s prophetic abilities will help him in his hunt for Moby Dick.
The Pequod rounds Africa and enters the Indian Ocean. A few whales are successfully caught and processed for their oil. From time to time, the ship encounters other whaling vessels. Ahab always demands information about Moby Dick from their captains. One of the ships, the Jeroboam, carries Gabriel, a crazed prophet who predicts doom for anyone who threatens Moby Dick.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how ishmael, the narrator, announces his intent to ship aboard a whaling vessel.
- Describes how peleg and bildad secure work on the pequod, a savage-looking ship adorned with the bones and teeth of sperm whales.
- Describes how the pequod leaves nantucket on christmas day with a crew made up of men from many different countries and races. ahab announces his desire to pursue and kill moby dick, the legendary great white whale who took his leg.
- Describes how the pequod sails toward the southern tip of africa, where whales are sighted and unsuccessfully hunted. ahab hopes that their skills and fedallah's prophetic abilities will help him in his hunt for moby dick
- Narrates how the pequod enters the indian ocean and encounters other whaling vessels. ahab demands information about moby dick from their captains.
- Narrates how pip, the pequod's black cabin boy, jumps from a whaleboat and is left behind in the middle of the ocean. boomer, happy to have survived, cannot understand ahab’s lust for vengeance.
- Analyzes how ahab orders a harpoon forged in the expectation that he will encounter moby dick. the pequod kills several whales.
- Analyzes how a typhoon hits the pequod, illuminating it with electrical fire, but starbuck, the ship's first mate, considers killing ahab to end the mad quest.
- Narrates how ahab's fervent desire to find and destroy moby dick continues to intensify, and the mad pip is now his constant companion.
- Narrates how moby dick attacks ahab's harpoon boat, destroying it. the next day, the whale is attacked again, and fedallah is dragged overboard.
- Narrates how the boats are sent after moby dick, who rams the pequod and sinks it. ahab refuses to give up the chase.
Related
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- opinion
- Moby Dickanalytical essayMoby Dick is truly the main character of the book as the title shows. Although he is only in three chapters out of the whole, he takes on a big role to the crewmembers, especially Ahab. Firstly he becomes the focus of the whole whaling trip of the Peaquod. Moby Dick is not an ordinary whale. He has many features that set him apart. With his physical size and stature he towers over the sea, controlling everybody with fear. Other than the obvious physical obscurities, there are many symbols hidden in Melville’s whale. He has religious meaning, along with a national meaning, and an environmental meaning.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how moby dick is the main character of the book. he takes on a big role to the crewmembers, especially ahab.
- Analyzes how moby dick's color alone connects him to many things including religion. in christianity, white means pureness. ishmael describes the whiteness of the whale as the symbol of divine spotlessness.
- Analyzes how moby dick acts as an omniscient god of the seas. he leads the whalers in their search for spermaceti oil and has crazy powers that he used to kill everyone except ishmael.
- Analyzes how moby dick can take on both sides of each argument. captain ahab sees him as the reincarnation of evil.
- Analyzes how melville turned bad things into lessons. the peaquod represented america, and the darker skinned males were the harpooners.
- Analyzes how the peaquod followed on a destructive path towards moby dick. ahab refused to stop on his delirious mission and became to represent the doom of america.
- Analyzes how moby dick refuted transcendentalism, which claimed that all things were connected, but the relationship was nothing but pleasant. tv shows like whale wars harp on whale hunting and how it effects the species.
- Analyzes how melville uses moby dick to challenge views on different opinions about good vs evil, determination versus being content, nature vs humans. he plays on both sides of each opinion and floats back and forth.
1043 wordsRead More - A Brief History of Whalingexplanatory essayWhile you could argue that practically everyone who has gone through the American education system has at least heard of Moby Dick, the whaling industry, a main element of the epic, is not so well known. In order to fully understand and appreciate this great work, it is in my opinion, important to have somewhat of an understanding of the industry which it is centered around. This is especially true because whaling was such a prominent, and important aspect of 19th century culture and although far less popular, still exists today. Throughout this essay I will give a brief history of whaling, discuss why it was such an important industry in the 19th century, talk about whaling in modern times, and lastly, tie it in to the novel.
In this essay, the author
- Describes how the basques began to earn more and develop a more profitable market for the whaling industry. the dutch followed in the footsteps of the english.
- Explains that the first sperm whale was caught in 1712, sparking a new type of whaling. their blubber was boiled into oil and used for candles, lighting, and lubrication.
- Explains that merchant ships were primarily used for whaling purposes throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. they were double hulled with beams reinforcing them to protect against razor sharp ice.
- Explains that catching whales was done by hand. harpoons were thrown from double ended boats, while the arctic boats were stronger with frames made of oak and fir planks.
- Explains how sven foyn created a harpoon which contained explosives in the head, which was designed to inject the whale with compressed air, making it safer to catch monolithic blue whales.
- Explains that the u.s. fleet, which once consisted of over 1700 whaling vessels, began to rapidly diminish. the british fleets in the arctic region became desperate as the numbers of whales began dwindling.
- Explains that whalers discovered the last rich whaling locations in the world in 1904 on the island of south georgia.
- Explains that after the decline of the market for whale oil, commercial whaling in modern times is usually for food or scientific purposes. after the end of world war ii, 17 nations formed the international whaling commission.
- Argues that the whaling industry, a main element of moby dick's epic, is not well-known.
2287 wordsRead More - The Manifestos Of Symbolism In Herman Melville's Moby Dickanalytical essayIshmael marvels at this site from the Pequod, and on the second day paints the picture of “Right Whales” mowing through the brit, “leaving behind them endless swaths of blue upon the yellow sea” (Melville, 1851: 305). The meadow‑like appearance of the sea is truly a realistic one, however, the comparison is embellished in such a farfetched, illusory way that Melville’s readers have no choice but to desert reason and visualize an image that most individuals have never observed. As the chapter ensues, Melville continues to illustrate the ocean through Ishmael’s perspective, where the watery expanse is anthropomorphized, to “swallow up ships and crews,” evoking the image that the monster, is perhaps not the White Whale but the ocean; an element that represents “universal cannibalism,” and an unconquerable wild beast (Melville, 1851: 307). Ishmael describes the ocean as “a savage tigress that tossing in the jungle overlays her cubs […] Panting and snorting like a mad battle steed that has lost its rider, the masterless ocean overruns the globe” (Melville, 1851: 307). This is perhaps, Ishmael’s first realization that the ocean is not what it appears and that the “loveliest shades of azure,” make one forget the feral beast that prowls in the deep. This visual juxtaposition is one of many that appear in Moby Dick,
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how melville juxtaposes the watery depths as a recognizable setting from the corporeal universe with the intention of revealing him as proleptic surrealist.
- Opines that surrealism was a "phantom" of artistic expression in the twentieth century, yet many surrealists assert that there were many forerunners to this movement.
- Explains psychic automation in its pure state, by which one proposes to express—verbally, through the written word, or in any other manner—the actual functioning of thought.
- Analyzes how benton states that surrealism is not influenced by reason, but by imagination, the purest thought. wallace fowlie explains how surrealists experience inquietude, a french term roughly translated into english meaning "restlessness."
- Analyzes how melville illustrates the ocean through ishmael's perspective, where the watery expanse is anthropomorphized to "swallow up ships and crews."
- Describes the times of dreamy quietude, when one forgets the tiger heart that pants beneath it, and conceals a remorseless fang.
- Compares ishmael's description that the ocean has a “skin” to salvador dali’s painting, “dali at the age of six, watching the dog sleeping in its shadow.”
- Analyzes how the imagery in "the gilder" compares the gentle, subdued ocean to "hearth-stone cats" that purr upon the surface, yet beneath the skin, lies the heart, the core of the sea which is described as a tiger.
- Analyzes how melville's artistry is fantastically similar to surrealism, which was later found and explored in the twentieth century.
1851 wordsRead More - A Comparison Of Moy Dick And Moby Dickanalytical essayMoby Dick is one of the greatest books written in American literature but when it was first made, Herman Melville was shamed for writing it and hated. After a while Moby Dick was noticed from being a book everyone hated to one of the most popular pieces of literature now. The title Moby Dick is known by almost everyone in America. Originally Moby Dick was called The Whale that was originally published in 1851 but was changed to Moby Dick in a later date. The book starts out with a very famous line called “call me ishmael” which was the name of the main character/narrator who goes out to sea as a merchant and wants to go on a whale adventure. Captain Ahab gathers his crew to hunt down Moby Dick even though they were supposed to go to get oil
In this essay, the author
- Explains that moby dick is one of the greatest books written in american literature but herman melville was shamed for writing it and hated.
- Analyzes how ahab became a monster filled with one sole purpose of revenge to kill moby dick for destroying his leg.
- Analyzes how ahab doesn't know the difference in when to deal with his problems at his own time compared to forcing everyone to help him and disrespecting all of his crew
- Opines that herman melville's book should be used in the school learning process because it teaches you about a perfect theme called revenge.
1156 wordsRead More - Herman Melville’s Moby Dick reveals the inner world of its characters. This essay aims to explore the inner dimensions and psychic landscapes of young Ishmael and his captain, Ahab, as constructed in the novel.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how melville's moby dick reveals the inner dimensions and psychic landscapes of young ishmael and his captain, ahab, as constructed in the novel.
- Explains that introspection involves looking inwards, examining one’s thoughts and feelings, and self-scrutiny. this process is subject to certain conditions as explained by eric schwitzgebel.
- Explains introspection as a process that generates, or is aimed at generating, knowledge, judgments or beliefs about mental events, states or processes, and not about affairs outside one's mind.
- Describes ishmael's various insights, including the first-person condition of introspection, and the temporal proximity condition.
- Analyzes how ishmael is the universal orphan, the projection of the american identity, who must be educated in order to develop.
- Analyzes how ishmael becomes aware that reason is what defines human beings and that without it, one is lost or left empty.
- Opines that when a man suspects any wrong, he insensibly strives to cover up his suspicions even from himself.
- Analyzes how ishmael goes through "a symbolic death" (oltean): the ship is destroyed by the whale, everyone dies except himself, who clenches to queequeg's former coffin and floats about until salvation comes.
- Opines that whoever goes to himself risks a confrontation with himself. if we can see our own shadow and can bear knowing about it, we have at least brought up the personal unconscious.
- Analyzes how melville is a "double" survivor, both surviving the shipwreck and the confrontation with himself. he has accepted himself and his fate.
- Analyzes how melville balances the dangerous, chaotic, darkness of the unconscious with the intellectual, cytological narrative of moby dick.
- Analyzes how ahab makes a choice that challenges –... the given conditions of thought and existence. that choice and challenge provokes our fear and pity.
- Analyzes how captain ahab is a phantom for the rest of the crew, but his motives are questioned by his subordinates.
- Analyzes how the distorted mind, ‘the storm in oneself’ is best represented by ahab himself. ishmael notes this aspect in a description that could fit not only the captain, but also moby dick and humans in general.
- Concludes that the novel is a "gruelling rite of passage" for ishmael and captain ahab, as it explores both their inner selves, with the help of introspection and psychic landscapes.
1659 wordsRead More - Perspectives of the Beastanalytical essayIn Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea we are introduced to two individuals who share different opinions on nature and the marvelous creatures that make up the world around them. In this paper, I will explore the differences between Captain Ahab and Santiago. In Moby Dick, we are introduced to Captain Ahab and his personal quest to avenge the personal loss he suffered at the jaws of what he considered to “evil” while Ishmael recounts “ Ahab did not fall down and worship it like them; but deliriously transferring its idea to the abhorred white whale, he pitted himself, all mutilated, against it. All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and throught; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified and made practically assailable in Moby Dick” (Melville pg 156.) In this, he describes how Ahab’s previous encounter with the whale has tainted his opinion on the traditional values of “white” representing purity and righteousness and replaced it with the notion of the color representing evil and cruelty as though Ahab believed Moby Dick had a personal vendetta against him instead of nature simply protecting itself against a great threat.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the differences between captain ahab and santiago in herman melville's moby dick and ernest hemingway’s the old man and the sea.
- Analyzes melville's portrayal of captain ahab, who is obsessed with vengeance against a creature acting out of instinct that his good judgment is clouded with insanity.
- Analyzes how santiago in hemingway's novel shows deep compassion and respect for his prey despite the fact that he intends to kill the marlin.
- Analyzes how santiago expresses admiration for the slain marlin as he defends the remains against the sharks.
- Analyzes how melville and hemingway portray their characters as polar opposites from one another. captain ahab is a cold and cruel manipulator whose obsessive ways lead to his and most of his crew’s demise, while santiago is kind hearted old man who sets out for one last grand adventure
808 wordsRead More - The Unwitting Vehicle for Evil in Moby Dickopinion essayAside from the more obvious considerations touching Moby Dick, which could not but occasionally awaken in any man's soul some alarm, there was another thought, or rather vague, nameless horror concerning him, which at times by its intensity completely overpower all the rest; and yet so mystical and well nigh ineffable was it, that I almost despair of putting it in comprehensible form. it was the whiteness of the whale that above all things appalled me. But how can I hope to explain myself here; and yet, in some dim, random way, explain myself I must, else all these chapters might be naught.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that moby dick's symbolism is a patchwork of the "evil captain" and "nothingness" theories, which cause an unlucky (as opposed to ill-fated) captain to become the unwitting vehicle for evil.
- Analyzes how herman was intentionally being non-descript in order for everyone to interpret the book in a different way.
- Analyzes how herman is trying to invoke pity for the whale, but soon realized he was just inciting hate. he's going to change his mind and write something contradictory.
- Narrates how satan's ship, which would not sink to hell until she had dragged a living part of heaven along with her, and helmeted herself with it.
- Opines that mellville's quote is more potent than they want to deal with right now. he calls the whale a living part of heaven.
- Analyzes how herman uses clever coincidence to make us humanize the whale while simultaneously de-humanizing ahab.
- Narrates how they married a poor girl and sailed for cape horn, leaving her one dent in their marriage pillow-wife?
- Illustrates how starbuck consoles the captain and tells him that he is not evil. ahab has given up his "nothing" status, and so is subject to wants and desires incomprehensible to an "evil."
- Opines, "weep so, and i will murder thee! have a care, for ahab too is mad."
- Analyzes how pip has stared into the inky blackness of nothing, and unlike the other "nothings," understands his role. he learned about his non status and inability to do anything about it.
- Explains that ishmael is a "nothing" that understands "somethings" but remains sane. he is "good" and it has higher understanding than "evil."
- Opines that the whiteness of the whale appalled them, and wonders at the fiery hunt.
- Opines that stubb deserted pip, but he'll never desert him, as stubb did. if thou speakst thus, ahab's purpose keels up in him.
1327 wordsRead More - Moby Dickopinion essayMoby Dick I. Biographical Insights A. The culture this great author was a part of was the time in American history where inspiring works of literature began to emerge. It was also a time when American writers had not completely separated its literary heritage from Europe, partly because there were successful literary genius' flourishing there. B. Herman Melville was born on August 1, 1819, he was the son of Allan and Maria Melville.
In this essay, the author
- Describes the time in american history in which this great author was a part of.
- Explains that b. herman melville was born on august 1, 1819, he was the son of allan and maria.
- Describes melville's "lessons" that he is likely to weave into his writing.
- Analyzes how ishmael's role in the hunt for "moby dick" is to interpret what is.
- Analyzes how ugly ishmael sees that queequeg has an honest heart, great honor, and a lot of respect.
- Opines that the jagged edge galls them so, their brain seems to beat.
- Explains that ideas are moby dick who is a symbol of all of the things in the universe.
- Opines that the meaning of any object lies in the beholder of the object and not its object.
- Explains that the literature he is referring to do not have name of the works but only the names of works.
- Opines that it's too late to make any changes.
- Opines that one can improve the present state of the universe once he has acted on his actions.
- Opines that it is difficult for the average man to comprehend. at best he can just figure it out.
- Explains that 's goal in this novel was to indicate the condition of the character.
- Analyzes how a man's decision once took him to the ocean.
- Narrates how herman decided he needed to go to sea after a short time in new york city.
- Analyzes how ishmael's personality changes, since he is the narrator, and doesn't talk about himself.
- Opines that ishmael's conflict was that he saw how ahab was such an evil man and was a good natured man.
- Opines that the iron crown of lombardy is too heavy that they wear. yet is it bright with many a gem; i, the wearer, see not its far flashings, but darkly fell.
- Analyzes how the details used to make us feel like we are watching a sunset are that the warm waves blush like wine.
- Analyzes how uses similes to compare the colored waves of the sunset to wine.
- Explains that the sea represents a man's life, it symbolizes the fears that he must overcome in life to gain fuller understanding of life.
- Opines that this novel has influenced their attitudes and beliefs on the destiny of man and has shown them that there is more than one view of every object.
- Opines that an adventure loving reader will read this book and focus on what went on rather than what the novel was trying to say.
1407 wordsRead More - Biblical and Mythological Allusions in Moby Dickanalytical essayThe first allusion appears in the first line of the novel. “Call me Ishmael.” (Melville1). Ishmael was the biblical son of Abraham and his servant Hagar. He was disowned in favor of Isaac, Abraham’s son with his wife Sarah. An angel prophesied to Hagar. “his hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand against him.” (Genesis 16:12). The name “Ishmael” has since become used commonly for an outcast, which is appropriate since he is inexperienced when it comes to whaling and is viewed as AN outcast to the other sailors upon the Pequod.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that an allusion refers to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art. in moby dick, herman melville frequently uses biblical and mythological alusions.
- Explains that ishmael was the biblical son of abraham and his servant hagar. he was disowned in favor of isaac, abraham’s son with his wife sarah.
- Analyzes the biblical allusions of the prophet elijah and captain ahab.
- Analyzes melville's use of biblical and mythological allusions in moby dick and the cretan labyrinth of a figure.
- Analyzes how melville used the mythological allusion of the fares in moby dick. ishmael justifies his boarding the pequod by saying, "i should now take it into my head to go on a whaling voyage."
- Analyzes how melville's allusions to common people and conflicts make the novel easier for the reader to comprehend.
614 wordsRead More - A Comparison Of The Allegorical Themes In Moby Dickanalytical essayAt the conclusion of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, and after three days of chasing the whale, the flag atop the Pequod’s main mast had become weathered and torn. Ahab instructs Tashtego to mount a new flag on the main mast and the Indian from Gay Head Massachusetts promptly complies. Tashtego’s compliance to his captain’s order is so diligent that even after the whale has struck the mortal blow against the ship, Tashetego continues to hammer in the flag as he and the mast sink into the sea (Melville 531, 535). The compliance to his captain and willingness to do what Ahab has instructed, instead of trying to scamper for his life, is testament to the Gay Header’s obedience. However, his obedience says as much about the control of the captain over
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how ahab instructs tashtego to mount a new flag on the pequod's main mast and the indian from gay head massachusetts promptly complies.
- Analyzes how the destruction of the pequod is an apocalyptic ending to the novel, and possibly the reason for its post-world war i reemergence among the generation that accounted for other fatalistic works.
- Analyzes how melville's themes of civil control are prevalent throughout his novels. billy budd and white-jacket focus on how the rank systems in the british and american navies are used as mechanisms to control sailors.
- Analyzes how billy budd and white-jacket center on mutiny and themes of rebellion, and melville's own life as a sailor involves an episode in which he is jailed for being part of an attempted
- Analyzes how different forms of controlling mechanisms are displayed throughout moby dick, such as the carpenter and ahab and pip's slide from sanity.
- Analyzes how religion is used as a mechanism to control the behavior of the northeastern whale men.
- Analyzes how melville intended to write an allegorical novel after nathaniel hawthorne wrote a praiseful letter to him. the use of allegory is the means in which he turns to provide direction for the novel.
946 wordsRead More