Moby-Dick
An American classic, and romantic novel, Moby-Dick written by renowned author Herman Melville, has become one of the most appreciated and intriguing works of our time. In his masterpiece Melville uses symbolism at a seemingly endless rate to illustrate his perspective on the internal powers of man being unleashed to a satanly extent in which ultimately G-d “has to step in”.
Led by a ferocious and insatiable captain, the veteran group of whalers composed by Melville is overwhelmed and enthralled by the devotion of the devotion and vigor of their monomaniac leader.
The character Ishmael symbolized the innocent search for adventure mixed with the naivety in his relationship with the rest of the crew. Since this is Ishmael’s first whaling voyage he doesn’t really know who he is connecting himself with. As later displayed in the epilogue the inexperience of Ishmael ends up saving his life as Moby-Dick recognizes he means no harm.
To start off the story Melville engages Ishmael with Queequeg, a royal Indian run-away and master harpooner. As deceiving as those two descriptions can be, Queequeg is actually one of the most peculiar and queerest human types. A mix of Paganism and religiosity, Queequeg fuses the two together to create an unconventional combination.
The two confront each other for the first time in a hotel in New Bedford. Ishmael is thrown back at the expense of the sub-human appearance and rituals that Queequeg gives off. None the less, the two venturous men eventually become soul mates throughout the book. As the two set off on their journey they find themselves floating on the Pequad, home, search tower, and shrine off the all empowering Captain Ahab.
Ahab ironically is both overwhelmed and overwhelming. The Trojan-like warrior instills fear, respect, and most importantly adrenalin in all the crewmen. He is devoted to accomplishing one thing – and it’s not the typical objective of the whalers of the sea. He has a unique objective. He wants to kill a big white whale. Moby Dick.
As anyone with such a radical goal, Ahab does not always have such an easy job convincing all his crewmen to join in his pursuit. At first he struggles with the respectable Starbuck. The assistant captain has a very clear mind.