Herman Melville, in his novel, MOBY DICK, combined the results of large amounts of research in history, personal narratives, and scientific tracts with his own experiences on a whaling ship. He wanted his book to be an allegory, full of psychological and symbolic richness. Though the plot itself is deceptively simple, there are many layers and elements that make up this important novel. It is a sea story, a tall tale, an epic quest, a satire, a tragedy, a primer on whaling, and a statement on man's overwhelming ambition. Melville set about, therefore, to create a multi-leveled work that could be read in several ways, and was not just a pure entertainment. He wanted to "Try all things," so that he could achieve what "I can."

Melville had a straightforward plot line, but did not tell it in a straight narrative fashion. Instead, he used a layering of styles, tones, allusions, and forms to create an allegory of good and evil, of the pursuit of absolute knowledge, and of man versus nature.

The author uses a narrator, Ishmael, to tell the story. Init

In characterization, style, and narration techniques, Herman Melville tried many different ways of dealing with his subject. His goal was to write a novel of importance about whaling, and about a man obsessed with the idea of getting even, no matter what. In "trying all things," he achieved a great classic novel: one that has stood the test of time.

. In the quote, "I try all things; I achieve what I can," I am going to relate what Melville was trying to achieve with the monomaniacal character Captain Ahab aboard the Pequod.

One of the many questions that is brought forth in Moby Dick is: has Captain Ahab really gone mad or is he just driven by revenge and vengeance? Melville succeeded in not really giving an answer to this question, rather letting the reader make up his or her own mind. Melville gives many examples to support both sides of the spectrum that Ahab has gone mad with his monomaniacal pursuit of the white whale. And in other instances he shows Ahab still is in touch with humanity.

ially, Melville utilized Ishmael to relay the story to the reader, but he switches to other methods of telling the story,

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Approximate Word count = 766
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)