Moby Dick
The novel 'Moby Dick' is the story of how Ishmael the narrator came to set sail on a fateful whaling voyage. He travels to Nantucket, where he visits the docks to find a ship; he discovers the Pequod. As Ishmael and his friend Queequeg make their way to board the ship, they meet a haggard looking, wild-eyed man who calls himself Elijah. He warns them against sailing with the Pequod, and hints that there might be something to fear about their mysterious captain, Ahab. Although Ishmael has not yet met Ahab, he dismisses the Elijah's warning, and the two set sail with the Pequod on Christmas Day. Ishmael is introduced to the rest of the ship's crew: the first mate, Starbuck, the second mate, Stubb, and the third mate, Flask. Finally, after several days at sea, the men meet their captain, Ahab: a fierce looking Nantucketer with a white streak in his hair leading to a scar down the side of his face, and with one false leg made of ivory. Ahab paces the deck, and does not talk to the men nearly at all ... until one day he nails a piece of Spanish gold to the main mast of the ship, announcing that whoever first spies a white whale will receive it as a reward. This white whale, called "Moby Dick" by Ahab
What does the item reveals about obsession? In chapter 36, Captain Ahab announces, "I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up." Starbuck, the symbol of good who contrasts with Ahab's darkness, refuses to go along with the Captain's obsession, pointing out that they were here to hunt all whales, not one in particular. Ahab, however, will have none of Starbuck's objections. Instead, he makes a speech revealing the power of his obsession: it isn't just that Moby Dick chewed off his leg. Rather, it is that Moby Dick represents, for Ahab, "an inscrutable thing" that feeds his madness. "God keep me! - keep us all!" whispers Starbuck, now aware that he is in the presence of evil. , seems to cause him considerable anxiety; he reveals that it was Moby Dick who bit off his leg. The sailors seem excited at their potential reward, and vow to hunt Moby Dick to the death. Ahab, meanwhile, speaks to himself in terms that suggest his maniacal obsession with the Whale. In the novel ' Moby Dick', soliloquys, speeches, character's actions and the powerful usage of certain words are used to shape the perception of obsession. Ahab sits in his cabin, studying maps of the sea and old log-books, containing information about where sperm whales
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 899
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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