Moby Dick by Herman Melville

¶ … Moby Dick by Herman Melville [...] how the author informs the reader that Captain Ahab is not like other people. Captain Ahab is an extremely unlikable character that dominates this novel. He is different from other people, and the author makes that very clear from the very beginning of the book.

Captain Ahab is not introduced until Chapter Sixteen of the novel, and from the very first description of the legendary captain, it is quite clear that he is different from everyone else, from his physical appearance to his outlook and his desire to capture the giant whale, "Moby Dick." Another captain of the vessel says, "Clap eye on Captain Ahab, young man, and thou wilt find that he has only one leg'" (Melville 71). The captain is physically different from everyone else on the ship because he only has one leg, and it is a peg leg at that. Even more unusual is the fact that his leg was chewed off by the whale that he hopes to capture, so it is clear he differs from the rest of his crew in his desire to capture the whale that maimed him. It has become a personal vendetta for him, something that is made very clear throughout the novel.

Later, the author lets the reader know that Ahab is intellectually different, as well. He is educated, making him different than most of the men he commands, and many of the men of his time. Captain Peleg continues, "Mark ye, be forewarned; Ahab's above the common; Ahab's been in colleges, as well as 'mong the cannibals; been used to deeper wonders than the waves; fixed his fiery lance in mightier, stranger foes than whales'" (Melville 79). Thus, already, very soon in the book, the author has informed the reader that Ahab is physically and mentally different from those of his crew and many other people as well, and this diversity continues throughout the novel, as well.

As the novel progresses, it becomes quite clear that Ahab is not only physically and intellectually different from others; he may be mentally unbalanced, as well. Melville continues, "Ahab, without speaking, was slowly rubbing the gold piece against the skirts of his jacket, as if to heighten its lustre, and without using any words was meanwhile lowly humming to himself" (Melville 159). Ahab may be mad, and the author combines all of these details to give the reader a picture of a man who is unique, different, and just a bit frightening as well. As the novel progresses, so will Ahab's madness, which is another way the author portrays him as a very different and frightening man throughout the novel.

Ahab is also very singular in his actions and his thoughts. Melville shows he is behaving more oddly as the voyage progresses, especially during his daily walks on deck. The author states of the captain, "[H]e was won't to pause in turn at each spot, and stand there strangely eyeing the particular object before him. When he halted before the binnacle, with his glance fastened on the pointed needle in the compass, that glance shot like a javelin with the pointed intensity of his purpose" (Melville 427). It is as if he has never seen these things before, and yet he has been a captain for years, and is familiar with everything on board his ship. His behavior becomes more erratic and bizarre, showing how different he is, and how his life is degenerating into madness and obsession over catching Moby Dick.