Moby Dick: Herman Melville's novel of obsession and the sea

Moby-Dick, Herman Melville tells a story of one man's anger. Captain Ahab, Captain of the whaling ship Pequod, is outraged because a great white whale caused him to lose his leg. Although his leg is healing, the wounds to Captain Ahab's huge ego fester. Ahab becomes obsessed with killing the whale, acting as if the whale deliberately insulted him. Ahab is clearly a strong and courageous man. He has great strength of will and tremendous self-reliance. Unfortunately for him, he is also rigid and inflexible. Setting himself above both God and nature, he has taken the accident so personally that his obsession with killing the whale he calls "Moby-Dick" borders on insanity. The second time Ahab tangles with the whale, not only will Ahab die but his ship will be destroyed. Only one person, the narrator -- Ishmael -- will live to tell the story of what happened to the Pequod.

In the story, the narrator, Ishmael, signs on to a whaling ship, expecting to go on a hunt for the lucrative whale oil that makes the dangerous job worth the risk. Instead, the crew discovers that the captain intends to use the ship to avenge himself against the whale that took his leg. He nails a gold coin to the mast and uses liquor as motivation.

The reader doesn't realize at first just how dangerous the voyage is going to be, although Melville gives some clues. For instance, the manager of the place Ishmael sleeps before he sails is named "Coffin." Ishmael goes to a church service before he sales, where the preacher, Father Mappel, says, "Woe to him whom this world charms from Gospel duty...who seeks to pour oil upon the waters when God has brewed them into a gale...whose good name is more to him than goodness!" Melville has warned us about Ahab's instability -- he is more concerned with his "good name" as a fully functional, non-disabled person, than with goodness. This is demonstrated later in the book when he comes across a ship where the captain has lost his son at sea. Hearing that Moby-Dick caused the boy to be lost, Ahab goes off to search for the whale instead of helping search for the boy. Ahab did not have to lose such an important part of his humanity when he lost his leg, but he took the attack so personally that he became obsessed with revenge -- so obsessed that he couldn't spare a little time to hunt for a boy lost at sea.

Ahab tells his officers and crew,.".. It was Moby Dick that dismasted me; Moby Dick that brought me to this dead stump I stand on now. Aye, aye,' he shouted with a terrific, loud, animal sob, like that of a heart-stricken moose; 'Aye, aye! It was that accursed white whale that razed me; made a poor pegging lubber of me for ever and a day... 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. " (pp. 160-161)

If Captain Ahab did not have so much power, the crew might be tempted to shout "Get over yourself, already! You're just not that important!" But in fact the captain's power is absolute. He bribes the men with the promise of gold for spotting the whale, and the men go along with him.

Starbuck, the Chief Mate, recognizes how foolish the captain's vendetta is, and says, " 'I am game for his crooked jaw, and for the jaws of Death too, Captain Ahab, if it fairly comes in the way of the business we follow." (p. 161) Starbuck realizes that the captain's obsession is going to interfere with the search for whale oil. He has signed on to make money, not get even with one animal. As Starbuck debates with Ahab over the purpose of the voyage, calling Ahab's quest blasphemy, Ahab says, "Speak not to me of blasphemy, man; I'd strike the sun if it insulted me." p. 162 Ahab has taken the power and autonomy given to him as a ship's captain and set himself against God and nature over the loss of his leg. It is this hubris that will bring the Pequod to her doom.

By the end of the novel, Captain Ahab seems to realize that even as great as he apparently thinks he is, he may not be able to master Moby-Dick. Even at this point, he cannot humble himself and admit that some forces may be greater than him. He says, "By heavens man, we are turned round and round in this world, like yonder windlass, and fate is the handspike." (p. 536) He has shown a belief in fate, bringing on board a man who seems to be a sooth-sayer, and who predicts Captain Ahab's death, and the predictions seem to be coming true. This is convenient for Captain Ahab; he can still be great even though he can't conquer fate. Who can?

After three frustrating and dangerous days, it is left to Captain Ahab himself to harpoon the beast. He is quite willing to do this. This makes the reader wonder once again why Captain Ahab is so driven. The whale has really not harmed him. He survived a horrible injury long before we had good surgical methods or antibiotics. While he does have a "peg leg," he gets around well enough to captain a whaling ship through even the roughest seas. There is little he can't do; he can even get down into a whaling boat and go on the hunt himself, throw the harpoon that will bring a mighty animal down. So where is his real loss, after all? Perhaps the pain he had to endure drove him mad, or the experience of being attacked by such a huge animal, but maybe he was just a man with a colossal ego and a remarkably unforgiving nature.

The book suggests that it is his towering ego that is the problem. He dwells on neither pain nor terror. He complains of the insult. At the dramatic end, Moby-Dick turns and rams the Pequod, splintering it. Ahab, in the whaling boat, shouts,.".. from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee... let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!" (p. 565) Ahab expects to have the whale tow him away from the wreck. He realizes he will die, but doesn't care as long as he takes the whale with him. Instead, the rope from the harpoon tangles, wraps around his neck, and pulls him under.