" 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...
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.
Captain Ahab wasn't the only whaler attacked by Moby-Dick. Other captains realized the whale was dangerous and resolved to avoid him in the future. Only Ahab became so obsessed with vengeance that he lost the ability to be rational about the whale. Because of his driven hatred, everyone on his ship died except Ishmael. Ironically, Ishmael survives by clinging to a coffin, reminding the reader of the Mr. Coffin at the beginning of the book. That a symbol of death should save his life reminds the reader of the Christian belief of death leading to salvation, but it also demonstrates that death by itself is not any gain. Ahab dies because he cannot accept the limits of the real world, that he is only one man and that there are forces greater than he.
Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick, or, The Whale. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. Accessed via the Internet 1/2/05. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=Mel2Mob.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all
