Captain Ahab's obsession and Moby Dick's symbolic meaning

Mythology

When looking at the classic tales of mythology, ancient or modern, one can easily see certain themes which occur in the tales over and over again, reflecting the fears, emotions, and flaws of the human mind as well as the classic struggle against horrible creatures with the power and potential to destroy those who are unfortunate enough to cross paths with the beasts. In terms of a relatively modern tale of mythology, the story of "Moby Dick," by many accounts, qualifies as a mythological tale, as the legendary Captain Ahab hunts the white whale for which the story is named- a creature, so horrible, that Ahab offers rewards of gold to any man on his crew who can kill the whale. This paper will discuss not only Moby Dick as a horrible creature, but also the obsession that Ahab has with the whale, and his view of it as the root of all evil in the world.

Ahab's Obsession Explained

Although it can be said that many, if not most of all of the obsessions of human beings are unfounded and even bizarre, the obsession that Ahab has in hating Moby Dick has gone out of control, but is not completely unfounded. To better understand what is meant by this, the context of the story of "Moby Dick" needs to be examined to understand the creature Moby Dick, and Ahab's hatred of it.

It is true that Ahab had, years before the hunt for Moby Dick that the novel details, lost a leg to the horrible white whale, but Ahab has taken what was one unfortunate experience and blamed it, or more exactly Moby Dick itself, for all of the problems, pains and fears that he has in the world. In this way, the hunt for Moby Dick becomes more of a fight for Ahab to kill his fears and problems than it is to actually kill just a huge, nasty whale.

What Moby Dick Represents Symbolically

More than just a whale, even the most horrible whale that ever existed, Moby Dick symbolizes much more in this story.

Again, Ahab has made the whale the symbol of all of the problems he has ever encountered, and feels that by killing the whale, he will gain true emotional freedom. Obviously, it is impossible for a whale to have caused all of these problems for a human being, but in portraying the whale this way, Ahab is also shown as a symbol in himself. In this instance, Ahab can be viewed as all of the hatred and ignorance of man, represented in one physical being. if, as is intended, the story of "Moby Dick" is to be interpreted as mythology, then Ahab can be seen as a symbol for negative human emotions and reactions to the world around them, just as much earlier tales of mythology used various gods and even inanimate objects or forces of nature to represent something else.

Conclusion

As we have seen in this research, the terrible creature found in the flesh as Moby Dick is actually a complex, mythological creature, similar to that of the Cyclops or any other beast that we find in any mythology from any time. Perhaps what makes it more frightening is the fact that the myth occurs in a setting which readers, even today, can relate to. Therefore, in closing, let it be said that mythology may have more roots in reality than we can imagine.