Beyond Good And Evil

The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is often associated with a various number of themes such as racism, social inequality, the importance of family values, and much more. But one of the more hidden messages of the book centers around the idea that there is a coexistence of good and evil. This theme is really brought to life the more the reader is able to understand the book. Through sub themes such as coming of age, perspective, and intense characterization of many important characters the idea of good and evil is really brought to light.

Published in 1851, the story of Moby-Dick is not just the tale of one mans search for control over nature, but also the story of friendship, alienation, fate and religion that become intertwined amidst the tragedy that occurs upon the doomed Pequod. The crew itself are an amalgamation of cultures, from the cannibal Queequeg, to Starbuck, "a native of Nantucket." The Pequod can thus be seen as a microcosm for immigrants and whaling within America. In Moby-Dick Herman Melville examines both the exploitation of whaling and the reality of being born outside of America.

Captain Ahab is obsessed with the idea of seeking revenge and killing the great white whale, Moby Dick. He boards the Pequod, a whaleboat ship and with only one mission in mind, to destruct Moby Dick. Ahab is a bad captain for the whaleboat because he is infiltrated with the obsession to kill Moby Dick which makes him manipulative, selfish, and quite dangerous. Even if the Pequod’s fate was to fail or succeed, Ahab made it inevitable to have a good success. Throughout the book, it can be argued that Ahab seems to portray not only the pequod’s ship caption but a dictator as well. The crew is deemed to risk their lives for the captain’s sake no matter the circumstances since their choices are limited to either dying by jumping off the boat or

The whale's lack of clarity reflects its multitudinousness. In this sense, the whale resembles the ocean; it is everything and nothing. "Physiognomically regarded, the Sperm Whale is an anomalous creature," Ishmael proclaims

    One might say we are presented with two fish stories in looking at Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, a marlin in the former and a whale in the latter.  However, both of these animals are symbolic of the struggle their hunters face to find dignity and meaning in the face of a nihilistic universe in Hemingway and a fatalistic one in Melville.  While both men will be unable to conquer the forces of the universe against them, neither will either man be conquered by them because of their refusal to yield to these insurmountable forces.  However, Santiago gains a measure of peace and understanding about existence from his struggles, while Ahab leaves the

Throughout his novel, Moby Dick, Herman Melville will often devote entire chapters to the thoughts and actions of specific characters. Two specific examples of this type of chapter are Chapter 36, The Quarter-Deck, and Chapter 42, The Whiteness of the Whale. The first of these chapters depicts Ahab addressing his crew for the first time in order to convince them to hunt down Moby Dick. The second offers insight to the fear that is brought upon by the mere mention of Moby Dick The significance and effectiveness of each of these chapters are enhanced by Melville’s use of rhetoric and style respectively.

The belief in curses are not something uncommon shared by sailors and other seafaring people. For instance, the Albatross is a negative sign, and particularly the death of one can be seen as a curse. Bad luck comes in troves on the open ocean, and the most famous bout of bad luck belongs to Captain Ahab. Ahab’s obsession with the destruction of the white whale in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick is one of many key elements of the book, and certainly is what the book is most well known for. However, many dismiss Ahab’s rage at the creature as the ravings and delusions of a mad man seeking revenge. Ahab’s reasons are, in fact, far more complicated. Moby Dick represents Ahab’s loss of control over his actions. The moment that he lost his leg to the whale, Ahab lost control over his own actions: “Then, in darting at the monster, knife in hand, he had but given loose to a sudden, passionate, corporal animosity” (Melville, 156). Ahab’s obsession with destroying Moby Dick only grew with time, and on several occasions Ahab would put his crew in danger even for a single piece of news on his whereabouts, let alone when they attempt to kill the animal, loudly declaring that he “…fear[s] not thy epidemic…” (Melville, 252). And yet, there is more to this obsession than mere revenge. Everyone who comes into contact with the white whale seems to lose a part of themselves. Moby Dick places a curse on each of those who come into contact with him. If the cursed, however, do not give up on their

The Captain of the whaling Ship Rachel has shared the details of this event. It is also reported that he tragically lost his son to the great whale. According to the captain, the whaling ship, The Pequod, met with them in a gam, or a meeting of two whaling ships while at sea. This gam took place near Japan in the Pacific ocean. It is reported that the captain of The Pequod, called Captain Ahab shared with the whaling ship Rachel that they were hunting Moby Dick and that Ahab wished to exact his revenge upon the great whale. The captain of the Rachel advised Ahab not to pursue Moby Dick, but his mind had been made up and there was no stopping Ahab.

(391 Melville) Here, Ishmael breaks his usual detached observancy and boldly distinguishes himself from Ahab’s mission and those whom Ahab has recruited to aid him.     Ishmael further distinguishes himself from the rest of the crew by being the sole non-exploiter of whales in general.   Melville makes it clear early on that Ishmael initially chooses to ship on the Pequod for the experience value of whaling.   Whereas Ishmael is terrified by the white

In the race-centric time of the 19th century, people were often quick to accept societal norms that promoted racist views across the globe. However, in the 19th century novel Moby Dick, author Herman Melville calls out society’s own hypocrisy through his juxtaposition of savagery and civilization. With placing a “civilized” protagonist ‒Ishmael‒ alongside a “savage” sidekick ‒ Queequeg ‒ Melville intends to show the similarities between two seemingly opposite character traits. Ishmael’s views on traditional savagery become altered throughout the book, changing from his initial belief that he is better than an uncivilized person into ultimately being rescued through means created by savages.

Moby-Dick is considered to be one of, if not the, best novels in American history. Harper & Brothers first published it in 1851 in New York. In England, it was published in the same year under the title, The Whale (“Moby Dick”). Melville explores topics and themes that were scarcely spoken of and never even seen in a novel. In the novel, the Pequod, which is the ship, is named after a Native American tribe that was exterminated when the white settlers arrived. It is a symbol of death and doom and foreshadows event that occur later in the novel. Melville brings some very controversial themes to light in the novel. Revenge is one of the main themes of Dark Romanticism and Melville uses it to drive every action taken by Ahab. This is seen early on in the novel as Ahab explains to the crew why he has a peg leg and that he wants to enact his revenge on Moby Dick (Melville 160-161). “Moby Dick is, fundamentally, a revenge tragedy. It’s about one man’s maniacal obsession with vengeance. It’s about finding an object on which to pin all you anger and fear and rage, not only about your own suffering, but also about the suffering of all mankind” (“Moby

Ahab says, “Whosoever of ye raises me a white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow and a crooked jaw; whosoever of ye raises me that white-headed whale, with three holes punctured in his starboard fluke—look ye, whosoever of ye raises me that same white whale, he shall have this gold ounce, my boys” (Melville 176). The purpose of this voyage for Ahab is to hunt down and kill the white whale, Moby Dick. To Ahab this means everything so much so he is willing to bribe the men on the ship. However, some of the other men disagree with Ahab and feel this hunt is

His most famous book, Moby Dick, features the observant narrator, Ishmael, aboard the Pequot, a ship captained by the menacing one-legged Captain Ahab. Having lost his limb in a previous voyage to an enormous sperm whale named Moby Dick, Ahab scans the seven seas in manic search of revenge against the giant. Queequeg, Ishmael’s menacing best friend, and the rest of the crew are subjected to extreme jeopardy and later death due to Ahab’s monomaniacal disregard for bad omens and danger. The whale slices the boat clean in half and none survive to tells of its greatness except Ishmael.

While Ahab was still the obedient captain he once was, he was one of the most successful and higher rewarding captains. Unexpectedly, in the midst of a whaling, Ahab and his crew encountered the whale he now refers to as “Moby Dick” or “the white whale.” The crew initiated in capturing the whale, but this whale was different. Rather than capturing the whale, the whale captured Ahab and though Ahab escaped, he did not escape entirely. Moby Dick had dismembered and consumed half of one of Ahab’s legs. Ever since this incident, Ahab’s one and only desire or, as stated in the text, “...his one unsleeping, ever-pacing thought” has been to kill Moby Dick; which soon turns him obsessive (Melville). Ahab would not let anyone or anything stop him from achieving his goal, “...’I’ll chase him ‘round Good Hope, and ‘round the Horn, and ‘round the Norway Maelstrom, and ‘round

Herman Melville, in his renowned novel Moby-Dick, presents the tale of the determined and insanely stubborn Captain Ahab as he leads his crew, the men of the Pequod, in revenge against the white whale. A crew mixed in age and origin, and a young, logical narrator named Ishmael sail with Ahab. Cut off from the rest of society, Ahab attempts to make justice for his personal loss of a leg to Moby Dick on a previous voyage, and fights against the injustice he perceived in the overwhelming forces that surround him. Melville uses a series of gams, social interactions or simple exchanges of information between whaling ships at sea, in order to more clearly present man’s situation as he faces an existence whose meaning he cannot fully grasp.