preview

Captain Ahab Dialectical Journal

Decent Essays

The next day, the Pequod kills 4 whales and 1 of them was killed by Captain Ahab. Ahab is mesmerized by one dead whale that is sunbathing in the sun. He believes that whales react to the sun the same way humans react to the sun. The 4 whales that were killed that day were very much far apart from each other. They were able to get three of the whales killed the same day but had to wait until the next day for the fourth whale that was killed. Every day when Ahab would get out of his cabin, he would calculate the latitude of the ship based on the sun. The instrument he used to find the latitude of the ship was called the quadrant. Ahab orders for the ship to turn around because he could not get any results for the current direction they were …show more content…

Ishmael explains that typhoons can come out of nowhere while sailing at sea. Many different type of signs occur that night when the typhoon occurred. Initially, the main idea whalers would do during a storm was that they would set up lightning rods but Ahab believes that a typhoon is a sign that Moby Dick is near saying that the 'white flame is the way to the white whale.' Starbuck sees on the ship that Ahab's harpoon blade starts to ablaze. Starbuck believes that this little sign is a sign of God presenting the consequences of hunting down a creature like Moby Dick. The resilience of Starbuck continues with Ahab when Starbuck thinks that the crew should take down one of the main sails but Ahab thinks that it should stay there. This causes disbelief among Starbuck and cannot believe that Ahab would do this, this leads to a strained relationship among the two. Stubb and Flask believe that Ahab is a little crazy and is putting the whole crew in danger. After a long rocky night on the ship, the worst parts of the typhoon is now over. Because of this the crew is relieved and even singing song of happiness and joy. Starbuck discovers below the cabin a rack of muskets

Get Access