How Does Captain Ahab Change Throughout The Novel

(Melville 622) Ahab’s soliloquy reveals the internal conflict of his soul. Like the force behind the facade of the whale, the catalyst behind Ahab's unexplainable impulse is a dark, inscrutable, overlord. In his madness, he believes he is fighting the force of evil, however, in reality, he battles only his inner

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

However, Stubb's lines tell us that he believes otherwise. After he complains to Fleece about the overdone steak, he orders Fleece to deliver his message to enjoy the whale but keep quiet while indulging: "now then, go and preach to them!" (___). Fleece sullenly obeys, and tells the sharks to "stop dad dam noise dare" (___). The irony begins here when Stubb steps and tells Fleece that he's doing it all wrong, that you don't "convert sinners" by swearing. Stubb's classification of the sharks as "sinners" becomes hypocritical, for as Ishmael and Fleece remark, Stubb himself is a "sinner."

He shows his strong feelings for his mission by repeating the word “death” in the sentence. The repetition of the word “death” is significant to Ahab’s expression of his passionate tone because it is a word charged with many negative emotions. Emotions like hate and vengeance find their way into the word death, and by repeating it with the intent to kill Moby Dick, it shows Ahab’s twisted passion for the mission. In addition, he adds “God hunt us all”, to show how invested he is in his mission. His emotional ties to the white whale is so strong that he thinks they deserve to be punished if the mission is a

Throughout the story, he seeks to dominate nature, such as when he discusses the wind. He states that “‘tis a noble and heroic thing, the wind! who ever conquered it?... [it] will not stand to receive a single blow.” Simply put, he wants to fight wind, but feels it is unfair since he can’t retaliate with any attack. This is evident in his revenge plan against a sperm whale, Moby-Dick. The beast previously tore off Ahab’s leg, so he wanted to kill it. However, he knowingly put the lives of his crew at risk in an attempt of killing the gargantuan marine mammal. Essentially, that is exactly what happens -- their ship, the Pequod is wrecked, and everyone dies. Ahab becomes tangled in the harpoon water and drowns as the whale dives down. This strongly parallels with Tom Walker’s disappearance, where he is taken by the Devil, showing the harmful results of displaying pride. On the other hand, the consequences that Tom faced were much less violent than what happened to Ahab and his crew. Furthermore, the conflict in “The Devil and Tom Walker” was not about revenge, but greed as the whole reason Tom dealt with Old Scratch was to get the buried treasure. All-in-all, Melville’s and Irving’s stories are nearly identical in regards to the big picture, but differ in how the theme is

Captain Ahab was mad and also knew what he was doing as he began to go after Moby Dick. When Ahab stated, “When I’ve dared, I’ve willed,” he showed how angry he was. He also states, “I lost this leg”, he knew he wanted to seek revenge for the loss of his leg. Even though Ahab knew his mission to go after Moby Dick, this particular quote showed

Through the use of various anecdotes, Frederick Douglass illustrates the brutality suffered by the slave; the reader reacts emotionally to these incidents. For instance when Douglass talks about how the slaves are beaten and mistreated he discusses a slave who was shot since he refused to obey his master: ”and in an instant poor Demby was no more. His mangled body sank out of sight”(39). In this quote Douglass shows how mistreated the slaves were and makes the reader feel sad that a slave would be shot before given another chance to listen to his master. Also he makes us feel anger at the master that after an instant of disobeying the master's a slave would be killed and the body would be left to just sink down into the water. Similarly,

Ahab was destroyed by his siren, which was an elusive whale named Moby Dick. Blanchot points out, "Ahab and the whale are engaged in a drama, what we can call a metaphysical drama, using the word loosely, and the Sirens and Ulysses are engaged in the same struggle...The result is a sort of victory for him, a dark disaster for Ahab" (Blanchot 44). Ahab obviously could not resist his siren, and it spelled the end for him. Odysseus realized the danger and took measures to protect his crew from the irresistible urge that would pull them to their doom.

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.

The first few times that Ahab is introduced to the reader and to his crew, he appears to be inhuman. Even his description when he first appears on deck states that he “seemed made of solid bronze” (Melville 117). To compare him to a statue is to distance him from humanity – he is not a breathing, emotional being. However, as the book continues, it becomes blatantly

Ahab chooses to ignore the premonitions, omens, and prophecies of his coming fall. He refuses to give in to the voice of reason every time Starbuck offers him a way out. Ahab chooses to disobey and

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

Captain Ahab is wanting to seek revenge on the white whale because it took off his leg and he did not get a chance to kill it. He puts finding the white whale over the safety of his crew by taking them into elaborate settings. He did not care that the oil barrels were leaking, that resulted in them losing oil, which meant they were losing money.

Consequently due to his personal growth as a character, Ishmael's divine spirit becomes saved and he himself is rescued from certain death. Captain Ahab remains unable to accept the concepts of transcendentalism, his pursuit of Moby-Dick is relentless and without mercy. His character has no opportunity for growth or discovery as he shuns the advice of everyone, whilst in pursuit of the white whale. Due to this his fate becomes irrevocably sealed and he is doomed to fail his mission and perish at the mercy of his quarry.

Similar to Ahab, the Samuel Enderbys’ captain has donated a limb to Moby-Dick, but unlike the Pequod’s leader, the Englishman wants to keep away from the White Whale, arguing, “ain’t one limb enough? What should I do without this other arm? … He’s best left alone” (368). The one-armed captain, head of a ship named for a wealthy British merchants, describes his experience to the one-legged monomaniac, who is overly excited, but the Englishman does not approach the experience as a spiritual battle like Ahab. Interrupting the captain, Ahab exclaims his highlights of his effect on the whale, claiming credit for the harpoons and scars decorating that wild beast. The Samuel Enderby’s captain continues “good-humoredly” (365). The Englishman did not know that he had lost his arm to the Moby-Dick for some time after the attack, but when he found out the identity of his opponent, he forfeited two chances to repeat his attempt at capturing oil from the White Whale. To the Englishman’s sage like attitude, Moby-Dick was nothing more than a remarkably profitable catch, while to