Captain Ahab Revenge Quotes

Ahab is the captain of the whaling ship Pequod, and their mission is to go on a sea voyage and bring back as many whales as possible for the standard use of oil. Ahab has a different mission plan set in his mind, then the other entire crew member aboard the ship. The scars and wooden leg they are on his body are just horrible reminders of what can go wrong when a man tries to go

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

In chapter 44, readers begin to observe Ahab’s efforts at tracking Moby Dick. Readers are able to see just how carefully, and meticulously that Captain Ahab plans to hunt down Moby Dick. Ahab takes into consideration

In chapter 36 The Quarter-Deck, pages 174-181, Ahab makes his first official appearance in front of the crew in which he reveals his true intention for the ship: to find and kill Moby Dick, the white whale who stole

Therefore I asked myself, why do you focus on the past when you have so much ahead of you? Let the past be the past. Moreover, I always hold onto situations in the past that when something positive tries to occur, I bring up the negative past and forget the positive side of the current situation. When Captain Ahab came across the captain of the Rachel, the captain says, “My boy, my own boy is among them. For God's sake -- I beg you,' -- Gardiner exclaimed to Ahab -- 'I will gladly pay for it -- for eight and forty hours only -- you must, oh, you must, and you shall do this thing” (128), however, Ahab still remained obsessed with trying to find Moby Dick (for something that has happened so long ago) that he is blinded by the fact that he could have potentially save someone’s life. "Vengeance on a dumb brute!" cried Starbuck, "that simply smote thee from blindest instinct! Madness! To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab seems

Although Ahab’s madness may seem justifiable to a discerning eye, his need for revenge ultimately leads to his demise. Ahab’s deadly encounter with the white whale spurs his downward spiral into madness. After he loses his leg, the memory torments him. Not only does the whale invade his sleep, but a whale jawbone aids as his prosthetic leg. The constant clanking of the jawbone serves as a constant reminder of the whale, and constant motivation for revenge.

In Moby Dick there is no clear protagonist nor villain. It could be argued Ahab is a victim of his own obsession rather than Moby Dick is the obvious target, or I could be said that Ahab is the villain, Ahab is not present until later in the book. At first it is only his name that is mentioned, then a just story, then an unseen existence, alone in his cabin. Melville uses the lack of attendance to present Ahab as a character whom represents the fading belief in

•Captain Ahab- the pequod obssessed captain whom loses his leg in an encounter with a spermwhale on his last voyage. Therefore, he uses a false leg that was made by sperm whale's jaw. He considered Moby Dick as an enemy. This can be observed in Chapter 36 wherein Ahab sees Moby Dick as a "mask" behind which lies a great power. For him that power is an inscrutable evil and he pursues that it is his fate to destroy this evil. His actions could be concluded that he wants to be superior over the whale and it can also be seen Ahab that

The main character in the novel Moby-Dick, written by Herman Melville, is a middle-aged man named Starbuck. This well-founded character tries to overthrow Captain Ahab. The problem is that nobody can overthrow Captain Ahab. Starbuck perceives that it is inconsiderate for Ahab to ask the crew members to endanger their lives to kill a white whale named Moby-Dick, that Captain Ahab wants revenge on. Starbuck is not going to work against his Caption because of his admirable character traits, such as being loyal, a good-natured, and religious.

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.

In chapter 99 “The Doubloon” Melville again shows Ahab’s madness. Since Ahab hasn’t yet been able to destroy the whale, he offers any member of the crew who can destroy the whale an expensive coin. In the following chapter, Ahab is confronted with Enderby someone who seems to symbolize rationality. However, Ahab refuses to listen. Here Melville again shows that Ahab is totally consumed with destroying the whale, and that Moby-Dick is also a merciless creature, since Enderby lost one of his arms to him. However, Enderby does not feel the same fury that Ahab does, which is why I said he seems to symbolize rationality and this rationality mirrors Ahab’s obsession. Enderby has comes to terms with Moby-Dick and his experience with him. He did not fill in the blanks, as Ahab has done. If Enderby could get over it Ahab could too, but he doesn’t, this foreshadows destruction and it also brings light to the extent of Ahab’s madness.

Melville showcases this characteristic of the crew throughout the text by capriciously changing narration in certain chapters to give the perspective of how each character perceived it in their minds. The perspective of Ahab is most interesting as it also shares the same desperate need for purpose and meaning found in Ishmael’s musings, “ he seemed to be newly attracted by the strange figures and inscriptions stamped on it…beginning to interpret for himself in some monomaniac way whatever significance might lurk in them” (470). Ahab, like most of the Pequod lives off the ideal of an individualized fate, and because the Moby Dick took away his leg, Ahab feels that his destiny is to slay the beast since there must be a reason for his constant pain that he feels every day; the attack could not have been a senseless tragedy in Ahab’s mind. He needs something to justify his pain and so inadvertently makes a delusional destiny for himself that he must be the one to kill the whale. He cannot accept the idea of freak accidents and unfairness. He cannot accept that his quest may be insignificant in the grand scope of things which fuels his pursuit and makes it a priority that he be the one to kill the whale, “‘Where was he?- not killed!- not killed!’ cried Ahab, closely advancing. ‘How was it?’” (576). Ahab’s selfish justification gives him tunnel vision to the world around him and this encounter affirms that by showing his distressed hope for the whale to still be alive so he can kill it himself. The whale being killed by someone else would refute his destiny and set his life into turmoil. At this moment he needs the Whale to be alive, he does not care for the crew of the Pequod, the Rachael or the actual mission of the boat, only the survival of his most sworn enemy. This is an overarching tone and folly for all characters that lead to nowhere except grief such as

When Ahab begins to speak with the crew, negativity to his plan is expressed through the character Starbuck as he vocalizes that he is not looking for any danger, just an opportunity to get paid through the normal routine and calling Ahab’s quest for vengeance “madness” and “blasphemous” (Melville 163-164). Starbuck does not have the same understanding of Moby Dick as Ahab, and has not the need for a sublime experience. However, the rest of the crew is mesmerized by the idea of Moby Dick, as they have all heard rumors of his greatness, including that Moby Dick is the reason why Ahab now uses a whale bone as his peg leg, a terrifying action of Moby Dick, but one that the crew universally desires an experience of. Ahab makes a terrifically persuading speech to the crew, in which he states, “But in each event– in the living act, the undoubted deed– there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask. If man will strike, strike through the mask!” describing that if any action is ever worth doing, it is the action of pursuing and gaining greater understanding of that which you don’t understand (Melville 164). Ahab wants to inspire the crew to accept his quest for the whale, and uses their already

Sailors, Navy men, and other sea faring people all have their share of superstitions relating to the ocean, including the belief in curses. Many sailors believed in certain oceanic animals either brought curses with them, or they themselves were the curse; the Albatross falls under this umbrella. They can, however, be seen as good luck, or bad, 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 represents one of many key elements of the book and certainly the books most well-known feature. However, many dismiss Ahab’s rage at the creature as the ravings and delusions of a madman 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). Ahab’s obsession deals with more than mere revenge. Everyone who comes