Moby Dick Rhetorical Analysis

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

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

This is not the first time Ahab has spoken to himself as he often paranoidly talked to himself about what he would do if others tried to hurt him, then proceed to tell himself how crazy he is. These are Ahab’s last words. It’s funny how these are not only his last words, but the first time Ahab said anything with true feeling in the book. Though he may have not killed Moby Dick like he truly wanted, Ahab found the whale again and threw in a few last punches while cursing it and fate before his demise. I feel that, though Ahab did not kill Moby Dick, he was ready to die because he had closure since he found the whale again and was able to throw one final spear and give it his all. Following his death there was silence because the only

He believed that the color of white had many meanings to many persons. Ishmael realized that the color white can represent beauty. Whiteness refiningly enhances beauty, as if imparting some special virtue of its own, as in marbles, japonicas, and pearls. Another characteristic of the color white is strength, such as that of the polar bear or the great white shark. Ishmael also said the white can mean spirited leadership, such as the great white steeds. Contributes to the daily state of kings and queens drawn by milk-white steeds; though even in the higher mysteries of the most august religions is has been made the symbol of the divine spotlessness an power. Unlike Ahab, Ishmael saw the duality in white as he also understood that white could also be awesome, even fearsome, as man gazes across the white wastes of the prairies covered with snow and ice, or the white foaming sea hurled upon the rocky coasts by a frightful storm. To view his ship sailing through a midnight sea of milky whiteness-as if from encircling headlands shoals of combed white bears. Due to Ishmaels's ability to view the whiteness of Moby Dick through many viewpoints it secured his survival on the inevitably disastrous voyage of the Pequod.

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

“Or is it, that as in essence whiteness is not so much a color as the visible absence of color; and at the same time the concrete of all colors” (Melville 212). Whiteness is at once the absence of color and all of the colors combined. Ishmael devotes the entire chapter to Moby Dick’s color. He begins with naming characteristics generally associated with the color white: majestic, holy, “divine spotlessness,” and powerful (205). However, in spite of all the reasons Ishmael has listed above that make whiteness a seemingly grander hue, it still manages to stimulate fear. In the whale’s whiteness, Ishmael sees both innocence and evil.

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.

Ishmael digresses from the story to discuss the significance of the whiteness of the whale. To him, the whiteness is appalling. His perception of whiteness directly contrasts with society’s associations of whiteness as purity and innocence. His perception aligns with Ahab’s, believing the white whale to be a symbol of confinement, confusion, demonism, a wall comprised of everything he hates. Ishmael also views the whiteness as a phantom- hidden, confusing, out of his control, lurking beneath the surface.

Sometimes whats ideal in a situation is not what the truth of the situation and can cause your ideals to be lost. In William Golding’s novel, “Lord of the Flies”, he demonstrates a shift in some of the characters from the thought of idealism to the reality and truth of the world. Ralph is a good example of this shift, he starts out thinking the island will be a fun place and they’ll have fun waiting to be rescued, but soon he realizes that there is going to be more hardship and struggles to keep up the moral and hope of rescue. In the book Ralph wanted to keep everyone safe and get them off the island, but Jack wants to be a leader and messes up his plans, making it so that Ralph is alone in his plan to get rescued.

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

In the novel, A Moby Dick, Pip is a young African American boy, who has almost no power on the Pequod. Pip only makes a handful of appearances in the novel, which leads the reader to ask: why does Melville include him in this novel? Pip normally serves as an entertainer for the crew and cleans up the ship. However, after being left in the ocean for hours, he forms a special bond with Ahab. Through their time spent together Pip positively affects Captain Ahab, which is why he is included in the novel.

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

The whale is used for reasons on the absolute different ends of the spectrum. In the story of Jonah and the Whale, the whale is used as a means of bringing a man back into the grace of God, and saving people as a result. While in Moby Dick, the whale is used to show what happens when a man is unable to find his way back into the grace of God, and as a result suffers he and his crew suffer a great tragedy. Ahab is a quaker, who are supposed to be pacifists, yet as he turns his back on his faith, he loses sight of what it means to be a man of God. The story of Jonah and the Whale is meant to show that no matter what happens, if you find the grace of God you will find salvation.

    The question is then raised of why Ishmael is the sole survivor.   It is clear that Ishmael significantly differs with Ahab concerning their respective perspectives of the White Whale.   Ishmael clearly indicates how disagreeable he finds the mission and mental state of those around him: "…the rushing Pequod, freighted with savages, and laden with fire, and burning a corpse, and plunging into that blackness of darkness, seemed the material counterpart of her monomaniac commander’s soul."

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.