Moby Dick : The Age Of Ecological Crisis

In the passage Moby Dick by Herman Melville, uses multiple strategies to create an effect on the reader. Melville uses diction, imagery, details, language, sentence structure, and tone and to make his effect on the reader much more engaging and interesting.

    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

When your life revolves around the sea as ours does, you hear stories. Stories of deep sea monsters, mermaids, giant squids right out of a Moby Dick novel, are just some of the tales we’ve heard. Most stories about mysterious creatures we shrug off as ‘not bloody likely’, but others enter the realm of real possibility.

For Herman Melville’s character, Ishmael, to be aboard a whaling ship is a new experience, a vivid taste of human nature, and most importantly a test of character. It shares these many extreme attributes with another familiar setting: Hell. Melville uses his writing throughout Moby Dick to create an absolutely infernal atmosphere. He does this by using animalistic personification, creating a beastly environment and alludes to the devil on more than one account. Finally, Melville leaves out no detail when describing the vivid imagery of the flames in the try-works, an area aboard the ship. Throughout this passage, a hellish theme is created through the combined use of beastly personification, bedeviled allusions, and flame-engulfed imagery.

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

Stories often crop up in the news about people following some crazy leader, usually concerning groups like cults, fanatics, or even fan bases that appear to blindly shadow and support their idol or superior. A casual observer will most likely look down on these groups, assuming that they could never be swayed like those people; but can one really resist so charismatic a leader? History has proven that the right person with a gift for persuasion can convince anyone to do something against their normal values. In Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick, monomaniac Captain Ahab cajoles the crew of the Pequod into supporting his mission to through his incredible powers of persuasion. Obsessed with Moby Dick, a white sperm

A vengeful man, a native, and a man seeking enlightenment board a whaling vessel; this isn’t a joke, this is the United States of America throughout history and the members of the Pequod. Moby Dick is not just a tale about a whaling venture gone awry, it is a metaphor for what America was and is. The Pequod represents the country and government, while the 30 crew members (Melville 430; ch. 126) represents the United State citizens. This would have not been possible to consider in Melville’s time, but it is a true testament to literature being a living text. Melville wasn’t only writing about America in the 1800’s, he was writing about the natures of humanity, and the future of our society.

Throughout Ahab’s speech, he discusses the “whiteness of the whale” and goes on by repeating himself of how “white” Moby Dick is. However throughout Ishmael’s piece, he goes on about what Moby Dick means to him in contrast to Ahab. You can sense some tenseness and frustration in Ishmael’s voice as he talks about the whale’s whiteness. “It was the whiteness of the whale that above all things appalled me”, (pg.159), which brings us back to the biblical context that Hemmingway uses. The color white signifies pure, good or superior and Ishmael talks about how royals were draped in white as well.

While you could argue that practically everyone who has gone through the American education system has at least heard of Moby Dick, the whaling industry, a main element of the epic, is not so well known. In order to fully understand and appreciate this great work, it is in my opinion, important to have somewhat of an understanding of the industry which it is centered around. This is especially true because whaling was such a prominent, and important aspect of 19th century culture and although far less popular, still exists today. Throughout this essay I will give a brief history of whaling, discuss why it was such an important industry in the 19th century, talk about whaling in modern times, and lastly, tie it in to the novel.

     Herman Melville's Moby Dick is a book which can be read as a general metaphor for the battle between the evil powers of the Devil versus the divine powers of God and Jesus, both try to obtain the souls of mankind in order to assist in each other's destruction. In this metaphor, the Devil is shown through the person of Captain Ahab, God becomes nature, Jesus is seen as the White Whale, and the representation of mankind is the crew. The voyage of the Pequod, therefore, is a representation of a similar voyage of mankind on earth, until the death of Jesus, during the whole thing the influences of these three “supernatural forces” are connected. Thus, the basis of this idea is that

Herman Melville was born on August 1, 1819 in New York, New York. He favored many books and later in life wrote poetry. One of Melville's best novels is call Moby Dick, about a great white whale. He was honored as one of america's greatest writers after his death on September 28, 1891.

Herman Melville has become a well-known classic novelist in today’s society, most popularly known for his novel Moby Dick. This book, taught in many high school classrooms, has been critiqued and analyzed in several ways, the characters and story line becoming familiar throughout academia. However, what many high school classrooms do not address is the sub-textual homosexual references made throughout the book. In fact, several books authored by Melville, once viewed upon closer inspection, can be read as a testament to the queer tendencies of the novelist. Much of the works produced by Melville focus specifically on the interactions between men and allude to the possible homosexual relationships between the characters. Although Melville

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.

The astonishing life of Herman Melville generated a great idea to create the novel Moby Dick. The historic point on Melville was very surprising and gothic. The author takes the view point and emotion towards the American Gothics. A heart warming personality, and a prosperous life influenced the writing of Moby Dick, and also helped launch the Gothic author Herman Melville into stardom, but Melville never got to see his fame come into reality in the fictional genre during the American Romanticism Era.

Many have the desire to control the uncontrollable, or change the unchangeable. This idea is shared through many novels and movies; one of those being Herman Melville’s Moby Dick-a narrated voyage of a whaling ship, the Pequod, and its captain, Ahab, whose one desire was to kill the great Sperm Whale, Moby Dick. As his whaling journey continued, still unsuccessful, Ahab’s character began to change. Many adjectives could be used to describe Ahab’s changing character, but three specific ones are as follows: obsessive, conceited, and manipulative. Ahab’s one desire changes him from an obedient captain to a madman.