Starbuck's Analytical Essay: The Quadrant

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

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 36, Ahab finally chooses to reveal the true purpose of this whaling voyage: To hunt down and kill Moby Dick. He does so through a grandiose speech in which he rallies almost the entire crew to his cause through a number of persuasive techniques. Ahab begins his speech by asking the crew a few basic questions about whaling. These questions lay out the basic purpose of this voyage: To hunt whales. In doing so, Ahab is laying the groundwork to convince the crew to hunt down a very specific whale: Moby Dick. In addition, the call-and-response used in this portion of the speech unifies and excites the crew, thereby making them more open to what Ahab is about to say. Immediately following this, Ahab reveals his desire to kill the White Whale and offers an ounce of gold to the first man to spot it. This use of bribery piques the interest of the crew and offers an

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

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 has eaten "dry salted fare," worse than the fresh fruits even the "poorest landsman" would enjoy (Melville 620). He married not until he reached the age of fifty, and even so he has spent just a single night with his wife. Ahab feels "as though [he] were Adam," with the weight of "the piled centuries since Paradise" bearing down upon his soldiers and only one good leg to hold it up. With his years of toil and sacrifice assaulted by his own prey, Ahab feels inadequate and vulnerable, and more lonely than ever

In the novel, Ahab seemed to have applied the same philosophy in his operations. Though little is known about Ahab’s family life, the captain’s actions are highly driven by his personal affairs. Starbuck advised Ahab to abandon his selfish pursuits and stick to the orders of the ship owners; that of collecting profitable amounts of whale oil. The captain fiercely objected Starbuck’s instructions, even threatening to shoot him. Ahab disregarded friendships and instructed his sailors to kill Moby Dick.

Captain Ahab is one of the most influential characters in the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. Ahab represents many symbolizes throughout the novel and is the main force behind the plot. The narrator of the novel, Ishmael, is first warned about Captain Ahab before leaving on the ship. Elijah tells Ishmael in reference to Ahab, “ He’s got enough, though, to make up for all deficiencies of that sort in other chaps” (Melville 108).

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.

One reason is he insisted on getting revenge on Moby Dick instead of following their original plan, which was catching a bunch of whales to make money. Starbuck said to Captain Ahab, "I am game for his crooked jaw, and for the jaws of death too, Captain Ahab, if it fairly comes in the way of the business we follow; but I came here to hunt whales, not my commander’s vengeance. How many

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.

Explain Ahab’s last speech found at the top of page 623 through the end of the paragraph ending with “Thus, I give up the spear.” In what way is Moby Dick a “…all-destroying but unconquering

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

Along with this we also see the fate behind his decisions, where many things go against him, illustrating that maybe catching this whale really isn’t the greatest of ideas. A really good example of this is when the Pequeod finally reaches the equator and they appear to be close to where Ahab believes the whale may be, however when they get there they encounter two other ships who have been hit really badly by the whale. When all fate and destine is clearly illustrating that Ahab’s best bet is to not fight this battle, his free-will and determination push him forward, and he doesn’t allow this to scare him. Ahab even eventually goes as far as saying, “The gallows, ye mean.- I am immortal then, on land and on sea," cried Ahab, with a laugh of derision;- "Immortal on land and on sea!” (Melville 513). This demonstrates just how free-will driven Ahab really is, and he believes his destiny lies at sea, stating that his destiny is that he is immortal. Even when going beyond the text and further researching this concept of free will in Ahab’s character, we find that most other scholastic articles can agree with Ahab’s drive. When reading “Moby-dick Again” by Richard Lowry, he states in text, “When he catches up to Moby Dick, the climactic three-day chase ensues, with repeated opportunities to turn back as the danger