The Doubloon

The sighted whale is a sperm whale, which “blows as a clock ticks, with the same undeviating and reliable uniformity.” It is suggested that the fate of the crew involves sighting and hunting whales, something anticipated and prepared for. Eventually, a whale will be found and hunted, and the uniformity with which the sperm whale blows water suggests a correlation with the predictability of fate. The reference to a ticking clock suggests the inevitability of fate, and as a result, the inevitability of the whale-hunt. Soon after the sighting, three boats “swung over the sea” are prepared to send off the crew to hunt the whales. These boats are representative of the free will of the crew, as it is through these boats that the whalers can hunt the sighted whale. The boats are used to reach the final fate of hunting the whales, deciding the path by which the hunt occurs. The crew is “eager”, having anticipated a whale hunt and enthusiastic to reach their fate. It is their free will to send out those three boats to hunt the whale. Chance, the third of the three forces, also manifests itself, in the form of Ahab’s personal crew. Before the official crew gets off the ship into the three boats, they see “five dusky phantoms” surrounding Ahab. For the official crew, Ahab’s personal whale-hunting team is the force of chance, as none of the sailors except Ahab knew about

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.

Captain Ahab’s superiority among the other crew members is quite evident. He uses his skills, to try to gain his only purpose for boarding the Pequod. When introducing his character they said,“He’s a grand, ungodly, god-like man, Captain Ahab; doesn't speak much; but, when he does speak, then you may well listen..Ahab’s above the common; Ahab’s been in colleges, as well as’ among the cannibals…he’s Ahab, boy; and Ahab of old, thou knowest, was a crowned king!”(Pg.71). Paleg and many others know Ahab is an important figure, Ahab doesn’t have to flaunt his superiority to make it known that he is a valuable character. It can be argued that he doesn’t just think of himself because he has a family back at home, but throughout the book, we don’t see Ahab worrying or talking consistently of his family but rather his thoughts are to capture the great white whale(Pg.72). Ahab acts in a villain-like way because a heroic captain typically cares for his ship crew, tries to capture as many whales possible, and worries solely on his job. In this book, the captain acts in a completely contrary way. The captain from the Pequod, Ahab, instead, holds a very strong ego. It is clearly stated by Ahab himself, “Three peaks as proud Lucifer. The firm tower Ahab; the volcano, that is Ahab; the courageous, the undaunted, and victorious fowl, that, too, is Ahab; all are Ahab”(Pg.385). When Ahab said this, he was looking at the gold doubloon, this chapter makes it evident that he didn’t see any other person or thing as a higher importance than him. Humans project what they want to see, his ego was too high to realize that he was being a sort-like villain because he was setting the plot of the story to revolve only around

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

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 tells his crew, "He tasks me; he heaps me; I see him in outrageous strength, with an inscrutable malice sinewing it. That inscrutable thing is chiefly what I hate; and be the white whale agent, or be the white whale principal, I will wreak that hate upon him.” He tries to convince his crew that what he's doing is for a good cause. Ahab is willing to do whatever it takes to convince his crew to help him on his journey to kill Moby Dick. Ahab has to persuade them that hunting Moby Dick is more important than earning a profit. Ahab persuades his crew shows that he willing to kill his crew if it means having a better chance at achieving his

Melville’s plot unfolds very slowly, which is the reason for why some readers become frustrated with

This excerpt confirms the idea that Ahab has spent his life obsessing over killing whales particularly Moby Dick. He admits that he has become a “demon” in his yearning for vengeance of his lost limb.

He reminds the sailors of their promise, stating, “‘All your oaths to hunt the White Whale are as binding as mine; and heart, soul, and body, lungs and life, old Ahab is bound’” (522). This intense statement calls on the honor of the men, prompting their memories of the night when they swore to assist Ahab on his hunt. He uses hyperbole in this statement to emphasize the seriousness of their pledge; he claims that his entire being binds him to this course, when truly only insanity and the need for revenge drives him, but the sailors better understand the gravity of their journey on the Pequod. Ahab continues: “‘And that ye may know to what tune this heart beats; look ye here; thus I blow out the last fear!’ And with one blast of his breath he extinguished the flame” (522). The corposants appear to symbolize the escalating fear of the sailors throughout the chapter— the more scared the sailors, the brighter the flame. Ahab capitalizes on that symbolism and “extinguishes” the fear of the sailors by blowing out the corposant. Thus Ahab brings the sailors down from the height of their terror and reminds them of their binding oath at the beginning of the

In Chapter 99 of Moby-Dick, the crew of the Pequod examines the doubloon nailed to the mast and attempt to analyze its symbolism. Just as Ahab and his crew tried to find meaning in the doubloon, so too do we find meaning in what we choose to discuss in writing. And, like the crew of the Pequod, our interpretations can--and will--vary wildly. Every member of the Pequod interpreted the doubloon in vastly different ways depending on their own personal values and experience. Ahab found a reflection of himself within the coin, while Starbuck viewed the coin in a religious context. The same is true of writing. Multiple writers can examine the same concept or information and interpret it in extremely different ways in order to find their own meaning. Even in this essay, sordidness could be considered a form of doubloon as myself and my classmates analyze the prompt and approach it in extremely different

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.

Aboard the Pequod, as the ship is bustling with activity, Melville describes the scene as the crew performs the grueling task of processing a whale. Large, bubbling try-pots of oil blubber fill the deck of the ship and a heavy smoke blankets the air as harpooners and sailors work regardless of the conditions. Through this familiar scene, Melville layers the setting and characters to build up a distinct mood for this passage. Specifically, he pulls dark romanticism into his writing by paralleling Ahab’s monomania and the deterioration of the crew. To establish an ominous atmosphere and describe the impending doom of the voyage, Herman Melville combines many forms of figurative language like sinister similes and the eerie personification of the Pequod with suspenseful imagery.

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

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

Gabriel warns Ahab that if he keeps pursuing the white whale his end will come. Ahab refuses to listen because he is selfish and is too determined to seek his revenge that he will risk his life and his crews life so he can kill the creature of the deep.