Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and sea explorer during the American Renaissance period. He was born in 1819 and died in 1891. American Renaissance also known as American Romanticism gave birth to Transcendentalism. His novel Mody-Dick; Or; The Whale is known for being one of the best examples of Dark Romanticism. Dark Romanticism often questioned the natural perfection of man, believing that man cannot ever be perfect, that man will never have perfection, and that flaws are a part of nature that leads to a man’s fall.
Moby-Dick was published in the year 1851 and though the novel didn’t succeed during the lifetime of Melville, it became a huge success and is considered one of the Great American Novels of the 20th Century. The opening sentence of the novel is “Call me Ishmael” which is among world literature's most famous opening lines. Herman himself was a sea explorer and he had first-hand experience with some whale expeditions. The titled Whale Mobi-Dick is inspired by a notoriously hard-to-catch albino whale Mocha Dick and the book's ending is based on the sinking of the whaleship Essex in 1820.
Characters of Moby-Dick:
Captain Ahab is the captain of the ship Pquod. He is a 60 years old man who has spent most of his life on the sea. Though he is married and has children, he has no connection with his family. He is a strong head-dominant person who is very skilled at his work. He is nicknamed the Old Thunder. He is obsessed with his quest to defeat the legendary Sperm Whale Moby Dick as revenge because this whale took Ahab's leg, causing him to use an ivory leg to walk and stand. Ishmael is the narrator of the story. He is a common sailor who accompanies Ahab on Prequod. Unlike Ahab, Ishmael believes in the immense power of Moby-Dick. He remains the only survivor of the ship after the whale makes the final attack. Starbuck is the chief mate of Prequod. He is a skilled whale hunter who believes in human fallibility but insists that one can control his failings by concentrating more. He is thin but strong. He openly opposes Captain Ahab and says that his quest for Moby-Dick is irrational, impulsive, and suicidal. Queequeg is a harpooner from New Zealand who joins Prequod to assist Captain Ahab. He is the son of a king from New Zealand who renounced the throne for his love to travel around the world. He is a noble, courteous, and brave person. Stubb is the second mate of Prequod who always remains happy and carefree. He is a very skilled and experienced sailor and whale hunter but he is not an ideal person who suggests robbing other ships of their whales to increase their own collection. Flask is the third mate of Prequod. Pippin is a young black man who joins Prequod for his first sea expedition as a crewman. He is young, learning, and a coward. Fedallah is an Asiatic giant man who is very strong and phantom-like. He joins Prequod on a mission to catch Moby-Dick as a specialist hunter. Peleg and Bildad are the co-owners of Prequod who let Captain Ahab use it for Whale hunting. Captain Mayhew is the captain of another whale-hunting ship the Jeroboam. Dereck De Deer is the captain of the German ship Jungfrau (The Virgin). Dr. Bunger is the surgeon of the British ship Samuel Enderby who warns Captain Ahab and tells him not to pursue Moby-Dick but is ignored. Gony (Albatross) and Rosebud are other ships on the same route.
Summary of Moby-Dick:
The novel begins with “Call me Ishmael” as he introduces himself. He lives in Manhattan and has been to sea four times in the merchant service. However, he is looking for a higher adventure, and this time, he arrived in New Bedford to go to Nantucket where he is expecting to join some whale-hunting ship. At New Bedford, he meets Queequeg, a tattooed New Zealander and they become friends. Queequeg is an expert harpooner who just return from a whale expedition and wishes to join another one. Together, they sign up for a voyage on the Pequod, which is just about to start on a three-year expedition to hunt sperm whales. The ship is owned by Peleg and Bildad who inform Ishmael and Queequeg that the current captain is a "grand, ungodly, god-like man." The night before the voyage, they meet Elijah, a ragged stranger who inquires if they have joined Prequod. He warns them and asks if they have sold their souls to the devil by agreeing to undertake a voyage on the Pequod. The voyage is to begin on Christmas morning. Ishmael sees dark figures in the mist above the Prequod just before it takes off. Ishmael hasn’t seen the captain yet when he meets Starbuck, the first mate. He appears a fine leader. The second mate is Stubb, a prankster but an able seaman. The third mate is Flask who appears dull but experienced. One morning, Ishmael sees Captain Ahab for the first time and he feels shivers through his spine as he sees his haunting demeanor. A white scar, reportedly from a thunderbolt, runs down his face and, they say, the length of his body. He has a grim, determined look. One leg is missing and replaced by a prosthesis fashioned from a sperm whale's jaw. He comes to know that Captain Ahab insisted that his spae leg must be made of a whale’s jaws because he lost his leg during an attack by the legendary sperm whale Moby-Dick whom every sailor fears.
While every crewmember believes that they are on a hunting expedition, Captain Ahab informs them that they have to look for Moby-Dick as his mission is to hunt the white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow that took off his leg. Starbucks opposes Ahab and says that he has gone insane in his quest for revenge. But Captain Ahab insists that he will surely hunt Moby-Dick and that will make fortune for all of them. He claims that it is his destiny to kill Moby-Dick. Starbucks gets worried that their ship is not a match for the mighty sperm whale, yet, he has no option but to agree to Captain Ahab’s insistence. Soon the crew members realize that there are a couple more people on the ship whom Ahab specially engaged for hunting Moby-Dick. One of them is Fedallah whom Ishmael compares with Phantom. They see a large sperm whale and try to kill it. Queequeg does strike it, but this is insufficient to kill it.
The Prequod goes through many gams (social meetings of two ships on the open sea). The first ship that Prequod meets is Albatross. But Captain Ahab has no interest in any other conversation and he avoids the gam but he asks if anyone has seen Moby-Dick? However, he fails to listen to the answer of the Captain of Albatross as the ships pass by. The second ship that they encounter is Town Ho with which they engage in a gam. Ishmael learns that the crewmembers of Town Ho suffered a near mutiny on the ship and its eventual conflict with Moby Dick.
Soon they see another sperm whale and this time, second mate Stubb succeeds in killing it with his harpoon. However, as the crew of the Pequod attempts to bring the whale into the ship, sharks attack the carcass. Then Preqod encounters another ship Jeroboam and they have a gam. Stubb informs that Gabriel, one of the crewmembers of Jeroboam managed a mutiny against the captain and now all the crewmembers are suffering from a strange disease. Captain Mayhew of Jeroboam warns Ahab about Moby Dick and tells him not to pursue the whale.
All the crewmembers are worried about Captain Ahab’s obsession with Moby-Dick. Flask says that it appears as if Ahab has sold his soul to Fedallah who is guiding him. Soon they meet a German ship Jungfrau whose Captain Dereck Dee Deer requests Ahab to let him have some oil. Both of them see a large whale and Prequod competes with the Virgin for a large whale. Prequod succeeds in hunting the whale but when they try to pull up the carcass, it starts sinking and they decide to leave it. As the ship moves forward, they encounter a large pod of sperm whales. While they try and injure many of the whales, they succeed in capturing only one of them. Stubb is worried that despite all the efforts they have failed to collect enough whales till now. He plans to rob the whales of another ship Rosebud during the next gam so that they may get enough of ambergris. Stubb notoriously tells the captain of Rosebud that the whales they have collected are sick and of no use and that they may cause the sinking of his ship. The Rosebud leaves those whales behind and then Prequod takes them.
Prequod succeeds in hunting four more whales and the same night Ahab sees a dream of a hearse. He discusses the dream with Fedallah who says that it is a good omen and convinces them that together, they will succeed in killing the white whale. They reach a junction from where they can either choose an easy route back to Nantucket or they may proceed on a difficult route pursuing Moby-Dick. Starbuck insists that they have enough whales and they must return but Captain Ahab decides to proceed in search of the white whale.
Prequod faces a violent typhoon in the Pacific and its compass goes out of alignment. Starbuck goes to inform the Captain but sees that he is sleeping. He thinks of shooting Ahab and rescuing himself and other crewmembers from his insane idea of revenge but he fails to do so.
They meet another ship Rachel whose captain Gardiner is an old friend of Captain Ahab. Gardiner informs that the white whale has been seen in the nearby area. He also informs that his son has been lost in the sea. He asks Ahab’s help in finding his son but Ahab flatly refuses when he learns that Moby Dick is nearby. As Prequod proceeds, they meet another ship Delight which has been badly attacked by Moby-Dick. As he reaches the area where Moby-Dick was seen recently, he thinks of his first hunt of whale and thinks that for the last 40 years, he is pursuing whales more like a demon and once he kills Moby-Dick, he will rest.
Captain Ahab is the first to see Moby-Dick. His struggle against Moby-Dick continues for three days. On the first day, the crew decides to leave the ship in whaling boats to hunt the white whale. Captain Ahab leads them as he spies on Moy-Dick. The whale attacks Ahab’s boat and sinks it but Ahab survives. He reaches Stubb’s boat and then they return to the ship. On the second day, Ahab and Fedallah try to attack Moby-Dick with their iron harpoons but it doesn’t harm the whale. However, Fedallah gets entangled in the string of harpoons and drowns in the sea. As they return to the ship, Starbuck chastises Ahab, telling him that his pursuit is impious and blasphemous. He says that Ahab has gone insane but now when his special hunter Fedallah has also been killed, Ahab must return to sanity and return to Nantucket. However, Captain Ahab is obstinate. He claims that it is his destiny to kill Moby Dick and pursues the hunt for the third day.
Starbuck panics but he has no option but to follow Captain Ahab who seems to realize his mistake and says that "some ships sail from their ports and ever afterward are missing.” Ishmael sees that for the first time, Captain Ahab is not looking convinced in himself. Captain Ahab succeeds in striking Moby Dick with his harpoon on the third day but the whale is too strong to be controlled. Moby Dick easily tips off Ahab’s boat. Ahab swims back to the ship along with others. They spend a few moments of calmness and then the whale rams the Pequod as if it is taking revenge for being targeted by Ahab’s harpoon. The attack causes the ship to begin sinking. Ahab realizes that he has no chance but attempts to kill the whale again by throwing his harpoon at Moby Dick. While the harpoon strikes the whale, Ahab gets entangled in the line of the harpoon and goes down with it. The whole ship sinks down along with every crewmember except Ishmael who still was on the whaling boat. He floats for a day and a night before he is rescued by the Rachel whose captain Gardiner is still searching for his lost son. Gardiner saves Ishmael and thinks that though he lost one son, but found another.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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