Moby Dick By Herman Melville (1819 - 1891) Essays - Moby-Dick

Moby Dick by Herman Melville (1819 - 1891) Moby Dick by Herman Melville (1819 - 1891) Type of Work: Allegorical novel Setting The high Seas; early nineteenth century Principal Characters Ishmael, a teacher-seaman (and narrator) Queequeg, a hardened and savage harpooner Ahab, captain of the Pequod Starbuck and Stubb, Ahab's first and second mates Fedallah, Captain Ahab's Parsee servant and seer Story Overveiw A Massachusetts schoolmaster, Ishmael chose to give up the comfort and security of his classroom and fulfill his romantic desire to go to sea. Leaving Manhatto, he traveled to the seaport town of New Bedford to seek out work on a whaler. Ishmael's first night in New Bedford was spent in the crusty Spouter Inn near the water_ front. There he found the only bed available which, by necessity, he consented to share with an unknown harpooner. His roommate turned out to be a bizarre fellow indeed, a hardened South-sea islander whose body was covered with tattoos. But after Ishmael's initial fear had subsided, he found this "strange bedfellow," Queequeg, to be quite friendly. The huge man offered to share his small fortune and an embalmed human head with Ishmael. "At first I knew not what to make of this," Ishmael said, "but soon an inkling of the truth occurred to me. I remembered a story of a white man - a whaleman too - who, falling among cannibals, had been tattooed by them. I concluded that this harpooner, in the course of his distant voy_ ages, must have met with a similar adventure. And what is it, thought 1, after all! It's only his outside; a man can be honest in any sort of skin." The two men became fast friends, both signing on as harpooners aboard the Pequod, a Quaker-owned whaler out of Nantucket. There had been some question around New Bedford as to the future fate of the Pequod because of its eccentric captain, Ahab. But both Ishmael and Queequeg had no intention of changing their plans. They set sail. For the first few days the curious captain stayed out of sight in his cabin, and the Pequod was under the command of the first and second mates, Mr. Starbuck and Mr. Stubb. But as the ship continued to sail southward, a stern, relentless man suddenly strode out on deck: Captain Ahab himself. Ishmael was struck by the man's austere expression, but even more by his spectacular artificial leginstead of a wooden leg, Ahab wore an attachment carved from the jawbone of a whale. This was complemented by a gaping scar which ran down the side of his face into his collar, so that he appeared to be scarred from head to foot. For several days the crew sailed on in search of whaling schools. Then one day Ahab appeared on deck and summoned all the men. He nailed a one-ounce gold piece to the mast and announced that the gold would become the property of the first man to sight the great white whale known as Moby Dick. All the men except Starbuck and Stubb were enthusiastic about the Captain's challenge. To the two top mates, Ahab's obsession with the white whale was far beyond reason. Starbuck contended that the Captain's madness over Moby Dick was a danger to those in his charge. Ahab had already lost his leg to the whale and his mates were afraid his reckless quest would end in the loss of all their lives at the next encounter. But none of this diminished the enthusiasm of the other crewmen; they drank an oath with Ahab to the destruction of the white whale. Learning that the last sightings of the whale had been near the Cape of Good Hope, Ahab immediately plotted his course. Upon approaching the Cape, the ship came on a school of sperm whales, and the men busied themselves with harpooning and stripping the huge mammals, then melting down and storing the whale oil. When they happened upon another whaling vessel, Captain Ahab inquired further about the white whale. The captain of the ship warned him not to pursue the whale, but Ahab could not be deterred. Later, another ship stopped the Pequod, and the captain came aboard to buy some oil. He too was interrogated by Ahab about Moby Dick, but he replied that he had no news concerning the monster. just after he had departed the Pequod, a school of whales surfaced, and both ships' crews set out after them. The rival crew had a commanding lead, but the men of the Pequod, spurred on by Starbuck and Stubb, soon outdistanced them, and Queequeg harpooned the school's largest whale. Now the