Moby dick

Moby Dick: Biography of the author

BACKGROUND OF THE STORY:
 The novel Moby Dick is about Captain Ahab’s search to kill a great
white whale. Although Moby Dick was not a real whale, real-life
events inspired the classic novel.
 The young Melville was famously inspired by the story of George
Pollard, the former captain of the whaler Essex. In 1819, the
whale-ship set sail from Nantucket and while on a two-year
whaling expedition crisscrossing the Pacific, Essex was rammed
by a sperm whale.
Moby Dick: BG of the Story

 Quickly abandoning the ship and thousands of miles away from
land, Pollard and his crew escaped in leaky lifeboats to begin a
terrible suffering that resulted sickness, starvation, and
cannibalism.

 The name of the whale was also inspired by real-life events. In
1839, Melville read a story in a magazine about an albino sperm
whale known for its deadly attacks on whaling ships trying to
hunt it down. This whale, killed off the coast of Chile near Mocha
Island, was called Mocha Dick. The transformation of “Mocha” to
“Moby” however, presents a greater mystery. Melville himself
never explained the origin of the word.

Moby Dick: Intro of Characters

Moby Dick: Summary and Plot Structure
EXPOSITION:
Ishmael, the narrator, announces his
intent to ship abroad a whaling
vessel. From here the primary
characters are introduced in his own
point of view. He and Queequeg were
able to secure berth on the Pequod.

RISING ACTION:
Ahab announces his quest to the
other sailors and nails the doubloon
to the mast as the Pequod encounters
various ships with news and stories
about Moby Dick.

CLIMAX:
In this part comes the revelation to Ahab
that however he was pursued by his crew to
stop his malady in pursuing Moby Dick, he
had realized his lifes purpose. In Chapter
132, The Symphony,” Ahab interrogates
himself and his quest in front of Starbuck,
and realizes that he does not have the will to
turn aside from his purpose which is to have
his revenge on the great white sperm whale.

FALLING ACTION:
The death of Ahab and the
destruction of the Pequod by Moby
Dick.

RESOLUTION:
Ishmael was left as the only survivor
of the Pequod’s sinking, floats on a
coffin and is rescued by another
whaling ship, the Rachel.

TIME: 1800's
Excerpt:
It was many year ago, some time in the
early 1800's, when I found myself rather
bored with the things being offered to me
on land.

PLACE: #1 NEW BEDFORD
Excerpt:
It was a Saturday night in December when I arrived at place
called New Bedford and was disappointed to learn...
PLACE:
Nantucket and the new england
coast; the open sea and
the pequod
PLACE #1: NANTUCKET
Excerpt:
“The next day was Monday and our day of departure

PLACE:#2
PEQUOD
Excerpt:
“We walked down to the Pequod”

PLACE:
abroad the whaling
ship the Pequod in
the Pacific, atlantic
and indian ocean
Excerpts
“it takes place in a whaling ship called
Pequod. while in this ship the characters
travel through the Pacific, Atlantic.”

SOCIAL CONDITION:
During this time
whaling business was
popular.
Excerpt:
“Even though New Bedford’s whaling
business had grown larger than
Nantucket’s. I had made up my mind to
depart on my whaling voyage from
Nantucket.”

Weather Condition:
Thunder and
lightning.(Stormy)
.
Excerpt:
“The strong breeze so,that the sky and air
seemed vast out bellying sails,the whole
world boomed before the wind.(Herman
Melvilee in Moby Dick 1851)

MOOD:obsessive and Captain Ahab
ignores his imminent doom and
continues to search for THE
WHALE.
Excerpt:
“Captain ahab believes that a Moby Dick is a bad embodiment
and an evil that must not exist in the world.”

Ishmael: The narrator of the story, Ishmael disappears into
his own tale after the first ten or so chapters, popping up
periodically to give comments on the text. He is an every
man; as such, it is difficult to describe specific things about
him. He is a schoolteacher on the land, and has an open mind
when it comes to the world around him. Also, he has
prodigious knowledge of whaling, which he shares between
chapters of plot in the narrative. Ishmael is the only man
aboard the Pequod to survive the novel.
- round character.
He was able to get away of his boring life and bacame a
ship's crew and eventually was hired as a ship crew to
Pequod. He was also able to have a change in belief as he
encounters different manifestations of religion.

Starbuck: The Chief Mate of the Pequod. Starbuck is a decent,
honorable man. Unlike the rest of the crew, he is not taken in
with Ahab's quest, and is continually trying to get the old man to
turn home. Starbuck has a wife and son who he misses very
much, and fears he will never see again. He is the only man
willing to stand up to Ahab, and tell him his true thoughts about
Ahab's obsession. Ahab has him stay aboard the Pequod during
the hunt for Moby Dick, in an effort to spare him his life, which,
of course, fails.
- a foil to Ahab though his ideals where somehow contradictory
to Ahabs but this brings fervor and motivation to Ahab to really
pursue Moby Dick to have his vengeance

CAPTAIN AHAB
He is a tall, tremendously proud man, in at least his fifties, who
lords over his ship like a dark god of vengeance. He has a vivid
line, either a birthmark or a scar, which runs the entire length of
his body, seemingly splitting him in two. His leg was taking in
whaling accident by Moby Dick, and ever since then, he has
become obsessed with hunting down the whale and killing it. In
his mind, Moby Dick comes to represent all of the injustice in the
world. He is the novel's most famous character, and an easily
recognizable symbol of monomania. Ahab does have human
decency in him, but it is continually driven out to sea by his need
for revenge. He is killed when trying to harpoon Moby Dick.
Proud:
"'Oh, Life! Here I am, proud as a Greek god, and yet standing
debtor to this block-head for a bone to stand on!'" Chapter 108,
pg. 397

Determined:
"Aye, aye! and I’ll chase him round Good Hope, and
round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom,
and round perdition’s flames before I give him up.
And this is what ye have shipped for, men! to chase
that white whale on both sides of land, and over all
sides of earth, till he spouts black blood and rolls
fin out. What say ye, men, will ye splice hands on it,
now? I think ye do look brave." (36.32)

Stubb: Stubb is the second mate. He is most easily
characterized by a free sense of humor; Stubb is able to
laugh at everything, up to and including death itself. Unlike
Starbuck, he has no fear of mortal danger, and nothing seems
to bother him very much. While mending a harness or
chasing a whale, his jokes remain constant.
- "For, when Stubb dressed, instead of first putting his legs
into his trowsers, he put his pipe into his mouth." Chapter 27,
pg. 97
- a flat type of a character for all throughout the novel he
didnt change his mind about the lunacy of his captain about
chasing the great white whale.

Queequeg: The friendly cannibal Ishmael first meets
in the city of New Bedford; they become fast and good
friends, despite Queequeg's less than Christian background.
Queequeg is an extremely noble, decent man, with an almost
child-like wonder at the world; he is willing to put his life in
jeopardy to save anyone. He becomes one of the three
harpooneers of the Pequod.
- "Queequeg was a native of Kovoko, an island far away to the
West and South. It is not down in any map; true places never
are." Chapter 12, pg. 46
- a flat character. His character didnt change througout the
course of the novel. He started as a well mannered
harpooner and he died as he is.

Moby Dick: The whale that gives its name to the title of
the book, Moby Dick hovers outside the entire narrative,
occasionally poking his head out in the stories of ships that
the Pequod encounters on her voyage. He is an avenging
presence, unable to be killed by human hands, and very
likely immortal. He is symbolized as a vengeful God
incarnate, only killing when he himself is pursued. There are
reports of him taking out entire whaling vessels. He is also
called the White Whale.
Describing his tantamount size
- "'There she blows!- there she blows! A hump like a snow-
hill! It is Moby-Dick!'" Chapter 133, pg. 454

Minor Characters
Fedallah: The ancient Asian who is Ahab's harpooner and spiritual guide. His prophecy regarding Ahab's
death ominously foreshadows the end of the novel.
Peter Coffin: The landlord of the Spouter-Inn.
Bulkington: A sailor that Ishmael first meets in the Spouting-Inn, and later sees on the deck of the Pequod.
His character is unknown, but he holds himself apart from the other men when Ishmael first sees him.
Father Mapple: The head of the Whaleman's Chapel in Nantucket. He delivers a sermon on Jonah, and
speaks of the dangers of sin.
Captain Peleg: A stiffly religious man, a Quaker. The other owner of the Pequod.
Captain Bildad: A boisterous, swearing man, one of the two owners of the Pequod. He helps guide the ship
out of port, and plays 'good cop' to his partner, Captain Peleg.

Elijah: A sort of bum prophet that Ishmael and Queequeg meet before getting aboard the Pequod. He has
dire warnings about the future of the voyage, all of which come true.
Aunt Charity: Bildad's sister, who helps get the ship ready to sail. She also tries to prohibit the men from
drinking on the ship, which is quickly thrown over. One of the only two women in the novel.
Tashtego: A proud Indian from an island off Nantucket. One of the three harpooneers of the Pequod.
Daggoo: A coal black negro-savage. One of the three harpooneers of the Pequod.
Dough-boy: The ship's black steward.
Pip: A fun-loving, intelligent young black boy who falls over the side during a whale hunt, and goes
insane before he can be picked up again. Like Lear's Fool, he provides a counterpoint to Ahab's driven
madness; Ahab takes pity on him after he goes mad, and has Pip stay below in Ahab's cabin.

Radney: The mate of the Town-Ho, a cowardly fellow who is killed by Moby-Dick, perhaps in retaliation
for flogging Steelkit.
Steelkit: Steelkit, one of the sailors of the Town-Ho. He is a noble, proud man, driven to rebellion by the
ignorance of Radney.
Fleece: The Pequod's cook, who delivers a humorous sermon to sharks about not eating so loudly.
Derrick De Deer: The Captain of the Jungfrau; he comes to the Pequod to beg for some oil, then tries to
out race them in pursuit of a whale.
Gabriel: A madman from the Jeroboam, who believes he carries vials sealed by the angels. He warns his
captain, and Ahab, not to go after Moby-Dick, who he believes to be the Quaker god incarnate.

Captain Boomer: The Captain of the Samuel Enderby, who lost an arm to Moby Dick.
The Carpenter: The carpenter of the Pequod, who isn't extremely intelligent. He serves as an amusing
foil for some of Ahab's rants. He is also an extremely hard worker.
Perth: The blacksmith of the Pequod, who lost his family after a robbery; he helps Ahab make his
harpoon.
Manxman: The oldest sailor aboard the Pequod, who passes occasional words of wisdom.
Mrs. Hussey: The wife of the landlord of the inn Ishmael and Queequeg stay in Nantucket; she runs the
place while her husband is away. She is one of two women in the novel.

Radney: The mate of the Town-Ho, a cowardly fellow who is killed by Moby-
Dick, perhaps in retaliation for flogging Steelkit.
Steelkit: Steelkit, one of the sailors of the Town-Ho. He is a noble, proud
man, driven to rebellion by the ignorance of Radney.
Fleece: The Pequod's cook, who delivers a humorous sermon to sharks
about not eating so loudly.
Derrick De Deer: The Captain of the Jungfrau; he comes to the Pequod to
beg for some oil, then tries to out race them in pursuit of a whale.

Gabriel: A madman from the Jeroboam, who believes he carries vials
sealed by the angels. He warns his captain, and Ahab, not to go after
Moby-Dick, who he believes to be the Quaker god incarnate.
Captain Boomer: The Captain of the Samuel Enderby, who lost an arm to
Moby Dick.
The Carpenter: The carpenter of the Pequod, who isn't extremely
intelligent. He serves as an amusing foil for some of Ahab's rants. He is
also an extremely hard worker.

Perth: The blacksmith of the Pequod, who lost his family after a
robbery; he helps Ahab make his harpoon.
Manxman: The oldest sailor aboard the Pequod, who passes
occasional words of wisdom.
Mrs. Hussey: The wife of the landlord of the inn Ishmael and
Queequeg stay in Nantucket; she runs the place while her
husband is away. She is one of two women in the novel.

Rica Arao and Hannah Mae Anadia

Man Vs.
Nature
As Ahab’s boat rowed to the rescue, Moby
Dick came up from below and slammed
his forehead into Ahab’s boat sending it
flying through the air. Rolling over and
over, the boat landed face down in the
water and the men paddled frantically
out from under it. The whale obviously
decided that his job was done for the day
and swam off at a steady pace wiith the
line dragging from his back

During a violent storm when a ship is
bounced around like a toy in a bathtub,
it is common for the ship’s compass
needle to spin uncontrollably. This was
the case on the Pequod and we had no
idea which direction we were going.

“Oh, Starbuck! It is a beautiful day, the
same kind of day it was when I
harpooned my first whale. Forty years
killing whales! Forty years of
loneliness on the dangerous sea!
What a fool I’ve been. Why am I on this
mission, Starbuck? Why? I’m so tired,
so very tired. I feel weak and
defeated.
Man vs.
Self

Man vs.
mAN
Ahab was caught in a spell. He
cried, “Look up at the white flames
men; they will guide us to the white
whale!””No, old man, no-”begged
Starbuck, “give up. This voyage is
headed straight for bad luch. Let
me turn the boat around and we’ll
head home.
Captain Ahab and Starbuck

Man vs.
Society
The crew moaned together as if an agreement
with Starbuck and ran to reverse the sails. At
this instant, Ahab’s harpoon, which was tied to
the stern of the boat, caught fire. Ahab grabbed
it and shook it in front of his crew as if to say will
be poked with this burning torch. And then he
spoke: “ You promised to hunt the white whale
and you are now committed to that promise as
much as I am.
Captain Ahab and His Crew

A peripheral narrator is a first-person
narrator who's not the main character. He
gets to give us the lowdown on the juicy
dealings of the true protagonists and
antagonists, all while watching from a safe
distance.

Excerpt: “Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind
how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse,
and nothing particular to interest me on shore,
I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part
of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and
regulating the circulation.”

Excerpt:
“There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, belted
round by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs— commerce
surrounds it with her surf. “

Excerpt:
“Once more. Say you are in the country; in some high land of lakes. Take
almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a dale,
and leaves you there by a pool in the stream. There is magic in it. Let the
most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries—stand
that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to
water, if water there be in all that region. Should you ever be athirst in the
great American desert, try this experiment, if your caravan happen to be
supplied with a metaphysical professor.”

Excerpt:
“they said he was in the cabin. But then,
the idea was, that his presence was by no means necessary
in getting the ship under weigh, and steering her well out
to sea. “

Myrtle Alesna and Cryzza Laurente

Moby-Dick is ornamented by really
complex diction:
"He was intent on an audacious,
immitigable, and supernatural revenge"
(41.23).

Melville uses the white whale to pose
searching questions about the nature of
reality.
Ishmael associated it as “good” and while
“bad” for Ahab and so, instead of seeing
white as good, he sees it as bad and
frightening because it is the color of the
terror of Moby Dick.
The whale himself will never be
understood.

Ishmael associated it as “good” and while “bad”
for Ahab and so, instead of seeing white as good,
he sees it as bad and frightening because it is the
color of the terror of Moby Dick.
The whale himself will never be understood.
Even when Melville’s sentence structure is
straightforward, Melville uses complex,
metaphorical vocabulary to create a sense of
grandeur and enormity.

Sentence Structure: Complex & Compound Complex Excerpts:
1.) 'Like most old fashioned pulpits, it was a very lofty one, and since a regular
stairs to such a height would, by its long angle with the floor, seriously contract the
already small area of the chapel, the architect, it seemed, had acted upon the hint
of Father Mapple, and finished the pulpit without a stairs, substituting a
perpendicular side ladder, like those used in mounting a ship from a boat at sea.'
Ishmael is simply describing a pulpit and how it was fitted with a ladder rather
than stairs.

2.) 'And, in these cases, somewhat as a pilot, when about losing sight of a coast, whose
general trending he well knows, and which he desires shortly to return to again, but at
some further point; like as this pilot stands by his compass, and takes the precise
bearing of the cape at present visible, in order the more certainly to hit aright the
remote, unseen headland, eventually to be visited: so does the fisherman, at his
compass, with the whale; for after being chased, and diligently marked, through several
hours of daylight, then, when night obscures the fish, the creature's future wake
through the darkness is almost as established to the sagacious mind of the hunter, as
the pilot's coast is to him.' Ishmael is just describing the whiteness of the whale.

3.) "Aside from those more obvious considerations touching Moby Dick, which could not
but occasionally awaken in any man's soul some alarm, there was another thought, or
rather vague, nameless horror concerning him, which at times by its intensity completely
overpowered all the rest; and yet so mystical and well nigh ineffable was it, that I almost
despair of putting it in a comprehensible form." (42.2) Still in an awe about the whale on
how mystical it is.

1.) PARALIPSIS :
Technique of drawing attention to something by
claiming not to mention it.
“We will not speak of all Queequeg’s peculiarities
here; how he eschewed coffee and hot rolls, and
applied his undivided attention to beefsteaks,
done rare.”

2.) ALLUSION
An implicit reference within a literary work to a
historical or literary person, place, or event.
Captain Ahab’s name alludes to the wicked and
idolatrous biblical king Ahab—a connection that adds
depth to our understanding.

In that sloping afternoon sunlight, the shadows
that the three boats sent down beneath the
surface, must have been long enough and broad
enough to shade half Xerxes’ army.
• Yea, foolish mortals, Noah’s flood is not yet
subsided; two thirds of the fair world it yet
covers.

• ... the pensive air was transparently pure and soft
with a woman’s look, and the robust and man-like sea
heaved with long, strong, lingering swells, as Samson’s
chest in his sleep.
• ... he once swam over the site of the Tuileries, and
Windsor Castle, and the Kremlin
• He announced himself as the archangel Gabriel,
and commanded the captain to jump overboad.

3.) SIMILE
"Here, tossed about by the sea, the beginner feels about as
cozy as he would standing on a bull's horns. " p.84
"There was the vast swell of the powerful sea as well as the
sight of the ivory Pequod bearing down upon her boats with
outstretched sails like a hen running after her chickens."
p.105

"Moby Dick had ripped away Ahab's leg as a mower cuts a
blade of grass in the field." p.92
"Ahab and his men struggled out from under it like seals
from a seaside cave." p.218
"The next instant I was blind as a bat, both eyes out," said
the one-armed commander. p. 166

"For three minutes, Queequeg was seen swimming like a
dog, throwing his long arms out before him." p.32
"At daybreak there was noticed a long sleek on the sea, as
smooth as oil." p.206
"The men, like shooting stars, slid to the deck, while Ahab,
not so rapidly, was dropped from his perch." p.216

4.) METAPHOR
"For all men tragically great are made so through a
certain morbidness.... all mortal greatness is but
disease."
– Ishmael on deranged leadership

5.) PERSONIFICATION
"Talk not to me of blasphemy, man; I'd strike the sun
if it insulted me."
– Ahab's fiery response when the ship's mate,
Starbuck, asks if it might not be blasphemous to
pursue a vendetta against "a dumb creature"

"Moby Dick seeks thee not. It is thou, thou, that
madly seekest him!"
– Starbuck tries one last time to prevent Ahab from
attacking Moby Dick

PARADOX
"It feels like going down into one's tomb," -- he
would mutter to himself -- "for an old captain like
me to be descending this narrow scuttle, to go to
my grave-dug berth."

SymbolIS
M
MOBY DICK (WHITE WHALE)
Moby Dick possesses various symbolic
meanings for various individuals.
•It is a miniature of all humans’ struggle
against nature, fate, and death itself.
"piled upon the whale’s white hump the
sum of all the general rage and hate felt by
his whole race from Adam down" (41.19) –
Ahab

SymbolIS
M
• symbolizes pure evil.
Excerpt:
“Is it that by its indefiniteness it shadows forth
the heartless voids and immensities of the
universe, and thus stabs us from behind with the
thought of annihilation? . . . Or is it, that as in
essence whiteness is not so much a color as the
visible absence of color . . . is it for these reasons
that there is such a dumb blankness, full of
meaning, in a wide landscape of snows .

SymbolIS
M
- Its white color symbolizes DEATH
Excerpt:
“strikes more of panic to the soul than that
redness which affrights in blood" (42.3)

THE SHIP (THE PEQUOD)
The ship’s very name depicts failure, as it is named
for an Indian tribe in Massachusetts that did not
survive after the arrival of the white men. Painted a
morbid black and adorned with whale bones and
teeth, the ship contains images of death everywhere
the sailors look. It is decorated like a coffin, and that
is what it eventually becomes.

QUEEQUEG’s COFFIN
- symbolizes life and death.
Excerpt:
Queequeg built it when he is seriously ill, but becomes a
chest to hold his belongings and a representation of his
will to live when he recovers. It also became a life
preserver when the ship sinks and Ishmael, the narrator of
the story, and a sailor on the Pequod, uses the coffin to
stay afloat, it ends up saving not only his life, but the life of
the tale.

THE ROPE
- symbolizes DANGER.
Excerpt:
“All men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are
born with halters round their necks; but it is
only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of
death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle,
ever-present perils of life.”

SUSPENse
Excerpt:Chapter 4 : Our Mysterious Captain
Have you signed for her?
"The Pequod, you mean? I responded.
"Aye, the Pequod," and he pointed to her. "have you not got any fear? Aren't you afraid of Old Thunder?" "Come
on Queequeg," I said,"let's go. This man's crazy; he doesn't know what he's talking about or who he's talking
about." "Stop! I'm talking about Old Thundert. You haven't seen him yet, have you?
"Who's Old Thunder?" I asked.
"Captain Ahab."
"Captain Ahab! He's the captain of our ship," I exclaimed. "No, we haven't seen him yet. They say he lost his leg
on his last voyage, but he's getting better and will be fine again soon."
"Not a chance! The day that Captain Ahab's fine will be the day that I'm a rich man!" the stranger laughed.

Foreshadowing
page 90, Chapter 19: The Prophet
"With finger pointed and eye levelled at the Pequod, the
beggar-like stranger stood a moment, as if in a troubled
reverie; then starting a little, turned and said:—‘Ye’ve
shipped, have ye? Names down on the papers? Well, well,
what’s signed, is signed; and what’s to be, will be; and
then again, perhaps it won’t be, after all. Anyhow, it’s all
fixed and arranged a’ready; and some sailors or other must
go with him, I suppose; as well these as any other men,
God pity ‘em”

PLOT TWIST
Excerpt:
Suddenly, I found that I was half undressed and too cold to do anything else but hop into
bed... Later, in the back of the night as I had feared, I heard footsteps in the passageway.
This must be the harpooner. Please help me. I demanded my body to lie perfectly stil and
swore myself to silence... As the harpooner began undressing, I tell you with no amount of
exaggeration that purple tattoos covered every inch of his body... And here he was, ready
for bed, jumping right beside me! “Landlord! Help! Mr. Coffin, please save me! “ was all I
could yell.

Surprise
Excerpt:
When the fourth boat came around the back to join them. Ahab was
clearly the headsman.“Captain Ahab-?”cried Starbuck, who knew
that captain usually stayed on the ship during a whale chase.” What
are you doing in there?”

MORAL OF THESTORY:
“Don’t become too focused or obsessed with one goal to the point that you exclude
more important things.”
This is represented in Ahab’s unusualobsession in hunting and killingMoby Dick, the
whale that caused the loss of his leg in their previous encounter. Ahab wants revenge
againstthe whale, he struggles to get this revenge, and he fails.By setting this as his
most significantgoal in life, he begins to ignore more important things such as the lives
of his crewmen and eventually,his own.

The universe is controlled by an
omnipotent and benevolent God who
permits both good and evil in man and
nature.

Minor Theme:
Man creates his/her own symbols

Moby dick

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Moby dick