As we enter the miniature world of the Pequod, Ishamel is overcome with an internal struggle about his future and the uncertainty of his fate if he steps foot on the ship, exemplifying  how far humans can delude themselves when they know something is not right, even with red flags right in front of them. Ishamel is confronted by the ‘prophet’ Elijah who warns him not to go aboard the Pequod with Captain Ahab, described as a tyrant who demands that one “must jump when he gives an order.” Ishmael does not believe the warning signs, Elijah is a whistleblower of the Pequod, knowing from his own experience what Ishmael will go through. Elijah represents the countless whistleblowers throughout history who have risked their lives to undermine the authority that threatens all, and in this same pattern his image is tarnished, others gaslighted into believing he is mentally unstable, although this is mainly due to Ishmael’s own judgement, calling Elijah a “crazy man”. After Elijah’s physical exit, Ishmael describes the uncertainty he feels in the next chapter, noting “If I had been downright honest with myself, I would have plainly in my heart that I did but half fancy being committed this way to so long a voyage, without once laying my eyes on the man who was to be the absolute dictator of it,…But when a man suspects any wrong, it sometimes happens that if he be already involved in the matter, he insensibly strives to cover up his suspicions even from himself.” This describes a social experience that has occurred throughout different authoritative regimes, the belief in the ‘good life’ at the expense of all else, ignoring the treading across thinning lines that occur right before one’s eyes. Ishamel knows something is not right in the voyage he just committed to, he has a stake in the Pequod and it may be from pride or ignorance that he refuses to acknowledge both the bad signs that appear in front of him or his own internal suspicion. He actively lies to himself, making excuses like Elijah’s state of health making his claims unrooted. Humans have this unique ability to lie when they know something is not right, because being wrong puts everything at stake, and it demands that the life we know must change, that we ourselves may have done something wrong in the process. In the contemporary age of dictators, Moby Dick peels back the psyche of humans who have voted against their own rights, but the ship has already sailed before one can finally be honest.