Tag Archives: vengeance

Chapter 44: A Whale and Vengeance Obsessed Man

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As I was reading through chapter 44, I came across this passage, which perfectly encompasses how much Ahab was truly obsessed with the whale he calls Moby Dick. Ahab describes the whale as if he knew the whale personally, and I thought that this bit shows how he has truly made hunting down this whale his entire personality and part of his life.

“That in the broad boundless ocean, one solitary whale, even if encountered, should be thought capable of individual recognition from his hunter, even as a white-bearded Mufti in the thronged thoroughfares of Constantinople? No. For the peculiar snow-white brow of Moby Dick, and his snow-white hump, could not be unmistakable. And have I not tallied the whale, Ahab would mutter to himself, as after poring over his charts till long after midnight he would throw himself back in reveries-tallied him, and shall he escape?” Chapters 44

Amidst the vast ocean, Ahab was in sight of one whale, which caused him to lose a part of himself, which then caused him to want to take vengeance upon the massive creature for the pain that he went through. That piercing whiteness of the whale, he will never forget, and will be part of how he can identify Moby Dick out traversing the seas. He knows the anatomy of this whale whale so well that it has been haunting him ever since. This causes him to even believe that he can spot the menacing white whale even if he is trying to blend in with other sperm whales that could be traveling nearby.

He details the anatomy of the whale, which he could spot from and knows is his nemesis, in the blink of an eye. The vengeance that is built up in him as he has traveled the oceans seeking out Moby Dick, with the marks he has left on him in the past encounters, to identify the creature to hunt him down to kill him. Ahab, with his charts, knows where this whale has gone, and he can still know this whale apart from the rest, and the image of this large ocean creature has not left his mind since that first sighting.

Ahab has shown us that his dedication to seeking out Moby Dick to kill him has the same mentality as when someone says I put my heart and soul into it. He has dedicated his life to hunting down this whale, and now he has encouraged his crew of the Pequod to help him seek out his ocean nemesis.

A ship controlled by vengeance

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Captain Ahab’s own quest for vengeance has seeped it’s way into the minds of the rest of the crew members, deepening their own hatred for Moby Dick and further showing the influence that Ahab has over the men in the Pequod. The beginning of Chapter 41 offers us more insight into the feelings of animosity that the crew members of the Pequod are feeling towards Moby Dick: “I, Ishmael, was one of that crew; my shouts had gone up with the rest; my oath had been welded with theirs; and stronger I shouted, and more did I hammer and clinch my oath, because of the dread in my soul. A wild, mystical, sympathetical feeling was in me; Ahab’s quenchless feud seemed mine. With greedy ears I learned the history of that murderous monster against whom I and all the others had taken our oaths of violence and revenge” (Melville 194). Moby Dick takes up the mind of both Ahab and all his men on board the ship, consuming them in the feeling of vengeance. Ahab’s own personal quarrel with Moby Dick has managed to become everyone’s problem, with Ishmael claiming that he and the rest of the crew have taken an oath of “violence and revenge” against the whale, not stopping at anything to get their way.

This shows how influential Captain Ahab is. We have already been introduced to him as an almost mythical-like character, one that cannot be defined in anyway you would a normal person. His own need for revenge has became a need for everyone on the Pequod, and his ability to influence his men is astounding. Ahab is such a larger-than-life character, it is no surprise that many of the men fall into the trap of listening to his orders and hearing his stories which purpose is to fill them with anger. It is certainly interesting to see the character Ahab, especially today where we see a lot of similarities with many prominent figures in America.

It’ll be interesting to see how far Ahab is able to go with influencing the crew members of the Pequod, and how far they willing to listen and feel the same anger and need for vengeance that he does. In their minds, Moby Dick is the cause of all their pain and suffering.

Week 8: Vengeance

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What stuck with me from this week’s reading was a quote from Starbuck in The Quarter Deck. During Ahab’s obsessive rampage about Moby Dick, Starbuck says: “‘Vengeance on a dumb brute!… that simply smote these from blindest instinct! Madness! To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab, seems blasphemous’” (p. 178). This idea has been mentioned before in the book and in our class, but it is touched upon again. The innocence of nature, and to what extent these beings are innocent. 

I always find this debate to be particularly interesting because it calls into question what level of consciousness animals possess when juxtaposed to us, humans. What level of moral compass do we expect from these beings, and can we judge them the same way we judge humans? This quote by Starbucks says we can’t, that animals like whales are simply acting upon instinct and not from a place of bad intention or harm. While I can’t speak on whales, I would like to bring up the idea of dolphins. Seemingly harmless and playful, anyone who has done some research on them knows their intentions and interactions with others in the ocean are often harmful and malicious, ranging from getting high off other animals and purposeful assault. 

Another way I want to analyze this quote is from the idea of vengeance, regardless of the “dumb thing” being the source of harm. This calls into question the idea of revenge, and whether that is even something one should take, whether the one who harmed did it on purpose or not. Is that not stooping to that low level, especially one of physical harm? Ahab is the captain of this boat, and should one want to be led by one who engages in petty vengeance? Who might hold a grudge on the ship for a small transgression?