Tag Archives: week 9

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.

Jesus and the Last Supper (Week 8: 34-42)

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As our main characters, Ishmeal and Queequeg finally board the ship, we eagerly await the reveal of the mystical captain Ahab. Thus far in the novel, Ahab has only been introduced through the perspective of other characters—but has yet to be witnessed in person.

 His character not being seen but only speculated about, creates a mysterious and intriguing aura that suggests the importance of Ahab as a character to the story’s ultimate driving direction. I would even go as far as to say Ahab is a representation of the Prophet that will guide the crew to their destiny on their journey through the ocean. Much like Jesus Christ guiding the direction of the religious experience for his disciples. However, this ultimately leads me to believe that his fate, and that of his crew will end in the same tragic style of the death of Jesus.   

This is hinted at in the subtle allusion to biblical text and the relation to his status and royalty. The power of God is built upon faith, and in many aspects, this is similar to the role of a ship captain—the crew must put their faith in the captain’s ability to lead them. 

IF we consider the Ocean as a sort of religious experience, it opens the possibility for those who are conduits of this experience to guide this journey. In this case the captain becomes a prophet dedicated to the ocean, a status that is indirectly above regality. 

“He who is the rightly regal and intelligent spirits presides over his own private dinner table of invited guests, that man’s unchallenged power and dominion of individual influences for the time; that man’s royalty of state transcends Beshazzar’s [King of Bablyon]” (162). 

This sentiment encapsulates the idea of the captain holding a higher rank than even that of royalty. Considering that royalty is a God given state, it positions God above the royals—and in this sentiment, the captain is above them as well. The language used to describe this state is also specifically biblical, showing that the power is that of a spiritual nature as well as the hierarchy of roles. This situates the status of captain as being that of something godly but not all power. As the story progresses, Ahab will be the one to lead them on the hunt—with the power to steer the direction of their destinies. The question now, is whether he’ll lead them towards glory and heaven or hardship and hell.