Captain Ahab Quotes

In the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Captain Ahab is one of the most prominent yet also most complex characters present. Although Ishmael accompanies Ahab and other sailors aboard the Pequod with the objective of killing Moby Dick, it’s clear that Ahab blindly urges his crew members on this quest and portrays Moby Dick as a living reincarnate of the Devil himself, subtly manipulating the crew members for his twisted dream. Then, the question becomes this: Is Moby Dick truly the villain of the novel? Sure, Moby bit off Ahab’s leg and eventually capsizes the Pequod, but does that really make him such a bad creature? Ahab makes it sound like they’re doing some great public deed while in reality they’re hunting down a poor creature that just

Even at a young age, Ahab likely felt judged since the name Ahab is derived from an evil king from the Bible. According to Rogers, Psychologically, Ahab could have been part of a self fulfilling prophecy as a result of him (quote) being named Ahab and may have suffered an identity crisis throughout his life, perhaps influencing his actions later in the novel. Evidence of this identity crisis can even be seen in Ahab’s religious views -- for example, although Ahab is described by his crew as being a Quaker, he clearly worships gods from Zoroastrianism contrary to his supposed Quaker beliefs, “Oh! thou clear spirit of clear fire, whom on these seas I as Persian once did worship,” (Melville 495). Although on their own Ahab’s multitude of identity mishaps may seem insignificant, together they create an absolutely tragic and unfortunate character who can’t quite seem to find his true self even after 58 years of life, leading him to put all his pain and misgivings of life unto one singular creature -- Moby

Initially led on by the promise of wealth and stability, Ahab’s characterization and personification of Moby Dick influences the crew in such a way that they share his desire to purge the evil that is Moby from the world, perhaps wanting a taste of the power and sense of self that would be gained from killing the beast. The crew’s desire to kill Moby only furthers Ahab’s own desire; perhaps there was a time when Ahab could have been convinced that his cause was hopeless, but by the time his crew accepts their destiny is to kill Moby Dick or die trying it’s set in stone. According to Caleb Crain, a graduate student and writer for the prestiged Leviathan journal dedicated to the study of Herman Melville, Ahab’s cause somehow creates a spark in members of the crew, especially in Ishmael who suffers from the same unfortunate identity crisis as Ahab, “Despite Starbuck’s appeal to Ahab’s humanity, Ahab feels compelled to act “against all natural lovings”(545); despite Queequeg’s Massachusetts marriage to Ishmael, “a wild, mystical sympathetical feeling” involves Ishmael, too, in “Ahab’s quenchless feud” (179)” (Caleb 11). Ahab’s adamant determination and troubled history gives the crew something to pour their faith and goodness into, something to work towards, although unbeknownst to them the very thing they’re working towards is a