The book, Black Hands, White Sails, by Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick L. McKissack, is the story of African American whalers. This book focuses on African Americans in the East Coast whaling industry from the 1400s to the early 1900s. Black Hands, White Sails, tells the reader in great detail about the voyages of whaling ships. It all started when the Pilgrims arrived in North America in 1620 and they recorded that there were “hordes of whales in the coastal waters.”
There are many main events that happened throughout this film that made some people believe that the whales were to blame for these incidents. The first place where Tilikum
When some tried to get a bit of their left overs they were beaten. Africans on board, are animals to the white sailors.
To some this in an unneeded, extraneous line in the story that adds no real substance. To others, this provides insight into the characters of Nurse Ratched and Mr. McMurphy. The white whale refers to Moby Dick by Herman Melville. In Moby Dick, the whale wreaks havoc and is relentlessly pursued by Captain Ahab. In the end it can be argued that Moby, the whale, and the Captain are both defeated, paralleling the story with Nurse Ratched and Mr. McMurphy.
In Moby Dick, the chapter that titles “the Cabin Tale,” discusses the division of life on the whale ship in connection to the popular dance, “the Harlem Shake,” in which there exists a clear separation in the way a group of individuals behaves towards a certain situation. In the beginning of the chapter, it describes the dinner habits of the ship’s officers in the cabin. During dinner, the atmosphere is solemn in which none of the men spoke nor helped themselves to anything on the table. No one seemed to enjoy the food because “they were as little children before Ahab,” (Melville 164) as they did not feel comfortable in the cabin as it was the lair of Ahab, who had specific rules on the ship. After the officers were done, the harpooners got to eat.
He mentions the emotion and ruckus in the meeting where they decided to dump the tea into the harbor. According to Andrews “before nine o’ clock in the evening, every chest from on board the three vessels was knocked to pieces and flung over the sides. They say the actors were Indians were from Narragnasett.” Andrews describe the demeanor and the dialect of men, which made the ship crew perceive them as Native Americans. Captain Conner, who was smuggling tea in the lining of his coat was caught and punished by being stripped, covered in mud and beaten.
In the midst of it all, buccaneers and privateers are generally known as what they are, pirates. But, this hackneyed term is slightly ambiguous. What most people don’t know is that these three hundred year old beings appeared in different situations throughout the Golden Age of Piracy. Many of the pirates from this period lived in separate parts of the world, executing different assignments for different reasons. Although buccaneers and privateers were, in essence, pirates, they were inequivalent in terms of background, purpose, and operation.
The whale tooth is a very significant representation of ancestry and leadership. The whale tooth is a large part of ‘whale rider’ as it is connected or linked to many other important events and people that play a large part in the film. The whale tooth is a representation of the Maori people who shaped and built their religion and community, as well as being a representation of Paikea and many other traits that would be needed by a chief, many of which, Paikea has.
Whale Rider is the story of a young girl, Paikea, who has found her destiny following in the footsteps of her ancestors to be the chief of the tribe; these chiefs have always been men, and Paikea is put to the test to see if she is able to fulfill this position. This long line of chiefs have all experienced ‘The Hero’s Journey,’ the adventure that consists of the stages one must go through to become a hero. In Niki Caro’s Whale Rider, Paikea transforms from a young girl to the chief of the tribe when she walks down the beach and decides to climb onto the back of the whale, because she is accepting her destiny as the chosen one of the family, and despite the fact that she is struggling through this experience, she is still stepping up to the plate and willing to do this for her family which is what makes her a recognizable hero. Paikea’s journey as a hero began because originally, she was born as a twin. Her twin was meant to become the next chief of the tribe, but he died at birth and took her mother with him.
In the case of Ahab his obsession and isolation ultimately leads to his insanity. By depicting single-minded obsession as an extreme form of madness, Moby-Dick implies that sanity can only consist of self-control. In Lolita we also see this as Humbert tries to approach his problem internally, “Years of secret suffering have taught me superhuman self-control.” This internal self- control is what keeps Humbert sane throughout his college and adult life, furthermore He puts up a romantic front for Charlotte, this stark contrast with Ahab’s madness could be compared with the concept of Internalisation vs Externalisation, Ahab seem to externalise his obsession throughout, this externalisation is an unconscious defense mechanism by which [Ahab]
Melville’s life had a great impact on the story Moby Dick. In the same way, he had a bad leg on one of his journeys, he creates Captain Ahab with a broken leg. Primarily, by reading Shakespeare’s plays he creates the setting and language of the novel. In the same manner, he uses his dramatic technique in creating Ahab as a tragic hero villain.
Obsession is caused by numerous things. Once obsession has it’s grip on someone, it’s likely to never let go, consuming that person’s every thought, every action, and, possibly, entire life. Captain Ahab, the main character from the movie, Moby Dick, is a clear victim of obsession. He seeks the harshest revenge on a great, white whale called Moby Dick. Ahab’s obsession is caused by pride which is illustrated by Starbuck’s thoughts of murdering Ahab, the many difficulties of the crew, and countless deaths.
There are many whales in the sea, but this particular whale called Moby Dick is the desirable catch for the whalers and captain due to its legendary proportions. In the novel, Moby Dick, it offers an allegorical story of humanity’s dangerous search for meaning. The monstrous, white whale represents that “meaning” humans have been hunting for their entire lives, but at the end one will discover that one can do so much but still end up not finding their answer. The entire plot to Moby Dick is directed towards the final confrontation between Ahab, his crewman and the White whale. At the end, the whale wins the fight and the rest of the crew on ship all die, demonstrating the fact that the whale cannot be defeated, hence signaling how the laws
As the whaling ship, the Pequod, sets sail. The Crew doesn’t see Captain Ahab for a few days of being aboard the ship. When they finally see him he makes the three harpooners and his three mates take a blood oath to killing Moby Dick. After a few months of being on the journey they see the white whale and go after him. After hours of hunting him it becomes dark and Ahab is still going after him while all the crew is trying to get him to give up.
Ahab’s main goal for going on the whaling ship is to kill the whale, Moby Dick. Roger Chillingworth and Captain Ahab are both evil characters with many differences.
