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Moby Dick Captain Ahab Meaning

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In Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, the sole reason for Captain Ahab’s existence becomes his need to seek vengeance against and kill Moby Dick, the whale that he lost a limb to. Just like Ahab, everyone has some kind of objective or goal, their own personal “whale,” that drives them, and motivates them to continue on. Someone’s “whale” can be something they need to overcome or something they are strive for, but cannot or have not succeeded yet. I believe my “whale” is my eternal struggle to get A’s in order to be able to meet my ultimate goal, “the elusive brass ring,” the thing that I strive for, which is to go to college, and to become a nurse. I feel that my quest in trying to overcome my “whale” is similar to that of Captain Ahab’s. I relate to Captain Ahab, it is easy for me to see the need to achieve something, and to not stop no matter what. For me, and example of this would be the …show more content…

If I ever do leave an assignment undone, I have to go through the rest of the school week with the constant nagging thought that my A’s will dwindle and I will never be able to overcome my eternal struggle, or to achieve what I strive for. I find this similar to how Captain Ahab would not have been able to live with himself if he allowed Moby Dick to continue swimming about and wreaking havoc. I believe that if Captain Ahab decided to do nothing about Moby Dick, he would have the constant nagging thought that Moby Dick will always be out there to get him. Although Captain Ahab’s pursuit of Moby Dick ends in his ultimate demise, Ahab refuses to go down without a fight. Right before Captain Ahab dies, he says, “Toward thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I

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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.

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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.

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Also, when Ahab is on the trail to kill Moby Dick he almost destroys the ship in the process. The effect of the evil doing can help show the end result and who it will

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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

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