“Moby Dick” written in 1851 by Herman Melville is widely considered to be one of Americas greatest novels. It is a tale of how a man by the name of Captain Ahab seeks revenge on a white whale of epic proportions that years before had taken his leg. Ahab sacrifices everything in order to exact his vengeance. Not only is the story considered the finest American novel, but its author as well, is known to be one of the greatest novelists. At age 19 Melville took up sailing and for 5 years worked as a whaler on a ship in the South Pacific. As a result of his occupation, he was influenced by many of the stories told by the crew, and even from his own personal accounts of being out in the sea to begin his writing career. Melville idolized Nathaniel Hawthorne as an author and so he strived to become as successful in writing. While working as whaler, Melville heard …show more content…
The story of the Essex tells of how a crew was sent on a whaling expedition but was having trouble being able to track any whales down. Finally after months of being out on the sea the crew strikes the gold mine of whales, but ends up doing battle with a legendary white whale, whom of which sinks the ship. The telling of this story is what influenced Melville to write “Moby Dick”. In the beginning Melvilles story was rejected by many and often went unnoticed. However Melvilles writing idol, Nathaniel Hawthorne, regarded it as “The Great American Epic”. Melville spent many years being unknown and unappreciated, eventually passing away in 1841. After his death, his work had started to emerge, and by the 1920s he had finally started to get the recognition he deserved. In fact even today his works are considered the finest in American literature, especially “Moby Dick”. It recognition has gone so far that hundreds of remakes and versions of the book has been turned to the