Moby Dick Essay Herman Melville’s story, Moby Dick, is the tale of a forlorn crew and their captain, who attempts to take down Moby Dick, an infamous white whale. Despite many warning signs regarding how dangerous their voyage is becoming, in addition to disapproval from members of the crew, Captain Ahab pushes on in his venture to get revenge against Moby Dick, who took Ahab’s leg. In the end all but the narrator, Ishmael, die, leaving Moby Dick to still roam free. It becomes quite clear that the journey was destined to fail since the beginning, due to Ahab’s insane focus on the white whale. However, there are powerful symbols in both the lives and deaths of the characters. Melville’s Moby Dick contains many symbols, including Queequeg’s coffin, Ahab’s death, and the white whale. …show more content…
Queequeg was an excellent harpooner, as well as one of Ishmael’s best friends on the ship. Unfortunately, during the voyage Queequeg gets very ill and is convinced that he will die, refusing to even eat, and therefore has a coffin made. He is almost immediately cured, however, when he sees Ahab touch and absorb the St. Elmo’s fire that shines over the ship during a storm, as Queequeg then begins to see Ahab as a god. The coffin is left unused, and instead gets turned into a life-buoy which ends up saving Ishmael’s life. Queequeg, who died due to the wrath of Moby Dick, saved Ishmael’s life with the coffin, an ironic portrayal of life. The coffin, which was once a mark of death, was changed to become a symbol of living and