Whaling In Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick'

Herman Melville’s literary work “Moby Dick,” published in 1851, is not merely about the hunt for Moby Dick. Instead, it includes the history of whaling, describing life aboard a whaler and the experiences of past whalers. However, its 1998 filmic adaptation by Anton Diether lacks that history of whaling, even despite sharing a theme of heeding symbolic warnings, learning from mistakes, and heeding the warnings of others. Therefore, the filmic and written versions of “Moby Dick” differ in method of connecting the viewer to that theme, with the book doing so through magnitudes of relevant information about whaling, while the film through clarifying important and entertaining details about the hunt for Moby Dick. Demonstrating the difference between the two versions are varying amounts of detail concerning the experiences of the protagonist’s whaling crew not directly related to the hunt for Moby Dick, the experiences of other whalers, and general information about whaling.

These Informational references build support for the theme of the story through providing vivid representational examples. For instance, in the book the protagonist’s crew encounters numerous other ships, all providing warning of the danger they face from Moby Dick. This provides support for the theme through warning the protagonist’s crew of the dangers they face. In the film, this detail, along with many others, is omitted. However, the few such details in the film are clarified, enabling for them to give enough support to make up for their small