Moby Dick: The Characters And Plot
JMZ
There are numerous characters in Moby Dick, but only a few of them
have any impact on the story. A common sailor named Ishmael is the
narrator. The book, however, focuses on Captain Ahab, the one-legged
commander of the whaling ship Pequod. Ahab has sworn to kill the gigantic
whale Moby Dick, who took away his leg. Starbuck is the first mate of the
Pequod. Queequeg, Tashtego, and Daggoo are the three harpooners.
The story begins with Ishmael becoming restless. He decides to go
out to sea on a whaling ship. In the port of New Bedford, he meets and
shares a room with a harpooner named Queequeg. The two of them become
close friends, and agree to ship out together.
The day ...
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the Pequod sets
sail in the Atlantic. As the weather begins to warm up (several months
after leaving port), Ahab is finally seen on deck. The strangest thing
about Ahab is his leg. Instead of flesh and bone, he has a white ivory peg
leg.
As the weeks wear on, Ahab starts to become friendlier. One day,
he calls the crew before him. He tells them that the sole mission of the
Pequod is to kill Moby Dick. Moby Dick is a gigantic sperm whale with a
crooked jaw and a deformed forehead. He has never been defeated, and has
attacked and sunk entire ships. Ahab admits he hates Moby Dick for taking
his leg away, and wants revenge. The crew agree to this challenge, and
swear to hunt him down. The only who is not excited about hunting down
Moby Dick is first-mate Starbuck.
For many months, the Pequod sails South, through the Atlantic,
around the Cape of Good Hope (the southern tip of Africa), and into the
Indian Ocean. Along the way, they kill and drain the spermaceti oil from
every ...
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obsession. There is very little in
the story about the revenge itself, just about Ahab's monomania. Out of
465 pages, only forty-two of them deal with the actual battle between Ahab
and Moby Dick.
The novel places very little emphasis on actual seafaring.
Ishmael never even steps on a boat until page seventy-four. Even when the
ship finally leaves port, the mention of anything involving sailing or the
life of sailors is kept to an absolute minimum.
There is, however, plenty of emphasis is on whaling, the anatomy of
whales, and their behavior. The book goes into great detail describing the
whalers of Nantucket, and gives in-depth explanations of the different
types of whales, ...
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Moby Dick: The Characters And Plot. (2005, July 11). Retrieved November 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Moby-Dick-The-Characters-And-Plot/29922
"Moby Dick: The Characters And Plot." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 11 Jul. 2005. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Moby-Dick-The-Characters-And-Plot/29922>
"Moby Dick: The Characters And Plot." Essayworld.com. July 11, 2005. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Moby-Dick-The-Characters-And-Plot/29922.
"Moby Dick: The Characters And Plot." Essayworld.com. July 11, 2005. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Moby-Dick-The-Characters-And-Plot/29922.
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