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Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe explains the main characters in Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick.
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Moby-Dick takes place in the 19th century and follows the journey of the Pequod, a whaling ship captained by the monomaniacal Ahab.
Sailor Ishmael joins a whaling crew led by the crazed Captain Ahab, who is in pursuit of the white whale that took his leg. He heedlessly leads his crew into danger with only revenge on his mind.
The Pequod sails on, from time to time encountering sperm whales and killing them, and occasionally seeing other whaling ships. Eventually, they meet a ship that only recently had a run-in with Moby Dick, and shortly thereafter Ahab sights the White Whale. The boats are lowered and the chase ensues.
On the final day of fighting, Moby Dick sinks the ship and kills Ahab. Only Ishmael survives to tell the tale.
Set against the high seas and populated with a motley crew of characters, Moby-Dick is a quintessentially American novel. Rich descriptions of maritime life lend a singular realism to the highly Romantic narrative, which fixates on ideas of fate and destiny.
Though filled with adventure and action, Herman Melville's masterpiece is ultimately a cautionary tale about the futility of contests between man and the forces of nature.
American writer Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick was first published in 1851. As a young New Yorker, Herman Melville set out to sea aboard a whaling ship, which he deserted. His subsequent capture, rescue, mutiny, imprisonment, escape, and time in the U.S. Navy provided fodder for his popular seagoing novels: Typee, Moby-Dick, and Omoo.
The novel Moby-Dick contains many powerful symbols, including the white whale, representing nature, forces beyond human control, and impossible goals; queequeg’s coffin, representing both life and death; and the ship, representing human society with all of its struggles and dangers. Important themes include destiny, authority and obedience, and unity and division.
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