Moby Dick

By: Herman Melville

Great Quotes:

"From hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee."

“The most reliable and useful courage was that which arises from the fair estimation of the encountered peril, but that an utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward.”

Analysis: 

Moby Dick is a great read.  Melville’s writing is beautiful and descriptive.  While many things can be gained from Moby Dick, I felt the book was about failed leadership and the individual’s quest to know itself.

First, the whaling ship, the Pequod, is a case study in failed leadership.  Melville gives us this case study in the first-mate—Starbuck.  Starbuck is clearly a flawed character.  Starbuck has all the attributes of a perfect leader except courage.  Melville writes Starbuck to identify and demonstrate the need for courage.  Consistently throughout the book, Starbuck has the intelligence to question Ahab.  Starbuck can clearly see that Ahab’s quest will end in financial ruin and possibly destruction.  And yet, Starbuck stands next to the captain throughout the whole endeavor.  I felt most sorry for Starbuck when the Pequod goes down.  The quote about courage above foreshadows the entire book.  In command of the Pequod we have Ahab—an “utterly fearless man”—and Starbuck—a coward.  Melville has given us the recipe for disaster.

Second, the book spoke to me about the individual’s quest to know and understand itself.  This was most effectively demonstrated in chapter 99—“The Doubloon.”  In this chapter many of the ship’s crew approach a doubloon nailed to the mainmast.  In the coin each sees something different.  The doubloon acts as a personality mirror.  In the exposition of what each sees in the doubloon we are able to understand each of the characters.  While the characters do not use the opportunity to understand themselves, Moby Dick gives the reader a chance to reflect and comprehend itself.

One other fascinating aspects of Moby Dick was the pacing.    The book begins slowly and ponderously.  As the book progresses, the pace accelerates.  The pacing gives the book the foreboding feeling of sinking faster and faster into a whirlpool.  Melville uses 21 chapters before the Pequod even leaves Nantucket, but only in the last 3 chapters does Captain Ahab tangle with Moby Dick.  The pace of the book is truly a masterpiece in itself.

Things to take note of:

1.      Compare and contrast the ships that the Pequod meets.  I think Melville uses these ships to demonstrate several things (it’s a work-in-progress for me, or else I would write more on it).  What do you think they mean?

2.      Take note of the contrast between how the crew acts and reacts to situations.  In my mind, this is one of the great comparisons that Melville was trying to make.

3.      Ahab and Pip’s friendship signals Ahab’s growing obsessive insanity.

4.      One of my favorite chapters was “The Sermon.”  Father Mapple really sets the stage for the entire book.