Summary:
Some may believe Ahab in Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick was a simple sailor who hunted whales for a living and lost his leg for doing nothing. However, it is obvious that Ahab acted as a crazy man obsessed with seeking revenge on Moby Dick, who acted only to defend itself.
Author: Jean Paul Nery
Ahab was a madman obsessed with his own personal revenge.
Was Ahab a madman obsessed with his own personal revenge, or was he a noble man against the evil universe? You will probably think about the latter opinion. He was a simple sailor who was hunting whales just as other men did. He was only working to eat and to earn money for living. He behaved as a normal human being and received a terrible attack, lost his leg, for doing nothing. It wasn't his madness, it was the hated Earth. But this is a wrong concept. Although he wasn't doing any thing wrong, he himself was attacking the whale. The whale only defended itself. He acted as a crazy man, risked the entire crew to death and only thought about his revenge. Ahab was a madman obsessed with his own personal revenge.
Ahab didn't care for the life of other people if it meant possibilities of achieving his revenge. First, he didn't care for the life of the crew-members. Instead of taking safe routes, they went directly to hunt the monster towards where the storms were. They could turn the storms into a fair wind and return home, but Ahab would not do it. In the terrible storms the risk of death, of losing boats or damaging the ship was very big and Ahab didn't even used the rods to carry electricity out of the ship. Second, he didn't take precautions when trying to hunt Moby Dick, who everyone knew was a dangerous unconquerable brute. So terrible it was that many men had become frightened of seeking him. "Two days you have chased him, and twice you have been beaten into splinters. Thy very leg has broken. Shall we keep chasing this murderous fish until he kills the last man? Shall we be dragged to the bottom of the sea"" were Starbuck´s words. Obviously Ahab's indirect answer was yes. In addition, Ahab didn't worry for the people of the other ships. He wasn't concerned for their situation and only talked to them if they had information about Moby Dick. Moreover, the ivory leg man didn't help the Rachel's captain to find his son, nor did he make gams with other whaling ships, as was the costume. Sometimes he was also rude, he didn't care for others feelings, as when he shouted the merry Bachelor. He also made the mates look stupid when sitting at the table, and although he didn't forbid conversation, he himself was dumb. He even insulted Stubb when he made the simple suggestion of padding his noisy leg.
Another reason that made Ahab mad was that he had even taken his tools and men for his own personal revenge. He had taken steel razors and horseshoes, which were made of the toughest and best metal blacksmiths used, to make the perfect harpoon to secure Moby Dick's death. He even wanted to weld it by himself and to temper it with blood, the true death temper. Furthermore, he had taken extra sailors secretly for his revenge. He took lots of risks, such as hiding them for several months in the after hold, and made them enter the ship when anyone who was near the ship could have seen them. He had even taken an additional boat for joining the chase. He probably didn't think that I during a terrible battle with a whale he and the other mates died, any wise man would be left to guide the ship home.
Ahab was continually thinking and planning his revenge. "'Terrible old man´ thought Starbuck. 'Sleeping in the gale, but never departing from his purpose´" And he was right. When he met other ships he only asked if they had seen the white whale. If the hadn't, he would continue his journey guided by the sun or compass, whatever of them he considered better for going directly to the whale. Another reason that shows us that he never departed from his vengeance thoughts was that he constantly asked the crew to seek Moby Dick. He was so obsessed that he asked all the crew to get together, an order that was never given except in exceptional cases, in order to make a speech to motivate the crew to hunt the white whale. He also offered a gold doubloon to the one who first saw the brute. The next reason that proves his great maddening obsession, is that he spent a lot of time tracing routes, rubbing and tracing new ones, to secure Moby Dick's murder.
So, for the examples and reasons mentioned, we can consider Ahab a crazy terrible man who only cared about his own personal revenge. He didn't mind for the crew, or for his wife. He only thought about his revenge, which seemed the only objective in his life. He had also taken special materials for welding a perfect harpoon, and his own men. If a man or object was not related with his revenge, seemed useless life, a waste of time. He wouldn't spend a minute on it. His revenge seemed his purpose for living and what made him a terrible insane man.
This is the complete article, containing 857 words
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