Moby Dick
Moby Dick can be viewed as a tragedy. Webster's Dictionary defines tragedy as a "dramatic composition, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, fate or circumstance to downfall or destruction." This describes Moby Dick very well, as we discover as the story unfolds. Ahab, one of the key characters in the novel, can be viewed as the protagonist, one who causes the actions that occur and who brings the story to its tragic conclusion. He is seen as the tragic hero. He is a man distinguished by courage and ability, who is admired for his qualities and achievements. The reader can sympathize, feeling pity and compassion for Ahab. We can understand to some extent the feelings that this man must have experienced and we can relate to them. The villain or antagonist to Ahab is Moby Dick, the White Whale whom Ahab pursues, leading to the death of himself and his crew. This leaves Ishmael as the only survivor to tell the story. Ahab is a deeply disturbed man. He could be viewed as a crazy lunatic. Though crazy as he is, he clearly knows wha
In a few minutes , however, he was missed by his shipmates, and being, it seems for some reason, a huge favorite of them, they raised a cry of Bulkington! Bulkington! and darted out of the house looking for him. Ishmael's description gives the reader a picture of the devastation that the whale did to the captain's body. Seeming to remember back to those days, he shows a small sign of affection toward the insane Pip. Ahab can be seen as both the tragic hero and a crazy lunatic. A contrast to Ahab would be the sailor named Bulkington, a cabin mate of Ishmael. He sees the mad man, incapable of keeping to the mission at hand, which is harvesting whales for profit. Bibliography none. Starbuck immediately tells Ahab that they need to fix the problem or they would loose their profits. Stubb at one point confides to Flask that he thinks that Fedallah is the devil himself and Flask thinks that Ahab may have struck a deal with him. Better to be a moody good captain than a laughing bad one. We see a similar story in Ahab's own life. The Bachelor was a ship with a happy crew loaded with a large cargo of whale, headed home.
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Acceptance Essays
