The two authors Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne share much interest in both their stories. They both have examples of the dark side of human nature and the complexities of human psychology. Also some of the characters in their story get alienated, also some have distortions in their ego. They both have many examples of these in their stories.
             In Moby Dick, Melville used Captain Ahab to show the dark side of human nature. "I (Ahab) will wreak that hate upon him. (Moby) Talk not to me of blasphemy man; I'd strike the sun as if it insulted me."(Melville 237) This shows Ahab expressing his dark nature toward the white whale Moby. Now in The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses Chillingworth to show the dark side of human nature. "I shall see him (Dimmesdale) tremble. I shall feel myself shudder, suddenly and unawares. Sooner or later, he must needs be mine." (The Scarlet Letter, 52) Chillingworth indeed shows his evil by going after Dimmesdale like that. It is almost inhumane to have that kind of hate toward someone.
             The complexity of human psychology basically means why do people do the things they do. "Vengeance on a dumb brute!"(Melville, 237) Starbuck, Ahab's second hand man says this toward the captain. He wonders why Ahab goes after something so dumb and unimportant when he can easily be rich by going after the whales that are easy to capture. Hester Prynne is used in The Scarlet Letter to get Hawthorne's point across. "Resumed the symbol of which we have related so dark a tale. Never afterwards did it not leave her bosom."(The Scarlet Letter, 179) The symbol of which Hawthorne is of course the letter "A" which Hester wore to show she committed the crime of adultery. In the end of the story she has the chance to not wear the letter any more and start over again. But she keeps wearing it in public showing people of her crime. This is very strange for a human to...