Captain Ahab of the
whaling ship Pequod is obsessed with the destruction of Moby Dick, a white sperm whale who
had bitten off his leg. His crew is sworn towards the execution of this mission on promise of great reward. Starbuck, the ship’s mate, chides him for seeking vengeance against a “dumb brute”, saying it is akin to blasphemy but Ahab rebukes him, saying he would strike heaven itself if it offended him. After a lengthy voyage, the whale which has kept on eluding them is finally overtaken and harpooned repeatedly, but he would not go down. Mad with the irons sticking on him, Moby Dick rams the Pequod, and brings it down the ocean depths. Only Ishmael, the narrator, survives. Before the fatal meeting with Moby Dick, the Pequod meets the
whaling ship Rachel, whose
captain is in despair over his missing crew, one of whom is his son. He beseeches Ahab to help scan the sea for the lost men, but Ahab, intent on the pursuit of the while whale, refuses. The Rachel’s search for the missing sailors ends with the rescue of Ishmael. This Herman Melville classic relives the glory days of the whaling ships that plied the coast along Nantucket. Against the limitless ocean, the Pequod appears insignificant, its human crew as nothing. Thus, it would seem an irony that a one-legged man would dare challenge the mightiest creature of the deep. Despite his primitive tools, man proves himself master of the leviathan whom he brings in for its precious spermaceti. In describing the awesome enormity of the whale, the author points to the inevitable conclusion that man, being its predator, must be superior. Killing the whale, although dangerous, is impersonal for the whaling crew. Some of the crew, superstitious at most, may have realized the abnormality of their captain’s homicidal bent against it. After all, most of them feel squeamish about eating the flesh of the whale, which whale-eaters eat by its own light, saying it’s immoral. The whiteness of the whale - nothing extraordinary according to biologists – contributes to the mystical quality of Moby Dick, perhaps accounting for the diabolical nature ascribed to it, and justifying Ahab’s maniacal obsession with the leviathan. Presumably, a sane man would not declare war against a wild beast, unless it intends to harm him or his family. By seeing Moby Dick as evil incarnate, Ahab justifies himself for wanting its destruction. He fails to note that in the ensuing chase, Moby Dick struck all the whaling boats after him, but left Ahab’s unscathed. For Ahab, his mutilation by the whale was malicious and personal. While men have killed millions of predators and harmless creatures just for the fun of it, or on the charge that they are nuisance to his livestock, few have ever done it to settle an old grudge or get even. On this score, Melville seems to agree that man has a destructive nature. The ship’s cook’s sermon addressed to the sharks as they fight over the carcass of a whale describes an angel as “nothing but a shark well-governed”. How to govern, or keep restrained, the shark in man seems to be a question that has been asked for ages. While handling the waxy spermaceti with their bare hands, the crew experience a heady feeling – one of friendliness and general contentment – which, if only it would envelop the whole world, would lead to lasting peace. Ironically, such feeling is obtained at the expense of another creature.