2.1 The Analysis of Ahab and Ishmael

Ahab is the number one figure in Moby-dick, a combination of both hero and devil. In the Bible, Ahab was the eighth monarch of the kingdom of Israel who died in war, which indicates his sad ending in the novel. It can be said that he is the king of Pequod who has the absolute monopoly of power. The law of Pequod was made by his will. There is a rigid class system in Pequod, for example, people in different hierarchies have different lengths of meal times and dinner places. On the one hand, as the leader of the Pequod, he is a man with wisdom and courage. He shows his fearlessness on the unknown dangerous in the sea and even marches forward courageously. Not to say that he is an experienced sailor and plays a vital role in voyage. On the other hand, after bitten by the whale by accident, he became a changed man, selfish, brutality, crazy and other characters of him turned up. The only thing for him is to take revenge on the whale. 

It seems that the motivation which can stimulate Ahab to live is the chase of the whale. He regards Moby Dick as the most evil thing in the world. From that time, revenge seems like the ultimate goal in his whole life time, he forces all the crews to obey his will and command. It is the swelling of his inner desire and his dissatisfaction with reality that irritated him to take revenge. His long-period danger career forms his adventurous spirit. And he adores no one but himself. What’s more, he against nature, God and other forces what he thinks would be an obstacle to his success. There is no doubt that he is a man bravely enough to challenge the whale. But, his bigotry, selfishness and madness led to his tragic ending. At the risk of the crew’s live to meet his personal needs of take revenge on the whale have resulted in that all of his crew sacrificed except Ishmael. So he is also considered as a tragic hero.

Another character who narrates the story called Ishmael, he is a young sailor in Pequod. He does not decide to go sailing to explore the sea part of the earth until he feels that nothing was worth to be treasured on land. Ishmael’s curiosity about the whale stimulates him to go sailing and meanwhile arouse the reader’s strong resonance. Ishmael is a kind-hearted person. His understanding about Moby Dick almost comes from captain Ahab and other crews in Pequod. He regards Moby Dick as the murderer that bites Ahab’s leg. Then, after witnessing several fights between Ahab and Moby Dick, his attitude towards Moby Dick has shift from hate to respect. In the process, his attitude toward the whale has shift from confusion to mature, during which he gradually realizes what the captain did was obviously opposes the natural order of things. The cognition of Ishmael toward nature is a metaphor for the cognition of human beings toward nature. As the only survivor of the Pequod, what he did provides useful inspiration among the issue of the solving on mankind and nature relationship to us today. It is his right judgment and assessment of the situation that made him the only survivor.