Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Grew Up… without a mother. She died when he was only one year old. In his teen years, Ahab took to the seas as a boy-harpooner. He was bit by the sea-bug, and made a career of whaling.
Living… with revenge in his heart. At sea Ahab announces to his crew on his ship the Pequod that this isn’t any normal whaling expedition. Ahab is going after the great white whale Moby-Dick, who took Ahab’s leg in an earlier expedition. The crew is reluctant but believes strongly in Ahab’s leadership and will follow him to the ends of the earth, even as his psyche becomes fanatical and obsessive.
Profession… whaler. Ahab is the captain of his vessel, the Pequod. His duty is to direct the ship and its crew. Ahab’s sole purpose in life has become revenge against the great white whale that got away, and he is willing to give a gold doubloon to whichever crew member can spot it first.
Relationship Status… married. Ahab married a simple woman and had a child with her that he never sees. But his true life is out here on the sea, with his men, and his whale.
Challenge… killing Moby-Dick. His plan is not only to hunt down Moby-Dick’s whereabouts, but to reclaim what is rightfully him – his leg and his honor. He plans to kill the whale and restore his sanity and dignity.
Personality… obsessive and tyrannical. Ahab slows down for no man, and claims, “I’d strike the sun if it insulted me!” He wishes for only one thing, and until his voyage is complete, he will think of nothing else.
Get to Know him in...
-
In 1841, young Ishmael signs up for service abroad the Pequod, a whaler sailing out of New Bedford. The ship is under the command of Captain Ahab, a strict disciplinarian who exhorts his men to find Moby Dick, the great white whale. Ahab lost his his leg to that creature and is desperate for revenge. As the crew soon learns, he will stop at nothing to gain satisfaction.
-
On a previous voyage, a mysterious white whale had ripped off the leg of a sea captain named Ahab. Now the crew of the Pequod, on a pursuit that features constant adventure and horrendous mishaps, must follow the mad Ahab into the abyss to satisfy his unslakeable thirst for vengeance. Narrated by the cunningly observant crew member Ishmael, Moby-Dick is the tale of the hunt for the elusive, omnipotent, and ultimately mystifying white whale: Moby Dick.
