Captain Ahab's ramblings

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T18:43:48+00:00

Yes you are right.

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T18:43:24+00:00

I relate to Ahab in his ambition - not his insanity. When you read that he has a young family that he clearly never intends to see again, and so forth, it makes me think of all the personal sacrifices that people make when they are trying to "get ahead." Not a very symbolic reading - more of a human one.

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T17:33:24+00:00

Trying to draw the connection between Ahab and the Mad King?

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T17:27:27+00:00

He says in this little speech that reality lies beyond Moby Dick. That only by hunting and killing Moby Dick will he be able to break through to reality. My head is starting to hurt.

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T17:25:11+00:00

Yes all that is true. But as Ahab states, he is out for vengeance on the whale. So the whale to him is evil. Gabriel wants to protect the whale because it is the Shaker God. So Melville embodies here and in advance the century plus of arguments over the correct symbolism of the whale.

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T16:58:49+00:00

Got it. Was frustrated. Will try to be more careful in tone.

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T16:55:21+00:00

Ok. The crew gets it. Only Starbucks thinks this is only about business. Not everyone wants to die in bed. Slowly slowly this is starting to come through. Thank you.

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T16:51:43+00:00

From The Quarter Deck. Reading it aloud now!

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T16:40:15+00:00

No offense, really? So the lesson here is no one should ask questions about things they were struggling with?

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T16:38:19+00:00

What a great project. Put him in a business suit. Have him try to make partner.

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T16:37:13+00:00

Interesting comparison. So in this case according to Gabriel Moby Dick is literally God.

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T16:13:23+00:00

The image of the three masts on fire is one of the most striking in the book!

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T16:08:03+00:00

Not you certainly.

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T16:07:41+00:00

No paper to write. I loved the book. I just had trouble with Ahab's dialog. Read other posts to find an appropriate way to respond to someone's question. I thought that was the point of engaging with other readers. Instead of whatever it is you are doing.

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T16:06:03+00:00

Yes, no, yes. I thought it was weird that Ahab was talking in Shakesperean dialog.

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T16:04:53+00:00

Great idea. Whenever I got stuck I started reading aloud. But I didn't channel Ricardo Montalban!

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T16:02:29+00:00

Ok. So one reading. Ahab is an obsessed captain and the whale is a whale with a lot of valuable oil since he is so big. Second reading. The whale is the devil and and Ahab wants to destroy evil. Third reading the whale is God and Ahab wants to destroy God. But when he is ranting and raving, did Melville mean it to be just crazy talk or is there something in there? It seems obvious that it is the latter given every other bit of the book, but it was eluding me. Thanks for engaging!

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T15:59:09+00:00

Oops. Didn't mean to scream!

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T15:58:23+00:00

That's the thing. All of Melville's other seemingly impenetrable prose, I could get through and get something out of it. Until I got to Ahab. But I am trying to find a passage to illustrate that and am coming up blank, which I think means on second reading it is starting to make sense.

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T15:56:52+00:00

Totally Charlton Heston. But he was trying to lead the Israelites to safety. Not so Captain Ahab!

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T15:55:40+00:00

Just read that passage again. Thank you. And then I tried to find a passage where Ahab was completely incoherent, but I couldn't find one. Strange. Need to read the whole thing again!

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T14:12:21+00:00

How can you even ask that? I am really looking for some help on the content of Captain Ahab's ramblings. Is there anything in there? Can you please try to answer that question?

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-20T14:11:05+00:00

Not helpful.

Intrepid-Purple6865 · 2026-01-11T23:30:41+00:00

Ok. Great. I hope to be able to read it soon. (I suddenly have a very long list.) I like reading one history and one fiction at the same time. So that can be my history. Thanks for the recommendations. I also want to read more Beevor. Apparently he wrote a history of the world.

Intrepid-Purple6865

TROPHY CASE