In the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, the main character, Hester Prynne, has committed a sin that everyone in the town considers very unforgivable and her ex-husband, Roger Chillingworth, has come back into town to get revenge on the man who Hester has had relations with. Another American gothic novel by Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, includes the main character, Ishmael, going on a whaling adventure with Captain Ahab, who happens to have his own plan of only hunting the white whale. Roger Chillingworth and Captain Ahab are both heartlessly evil with many similarities of vengeance towards someone, torturing or hurting someone, and obsession over hating someone or something.
In The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth possesses …show more content…
In the novel we see Captain Ahab too caught up in trying to find the white whale that he causes major problems with his crew. Captain Ahab blew off the opportunity twice to switch crewmates for new ones with other ships, which caused a lot of tension between everyone. Not only did he upset his crewmates with this, but he also kept them on the voyage of whaling longer than needed to. Typically whalers are on the ship for seven to eight months, but Ahab ignored the feelings of his crew members, who all became homesick and longed to see their loved ones. One cause of keeping the crew on the ship longer was because of Moby Dick, the white whale. Captain Ahab’s obsession with this hatred for Moby Dick causes him to put himself and his crew in great danger. He has great vengeance for this creature and will do anything to kill the whale. Because of his obsession with finding the whale, he puts everyone in danger at the end of the story when they find Moby Dick once again to try to kill it. Unfortunately, Moby Dick kills and destroys everyone and everything besides Ishmael. Ahab’s vengeance, obsession, and carelessness for others all add up, in the end, to show he is
In The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth possesses …show more content…
In the novel we see Captain Ahab too caught up in trying to find the white whale that he causes major problems with his crew. Captain Ahab blew off the opportunity twice to switch crewmates for new ones with other ships, which caused a lot of tension between everyone. Not only did he upset his crewmates with this, but he also kept them on the voyage of whaling longer than needed to. Typically whalers are on the ship for seven to eight months, but Ahab ignored the feelings of his crew members, who all became homesick and longed to see their loved ones. One cause of keeping the crew on the ship longer was because of Moby Dick, the white whale. Captain Ahab’s obsession with this hatred for Moby Dick causes him to put himself and his crew in great danger. He has great vengeance for this creature and will do anything to kill the whale. Because of his obsession with finding the whale, he puts everyone in danger at the end of the story when they find Moby Dick once again to try to kill it. Unfortunately, Moby Dick kills and destroys everyone and everything besides Ishmael. Ahab’s vengeance, obsession, and carelessness for others all add up, in the end, to show he is