Personal Narrative: Moby Dick

I have stayed at a hospital twice in my life. The first time I ended up there by God's decision, but the second time I found myself in the hospital because of mine. My first trip was when I was diagnosed with type one diabetes in the eighth grade. My second trip started with a dreadful decision I made two weeks before winter break earlier this year. Prior to that time I had ordered a shipment of the needles that I needed to inject my daily insulin, but two weeks before break, I ran out of needles entirely. Rather than tell my parents I had run out, I kept it to myself and resigned myself to waiting for the supplies to arrive. I assumed that the delay in shipment was due to the large snow storm that had just swept through our town, unaware at …show more content…
The novel makes it clear that he was, at heart, a good man and a strong leader. Similarly, from November of eighth grade to two weeks before winter break this year, I was a near perfect example of a good patient, or I appeared like one, at least. My doctor and nurse practitioner were impressed by how well I was handling my condition, majorly on my own, especially for a young teenager. My parents trusted me to deal with most of it because I had proven myself trustworthy. In this way, my parents were similar to the Pequod's crewmen who blindly followed their captain because they knew they could trust him. Also similarly to the Pequod's crew, my parents were blindsided by the realization that past decisions did not make a person immune to mistakes or protect them from the pain of betrayal. I'm sure, if their voyage hadn't proven fatal, the crewmen would've turned on their captain and the unfailing trust that led them after the great whale would've shattered because, as I learned firsthand, years of good decisions and observed rules mean almost nothing in the wake of a deceptive …show more content…
Every single person has that one person in their life that functions as their first mate, someone who is prepared during emergencies, looks out for our safety, and helps us navigate the turbulent waters of life. For Captain Ahab, Starbuck served as his first mate, but for me, my sister holds the position. During the novel, Starbuck attempts to help Ahab see the error in his choices, but Ahab refuses to listen to Starbuck's reasoning and continues to court his revenge. In my reality, Kathy, my sister, was not aware of exactly what was happening in my life as I refrained from telling her, but she noticed that something was wrong and tried her best to help me. She knew that, even if she asked, I probably would not inform her of what was wrong, so she only let me know that if I had a problem, it was all right to ask someone for help and she told me that it was not a bad thing to turn to someone else for assistance. Even when she wasn't sure what the problem was, she still knew exactly what she was supposed to say. Unfortunately, I – similarly to Ahab – did not stop to consider her logical reasoning and brushed her off with a string of pretty words to myself. I was too stubborn to admit that she may have been right and did not even realize that the speech I gave myself was riddled with lies. I, like Ahab, disguised my fear that I may be the one in the wrong so thoroughly that I almost didn't realize I was doing something wrong. In Moby Dick, Ahab