Moby-Dick

The central irony of Herman Melville’s career is that his masterpiece, Moby-Dick, which is now considered one of the greatest American novels, was almost wholly ignored during the time of its author. Although he might have thought of himself as a complete failure, he came to be one of the greatest American writers. During the American Renaissance period, Melville came to be a great American novelist, short story writer, and poet. While traveling on the remote and stranded sea, Melville writes…

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, portrays a character by the name of Roger chillingworth who is overtaken by the presence of evil. In another American gothic novel, Herman Melville’s Moby Dick contains Captain Ahab, who is seen in a similar situation to that of Chillingworth. Roger Chillingworth and Captain Ahab are both evil characters with many similarities based on their situations. The presence of evil in both of these characters manifests itself to lead the men to acts of…

What are all the evil things in the world? Well, in all of these stories The Devil and Tom Walker, The pit and the pendulum, the Ministers Black Veil, and Moby Dick all have the theme of evilness and how it can be found everywhere within everyone. In this paper it will explain how these stories share evilness within the character and the obstacles the characters have to go through to fight the evilness. In the first story, The Devil and Tom Walker have evilness within the Devil and Tom Walker…

individualism, one of the many romantic tenets and ideas that he had developed in his daily life. Although a romantic artist from the start, he was influenced and inspired by the works of fellow romantics Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne. His most famous work, Moby Dick, was actually dedicated to his idol Hawthorne and was inspired by a true story he had heard while whaling in his early 20s. This published work was of a whaler risking everything to get revenge on the whale that had taken his leg, and…

In every part of history, Gothic literature has been known for its basis of sin andevil. By vaguely evaluating the two novel-based movies, The Scarlet Letter by NathanielHawthorne and Moby Dick by Herman Melville, one may seem to only find differences.The Scarlet Letter is about a young married woman named Hester Prynne, who becomespregnant and has a child in the absence of her husband; she is then forced to live in hershame and wear the letter “A” on her bosom for “adulteress”. Once her…

Today I read a portion of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. In pages 36-45 Ishmael decides to take a stroll through the streets of New Bedford. As he wanders about he is dumbfounded as he observes the town and its people. Due to the maritime industry, Ishmael noticed that the men there came from many different parts of the globe. Closely regarding the town, Ishmael notices that there are many cannibals roaming about. As he thinks to himself, Ishmael reveals his philosophy on the prosperity of the…

Moby Dick was inspired by events that took place when a one legged captain reached to the ends of the Earth in a revenge ridden search for the whale that took his limb and his sanity. This story was brought to life by the American writer that eventually had his story called an American epic by his hero Nathaniel Hawthorne. Melville was not only a renowned writer of Hawthorne but was also a whaler which inspired him to hunt this story. Not only did Melville admire the art of whaling but he had a…

In Poe’s story, The Fall of the House of Usher, he uses many gothic elements which makes the scenery old, creepy, eerie. All of his stories include supernatural portions. Melville made his story, Moby Dick, seem alarming by Captain Ahab’s obsession and determination to find something, in this case Moby Dick, and put everyone’s life in danger. The fact that Ahab didn’t care about anyone’s opinions made him seem insane. Oates had a different approach at making her story, Where is Here?,…

creating a negative identity for themselves. This occurs in the novel In Cold Blood through the character of Dick Hickock. Hickock’s family was by no means wealthy, but they were able to make a living and give Dick a fairly good upbringing. As teenager Dick was “an outstanding athlete”, and “a pretty good student, too” (Capote 166). If he was simply given or born into his identity, then Dick Hickock would have gone on to lead a average, healthy life as a working class citizen, but instead his…

The strategic objectives for the United States during Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom compare and contrast widely when viewed through the three strategic lenses of suitability, feasibility, and acceptability. To consider the success or failure of national strategy as it pertains to warfare, the strategist must assess the nature of the conflict. Art Lykke presents an appropriate theory for national strategy that asks central questions for the national strategist based on…