Moby Dick - Herman Melville

'Moby Dick' is an adventurous revenge novel by American writer Herman Mellville, published in 1851. It is about sea voyage for taking revenge with white whale by a man whose leg was lost because of that whale named Moby Dick.

Ishmael is the narrator of the novel. He had made several voyages as a sailor but now he wants to sail as a whaler. He travels to New Bedford, where he lives in whalers inn with Queequeg. They both decide to seek work on a whaling ship together.

They go to Nantucket, the traditional capital of the whaling. They find work on the ship calledPequod. a savage-looking ship. They come to know about ship's mysterious captain, Ahab, who has lost his leg in an encounter with a sperm whale on his last voyage.

The Pequod leaves Nantucket on a cold Christmas Day with a crew made up of men from many different countries and races. Soon the ship is in warmer waters, and Ahab makes his first appearance on deck, announcing his desire to take revenge with Moby Dick, the legendary great white whale who took his leg.

In their journey they meet several other ships and Ahab asks them about Moby Dick. On One of the ships, a prophet predicts that whoever threaten Moby Dick, will be doomed.

They face many problems. Soon after, the Pequod meets the Samuel Enderby, a whaling ship whose Captain Boomer, had lost an arm in an encounter with Moby Dick. He advised Ahab to give up his lust for revenge.

The Pequod approaches the equator, where Ahab expects to find the great whale. The ship encounters two more whaling ships, the Racheland the Delight, both of which have recently had fatal encounters with the whale. Ahab finally sights Moby Dick. The harpoon boats are launched, and Moby Dick attacks Ahab’s harpoon boat, destroying it. The next day, Moby Dick is sighted again, and Moby Dick again attacks Ahab’s boat. On the third day, the boats are once again sent after Moby Dick, who once again attacks them. Moby Dick kills many sailors and sinks the piquod. Ahab is then caught in a harpoon line and hurled out of his harpoon boat to his death. All of the remaining whaleboats and men are caught in the vortex created by the sinking Pequod and pulled under to their deaths. Ishmael, who was thrown from a boat in the beginning of the chase was only surviver who then tells the whole story.

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Ajit Kaliya

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