Moby Dick Essays (699 words) - Moby-Dick, Captain Ahab, Ishmael

Moby Dick MEN GONE MAD Peoples dreams can make them insane. One person can be entirely focused on a particular event that the event soon begins to take over their life and influence others. Captain Ahabs intent is finding and killing Moby Dick, the whale that maimed and disfigured him years ago. His obsession with this whale puts many others in danger, such as Ishmael, Starbuck, and himself. Captain Ahab uses his shipmates as bait for Moby Dick himself. The day the ship leaves the dock on a search for whales, the men are trapped in a world gone mad with no escape. Ishmael, Starbuck, and Captain Ahab are all trapped in an unfortunate tragedy. Before boarding the ship, Ishmael sees a person on the dock beside the whaling boat. This persons name is Elijah, coincidentally sharing the same name as the prophet. Elijah hints to Ishmael to turn back from this voyage while he still has time. Elijah states that Ahab shall smell land where there be none, Ahab shall go to his grave but will rise within one hour and beckon, and all save one will be destroyed. Ishmael disregards him and continues. When Ishmael is ready to board the ship, Elijah warns him again. This is a sign that something terrible will happen once aboard the ship and everything and everyone will be traumatized. If only Ishmael would know, he will soon be trapped in Ahabs crazy world. Performing a pagan ritual before the groggy crew, Captain Ahab swears the men to join him in hunting down the white whale Moby Dick and killing him to satisfy Ahabs desire for revenge. Starbuck is horrified, while the crazy ranting of their captain wildly inspires members of the ship. This is an evil voyage. I fear the wrath of God. Service to mankind that pleases God is not revenge.1 Greatly fearing what Ahab has in store in the world gone mad, Starbuck foresees tragedy. Nailing a doubloon to the main mast follows the crazy ranting and Ahab says, Whosoever of ye raises me a white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow and a crooked jaw, he shall have this gold ounce, my boys!2 Starbuck tells Ahab that he came to hunt whales, not his commanders vengeance. As the savage harpooners drink, Death to Moby Dick! Starbuck mutters, God help me!keep us all!3 Starbuck is well aware that Ahab will soon place all the men in immediate danger. Spending most of his time on deck and only seldom descending into the cabin, Ahab appears to be a sympathetic character in some aspects. During the night watches, old Ahab is on deck, pacing with his artificial leg. Ahab has been in search for Moby Dick before but Moby Dick escaped the loony captain. Ahab has been trapped in a world gone mad for an extremely long time. Since the day he was unable to catch the feared Moby Dick, his life was never the same. Ahab himself is trapped in madness and states, May God damn us all if we do not hunt Moby Dick to his death!4 Starbuck sees Captain Ahabs whale map and disagrees. Ahab defined he distinctly knew what he was doing, Dumb brute blasphemykills and mutilate out race. I would strike the sun if it offended me,5 and he would not let Moby Dick get away this time no matter what the circumstance. Ahab was well aware of the trapped world he was inflicting on the shipmates but was only out for one thing; his fanatical self. Therefore, the innocent men are trapped in a world gone mad the very day the ship leaves the dock. Ishmael, Starbuck, and Captain Ahab are all trapped in a world of tragedy. These men were trapped by the madness of Captain Ahab. It was indeed their freewill to board the ship, but when they boarded they were unknowing of Ahabs lunacy and hatred for Moby Dick. Peoples dreams can indeed make them ballistic and Ahab was one of those people. English Essays

From the Body to the Mind essays

From the Body to the Mind essays We shocked the world!(Ventura 3). Indeed, CNN news anchors were literally laughing when they announced that Jesse Ventura had been elected Governor of Minnesota. An ex-pro wrestler? What could the people have been thinking?! Maybe the people of Minnesota knew something about the man born James George Janos that CNN news anchors didnt. Maybe Ventura is a man of courage and determination. Before entering pro wrestling, Ventura was a member of the Navy SEALs, an elite corps of underwater demolition experts. Becoming a SEAL required an extensive twenty-two-week training program. Ventura said, I was in the best physical condition of my life, (Hunter 60). After his honorable discharge from the Navy, Ventura discovered bodybuilding, rode with an outlaw motorcycle club, and attended college. Then he decided to try pro wrestling. Surfer Jesse Ventura made his debut in Kansas City, and soon competed in Oregon and Hawaii. But it wasnt until Jesse The Body Ventura began wrestling in the American Wrestling Association that the wrestling world began to really take notice. Two years later, Jesse arrived in the World Wrestling Federation, then returned to the AWA, where he first wrestled Hulk Hogan. He would face Hogan again in the WWF. But Jesses World title hopes were dashed when it was discovered that he had blood clots in his lung. The Body hung up his wrestling boots and picked up the microphone, and became one of the most popular broadcasters the WWF has ever known. He rode his popularity fight to Hollywood, where he appeared in such films as The Predator and The Running Man. Jesse was elected mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota s sixth-largest city. He then went into radio broadcasting before scoring his incredible upset for the office of Minnesota governor. Today The Body wants to be known as The Mind. Appropria...