Moby DickMoby-Dick is an 1851 novel by Herman Melville. It describes the ill-fated voyage of the whaling ship Pequod to find and destroy the eponymous white whale, driven by the obsessive Captain Ahab. The language is highly symbolic and many themes run throughout the work. The narrator's reflections, along with complex descriptions of the grueling work of whaling and personalities of his shipmates, are woven into a profound meditation on hubris, providence, nature, society, and the human struggle for meaning, happiness and salvation. Moby-Dick is often considered the epitomeof American Romanticism. |
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Common terms and phrases
Ahab’s aloft beneath Bildad boat boat’s bones bows Bulkington cabin called Cape Horn Captain Ahab Captain Peleg Cetology Chapter chase chief mate coffin creature crew cried Ahab d’ye Daggoo dark darted dead deck devil doubloon eyes feet fish fishery Flask flukes forecastle Greenland gunwale hand harpooneer he’s head heard heart instant iron ivory Jonah lance Leviathan living look man’s mast mast-head mate Moby Dick Nantucket never night oars ocean Parsee Peleg Pequod poor Queequeg Right Whale rolled round sail sailor savage seemed seen sharks ship ship’s shipmates side sight soon sort soul Sperm Whale spermaceti spout stand Starbuck Steelkilt stern stood strange Stubb tail Tashtego tell thee there’s thing thou thought turned vessel voyage whale-ship whalemen what’s White Whale wild wind