Ahab’s Character Destruction In Moby Dick

Captain Ahab’s fifty-eight yr old Pequod commander is among the most fascinating mortals of literature. The reader watches him totter between sanity, madness and a complete loss of control. Ahab’s demise is not a passive event. Ahab actively plays a role in it. Ahab makes the choices he does, despite knowing that they will have a negative outcome. Ahab’s self-destruction journey is accelerated by four major turning points. Ahab’s suicidal mission is defined by his confrontation with Moby-Dick, his convincing of the Pequod’s crew, Fedallah’s prognosis, and the final, irrevocable battle with the White Whale.

Moby Dick, Ahab’s obsession, is the first event to have a significant impact on Ahab’s development. The reader is already familiar with this incident when they first meet Captain Ahab. However, the event is mentioned and alluded throughout the story and it is what triggers Ahab’s obsessive behavior. Ahab’s precious leg is at risk when he encounters Moby Dick. He was overconfident to overcome a lifetime of physical and emotional trauma. Ahab knows the harshness of life. His mother is a fervent fanatic and his existence has been arduous. Ahab has been through a lot of evil and his life on the whaling boat is separating him from his family, the only ones he can show compassion to. Ahab believes that God is imperfect because he created the injustices that he has seen in his own life. Ahab concludes that he’s superior to even The Creator. Moby Dick is Ahab’s perfect scapegoat, because he has robbed him of independence and contributed to Ahab being unequal in life by removing his leg. Moby is God incarnate, and Ahab believes he can defeat him. Ahab feels like a god and believes he will be able to defeat the evil in his world while remaining unscathed. Ahab wouldn’t be motivated to go on the doomed hunt for Moby Dick if he didn’t have this starting point.

Ahab’s path to self-destruction will continue to be determined by his decision to convince his crew of his plan to annihilate a White Whale. This happens on the Pequod that night. He captivates the sailors’ curiosity by asking them simple questions, which become more fervent as he tries to get them involved in his evil plans. Ahab’s fervent cries hypnotize his crew and make them captivated by his zeal. Ahab’s crew is hypnotized and enthralled as Ahab feeds alcohol to them, baptizes guns of harpooners, and bonds his crew with his charismatic and intoxicating personality. Ahab’s men are now convinced to join him in his crazy pursuit. This is because Ahab has now convinced a large group of men to support his insane pursuit. After he convinced his crew that his goal is a good one, there’s no going back. Ahab, after the events of the quarter deck, spends more time under deck. He obsessively studies charts of the oceans and becomes increasingly obsessed with the ultimate goal. He is determined to kill the White Whale.

Ahab is even more convinced of his invincibility after Fedallah, Ahab’s personal harpooner predicts that Ahab will die only if he sees two hearses on the ocean, one not made by man and the other from American-grown wood. Fedallah says that Ahab can only die when he sees a pair of hearses in the ocean. One will be made by American wood and another by a man who has not yet died. This prophecy is so unlikely that it calms any fears Ahab might have. Because he believes it, he is certain that a death in this mission is not possible. Ahab takes extreme risks because he believes he will succeed in his quest and is untouchable.

Ahab’s battle with Moby is not over until the final whale chase in the despondent captain’s life. Starbuck is almost able to convince Ahab to abandon his doomed dream of destroying White Whale. However, Ahab persists and finds temporary satisfaction when he notices the mast-head. He cries, “There she is!” in a fit of giddiness. She blows! A snow-hill hump! Ahab knows he is doomed and offers Starbuck the chance to stay on the ship so that at least the first-mate may live to see his wife and children again. Ahab realizes he’s doomed and offers Starbuck a chance to stay aboard so the first-mate will live to see their children and wife again. Ahab must wait for the inevitable end, knowing he is doomed. Ahab’s sailors are brought dangerously close by the White Whale each day. Ahab is still rowing to his boat, admitting that he has been audacious. Ahab, who is unable to understand his own motives, continues to row back for more, acknowledging his own audacity. Ahab can’t be stopped, even by the death or near-fulfillment to Fedallah’s prophecy. He doesn’t understand his motivations. Ahab comes to realize, as he stands in his lone whaling boat, right before he dies, that revenge and justice are not his place. Ahab is at his most mature when he realizes that he was driven by emotion and not reason. It is too late for him to realize this, but catharsis comes when he is not allowed to go down with his ship.

Captain Ahab’s self-destruction is a tragic series of events in Mellville masterpiece. Ahab’s life is one of self destruction. It begins with Moby’s encounter, then he captures the crew with his passionate quest on the Pequod. Then, it continues with Fedallah’s prognosis, until his final fight with the White Whale. This old man is a wretched character who is trying his best to make sense of a life that has been unfair and a God that is unreasonable.