Man, Fish, and Whale

I recently had a discussion about Moby Dick in my English class. For some reason everybody seemed to think the white whale represented all things that are good. I would have to disagree. First of all why does the whale have to represent anything? If it does have to represent something why does it have to represent goodness and Captain Ahab be evil? I think the whale is evil and Captain Ahab is good. Captain Ahab had a dream to kill the white whale. It was his passion to kill the white, and he died in his attempt to kill it. The whale was evil, because he didn't need to kill Ahab or anyone else. The whale could have just swam down below the surface where no one could get him, but he chose not to. The whale took down the whole ship and everyone else out of spite. In all seriousness Ahab was the hero of the story, and Moby Dick was the villain. 

We also discussed the Old Man and the Sea. If you think about it Moby Dick and the Old Man and the Sea are almost the same story. The old man could have been happy with just his albacore, but instead he chose to go after the marlin. He cut the albacore loose to catch the marlin. Ahab cut the whales loose after finding out where the white whale was. Both men had something they thought was better to go after and went after it. In the end neither one of them got what they wanted. Ahab died and the old man's fish was eaten by sharks. They both strove for something better and failed.