A boy named Ishmael decided to become a sailor because of his boring life in New York. Therefore he went to the nearest hotel to stay in before starting his new life. There he met a scary looking man called Kwee-Kweg, but despite his features they became good friends as they talked all night.
The next day, they went looking for a boat to sail on. They found a ship called Pequod, whose captain was Ahab, a man who lost a leg fighting the white whale Moby Dick. They got the job as Kwee-Kwang showed his harpooner skills, so after some days later they finally sailed. The second officer Stubb introduced them to the others, including the first officer Starbuck and a child named Little Pip who played the tambourine.
One day as Ishmael was coming up on the deck he saw the captain and noticed he had an artificial leg made from the bone of a whale. The captain was really eager to kill the huge whale but too scared for his subordinate to not help him, so he let them catch other whales. There were some special sailors, whose leader was Fedallah, a frightening man, who the leader would usually hunt with. They believed in superstitions as having two whales’ heads on the boat to be safe.
Pip was one of the ship keepers so he never went to hunt, but one day someone got injured so he had to replace him. When he was on the boat a whale passed under it and frightened he jumped from it. A rope ended up wrapping his neck and he was being strangled by the whale pulling it. The others ended up saving him but gave him a warning to not do it again or they wouldn’t save him the next time. Unfortunately he couldn't change. When another whale went under the boat he did the same as last time, but the other boats didn’t save him until the Pequod finally rescued him. From that day onwards he wasn’t the same anymore.
While on the sea, another ship was approaching them and Ahab, as always, asked them if they saw Moby Dick. The captain from the other boat told him that he lost his arm while encountering the big animal and he got angry when the other still wanted to look for it.
At that time Kwee-Kwang, Ishmaels best friend, suddenly got really sick and looking like he was about to die, he ordered a wooden box made for him so they could send him to the sea when passed away. Fortunately as some days passed, he began to feel better and finally recovered.
While one morning Ahab climbed up to the top of the ship and he suddenly saw it. Ordering his men, they quickly set on with tree boats and went after Moby Dick. It was extremely strong and pulled every sailor to the water so they had to retreat in order to survive.
The carpenter stayed all night repairing the boats and the next day while Stubb was giving an explanation the white whale appeared again. They put some boats into the water and attacked the whale. This time when they retrieved Fedallah was missing, so it was assumed that he died. Starbuck decided to tell the captain to stop the dangerous actions but he didn’t listen to him as they all worked hard for this moment and so the night passed.
The next morning they encountered the seamonster. All of the crewmates were burning with passion and were going to go all out. Ahab said goodbye to Starbuck as this would be his last battle, which the other didn’t want to accept. The whale struck two of the boats. Ahab’s boat wasn’t intact, but instead of attacking them, Moby Dick went towards the Pequard and with his strength he destroyed the ship which led to the sailors falling into the water. The captain lastly threw a harpoor into the white whale but the rope went around his neck and was pulled down into the sea. Soon everything and everyone was gone except Ishmael, who was alive thanks to his best friend’s wooden box he held onto.
PERSONAL OPINION:
It was a short read but I liked how the character personalities were conveyed and easily understood. To be honest I was sad that the main protagonist's best friend had to die because they grew to have a good relationship, but it was expected to happen. I quite didn’t like the captain’s stubbornness of killing the whale but that’s what made his character unique so it was okay.
AUTHOR: Mansuni Gurung
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