Moby-Dick is about a famous "White Whale" and a captain's quest to kill him.In Moby-Dick, the narrator, Ishmael (of "Call me Ishmael" fame,") goes to "explore the watery world", along with his friend, the "savage" Queequeg. Ishmael chooses to ship on the whaling ship Pequod, and he is told by the ship's owners that it is being captained by a certain Ahab. The owners,a certain Bildad and Peleg, also tell him that Captain Ahab lost a leg, and that it was "devoured,chewed up, crunched by the monstrousest parmacetty that ever chipped a boat". Also, Bildad is a bit pious, so he'll only give Ishmael the 777th lay(that's his share of the money) while Peleg wants to give him the 300th lay. In the end of the chapter, Peleg wins.
On the way back to their inn, they run into Elijah, a supposed "prophet", who warns them that they should not go on the Pequod. He says that everyone will die, but Ishmael takes no heed. Also, when he last meets Elijah, Elijah points out some men hurrying towards the ship and asks Ishmael "Did ye see anything looking like men going towards that ship a while ago?".
To find out what happens...read the book! It's long-winded and the author's research is mostly irrelevant but read it still. It's good for you!
Moby Dick is one of my all-time favorites too.:-)
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree,it is good for you. Love the blog..keep it up!
Thank you so much Preeti!
ReplyDeleteA lasting memory from this book: the concept of the lay leading to my first understanding of how profit-sharing really works.
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