MOBY DICK

Exercise A. Based on the novel that you have chosen, write on a theme portrayed in the novel. Give
evidence to support your answer.

In the novel Moby Dick, one of the themes portrayed is friendship. This theme is shown by
Ishmael and Queequeg.

Both of them meet is an unusual situation. As there is a shortage of rooms at the inn,
Queequeg and Ishmael find themselves sharing a room together. Ishmael does not know that he is
going to share a room with a person who is rather scary-looking and their first meeting is not really
good. However, things soon get better as both of them understand each other.

They continue being close companions throughout the voyage. Both fight alongside each
other when faced with the whales and stand by each other through various challenges. Ishmael is
very sad when Queequeg falls sick. He cares for Queequeg and does not leave the man’s side.He is
happy when he gets better.

When Ishmael is stranded in the sea without any hope of survival, he worries about
Queequeg as the ship sinks, wondering whether he will meet his friend after death. It is Queequeg’s
coffin which saves Ishmeal’s life. Unfortunately, these two friends are forced apart when
Queequeg dies.

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In the novel Moby Dick, one of the themes portrayed is obsession. This can be seen in
Captain Ahab. He is determined to capture and kill Moby Dick. While the other whalers on the
voyage are concerned with hunting whales for oil, Captain Ahab has no interest in that. All he
focuses on is hunting Moby Dick. He even has his own crew led by Fedallah for this purpose.
Because of his obsession, he is not able to make wise decisions. For example, when the oil barrels
start to leak, he does not want to stop the ship to replace them as he thinks it would waste his
time hunting Moby Dick. He also refuses to listen to Starbuck’s reasoning that they should go home.
This obsession ends in tragically when the final confrontation with Moby Dick results in his death
and the death of all his crew except Ishmael.

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Ex B. Based on the novel that you have chosen, write on a character who has good qualities you can
learn from. Give evidence to support your answer.

In the novel Moby Dick, a character whom I can learn from is Starbuck. He is young but has
a sad face which makes him look older. He is married and has a son. He hunts whales to make a
living.

Starbuck is outspoken and fearless. He is not afraid of the hot-tempered Captain Ahab. He
reminds him of their main mission of the journey. He also challenges and opposes the captain when
he wants to continue to pursue the whale. Even when the captain points a gun at him, he still
speaks for the crew and warns the captain.

Besides, he is a good family man. He misses his wife and child at home during the sea
voyage. He shows his concern for the crew’s families and reminds the captain that they need to
feed their families at home. He is also worried that the captain has forgotten his wife and child as
the captain is too obsessed with Moby Dick.

Therefore with these reasons, the character that I can learn from the most is Starbuck.

Ex. C. Based on the novel that you have chosen, write on a character you dislike. Give evidence to
support your answer.

A character I dislike in the novel Moby Dick is Captain Ahab. He is thin but strong. He has
wild grey hair and a white scar that runs from the top of his head down the face, one leg replaced by
a white whalebone.

Captain Ahab is an impatient man who always shows his anger to everyone on board. He
stares at his crew with his angry face when he meets them for the first time. He also shouts angrily
at Starbuck whenever his order is not obeyed. His anger makes him act impulsively and he throws
away the ship’s map in anger.

He is also a person who is obsessed with revenge. He is determined to catch and kill Moby
Dick. All he focuses on is hunting Moby Dick. Because of his obsession, he is not able to make wise
decisions. He also refuses to listen to Starbuck’s reasoning that they should go home. This obsession
ends tragically when the final confrontation with Moby Dick results in his death and the death of
all his crew except Ishmael.
 Based on the novel that you have chosen, write on the challenges faced by the characters.
Provide evidence to support your response.

The novel I wish to write is Moby Dick. The characters faced various challenges..

The crew members of Captain Ahab were skilled whalers who agreed to go on the journey
for whaling to support their families. However, Captain Ahab’s motive to go on the journey was to
hunt and kill the white whale.

There was an incident when Captain Ahab at first did not want to stop the ship when they
were having problems with the barrels. He even refused to help Captain Gardiner to find his son
because he did not want to be behind time in his mission to find the white whale. The crew
members had to be loyal to him and could not go against their captain’s order. The crew members
stayed loyal to Captain Ahab who seemed to challenge them with his stubborn opinions.

When Captain Ahab finally found the white whale, a great fight took place for three days.
The task to kill the white whale was a frightening task, but the crew members went on with it as it
was their job to follow the captain’s orders. They tried their best although in the end, no one but
Ishmael survived. This reflected the way they faced the challenges and how loyal they were that they
died in their captain’s quest to kill the whale.

Even though the ending of the novel is a sad one, the characters in the story shows us how
to bravely react to the challenges.