"Moby Dick"

Paper Summary:

The paper shows how the presence of good and evil in "Moby Dick" is best represented and personified by the two major characters, Ishmael and Captain Ahab. The paper illustrates how young Ishmael is the symbol of goodness, paradoxically aligned with Ahab who, although he tries to establish himself as a hero, is essentially evil.

From the Paper:

"According to Melville scholar John Bryant, commenting in Ungraspable Phantom: Essays on Moby Dick, the Old Testament Hebrew word for "good" refers to that which "gratifies the senses and which gives aesthetic or moral satisfaction," while the New Testament Greek word means "moral or physical quality and sometimes that which is noble, honorable, admirable and worthy," 1 a reference to specific traits held by a human being which are expressed via his/her psychological makeup and how one behaves under ordinary and at times extraordinary circumstances. In contrast, William S. Glein, writing in The Meaning of Moby Dick, declares that "evil" comes from the root Hebrew meaning "to spoil. . . to break into pieces and so make worthless which binds together both the evil deed and its consequences.""

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bryant, John. Ungraspable Phantom: Essays on Moby Dick. OH: Kent State University Press, 2006.
• Cleveland, Lawrence. "Captain Ahab and Moby Dick: A Study in the Self and Others."1997. Internet. Retrieved from http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/218/projects/lawrence/lawrence.htm.
• Gleim, William S. The Meaning of Moby Dick. New York: Kessinger Publishing Group, 2002.
• Hayes, Kevin J. The Critical Response to Herman Melville's Moby Dick. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004.
• Melville, Herman. Moby Dick; Or, the White Whale. Boston. G.K. Hall, 1963.

More papers on "Moby Dick":

• Book Review # 91886 : "An Analysis of "Moby Dick"
• Comparison Essay # 106701 : "Moby Dick and Julius Caesar"
• Book Review # 94970 : "Blasphemy in "Moby Dick"
• Comparison Essay # 6390 : "Moby Dick" and "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

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