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Interview Questions for Captain Ahab
Short Answers
1. The captain seeks revenge the great white whale that he lost his leg to, known as Moby Dick. 2. The narrator of Moby Dick is Ishmael. The first line of the novel says, "Call me Ishmael". 3. The first Biblical allusion mentioned in the film was in the first line, "Call me Ishmael". Ishmael was the dissowned son of Abraham. Since then, the name Ismael is commonly used for an outcast which is appropriate because in the story Ismael is inexperienced in the whaling business. Another allusion is of the prophet Elijah and Captain Ahab. This conflict between Elijah and Ahab goes all the way back to the bible. 4. Captain Ahab sees Moby Dick as the physical essence of evil because he lost his leg to the giant whale, Starbuck sees Moby Dick as just a fish they must catch, and Ishmael sees both points of view. 5. Melville choose to write about whaling because he himself was in the industry. The whaling industry was significant then because the oil and blubber was used for lighting and other purposes. The bones and teeth were also used for many reasons. 6. When Melville was 21, he sailed toward the South Pacific. When he returned four years later he wrote about his visit with people on the island. 7. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Melville became friends and a source of inspiration for eachother while Melville was writing Moby Dick. 8. They are all non-Christians of different decent and from different parts of the world, but they each serve on a mates boat. It's interesting how people from all over can ultimately have the same job. 9. Toward the end of the book Moby Dick kills Ahab rams into the Pequod, sinking it. The entire crew gets sucked into the ocean with it except for Ishmael. He is the only surviver, clinging to Queequeg’s coffin until another boat, Rachel, rescues him. 10. In Melville's lifetime the book, Moby Dick, was a failure. However about 70 years after his death it was a huge hit.
Did you ever feel that you had gotten too obsessed with revenge? What ship did you command before the Pequod? Could you tell us a little bit about it? Do you believe that you resemble the Ahab in the bible? In what ways do you think you are similar or different? After losing your leg did you ever think about getting out of the whaling industry? Why or why not? Did having men from many different races on your ship bother you? Did it cause any complications?
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