Moby-Dick Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory

Humor columnist Dave Barry once gave potential English majors some advice using Moby-Dick as an example: Never say anything about a book that anybody with any common sense would say. For example,...

Captain Ahab’s not in his monomaniacal revenge quest for the money, but he knows how to motivate his crew: he nails a gold doubloon to the mast and promises that whoever sees Moby Dick first can...

As Ishmael tells us something like ten million times, the Pequod is out to hunt sperm whales, from which it can harvest sperm oil and spermaceti. The spermaceti is what gave the sperm whale its nam...

When Queequeg falls deathly ill with a fever and thinks he’s dying, one of the things that’s most important to him is to have his coffin made, so that he can make sure it’s just perfect. When...