Literature Analysis: Moby Dick

GENERAL
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
Moby Dick begins with the famous line, "Call me Ishmael.". The story is narrated by Ishmael, a young man with his mind set on whaling. On the way to the whaling capital he meets up with Queequeg,  a native looking man with tattoos who is a "cannibal". Although at first Ishmael is scared of Queequeg as he has a tomahawk and eats with a harpoon, he soon learns to embrace him. The two travel together to the whaling capital Nantucket and get jobs on a spooky ship called the Pequod. Decorated with whale bones, a spooky captain, and an international crew, they set out in the search for gaining wealth through killing whale's for oil. The captain of the ship, Captain Ahab, is consumed with the thought of revenge against one particular whale. A great white whale called Moby Dick ate the captains leg when the captain jumped at it to stab it in the heart. Queequeg nearly dies from illness on the boat, and a coffin is made, but he pulls through. Eventually the boat finally meets with the deadly albino whale for the final showdown. Despite several days of fighting and harpooning the whale, the whale succeeds. Ahab gets caught in a harpoon and sent to his death, and the boat is destroyed by the whale along with the crew. Ishmael alone survives, floating atop Queequeg's coffin.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
There are many themes in this book, but the one that I will focus on is sealing your own fate. Captain Ahab's fate was sealed through he unstoppable desire to get revenge on Moby Dick. He didn't heed any of the prophets warnings. In fact, the entire crew was warned to stop trying to find the great white whale. There were some thought of killing the captain, but words are just words without action. By staying the course, the characters in this book sealed their fate. 

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
The author had a very direct tone. It flows with the story. With times of action, the mood intensified, and in times of just sailing it calmed down quite a bit. There was the underlying of doom that was shown throughout the book and through the tone. "It was Moby Dick's open mouth, yawning beneath Ahab's boat, looking like a marble burial room." "Must we chase this murderous fish till he drags every last on of us to the bottom of the sea?" "He studied the currents of all four oceans and the habits of all whales in order to reach on burning goal- to find and kill Moby Dick!"

4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)
Great Illustrated Classics: Moby Dick
1. Metaphor- When discussing the prophet Fedallah (page 136) "....the reason we don't see his devil tail is because he coils it up and tucks it in his pocket."

2. Onomatopoeia (Page 114): The crew shouting "Woo-hoo! Wa-hee! Kee-Hee! Koo-Loo!".
3. Foreshadowing (Page 130): "Think of Macey- the God-insulter, dead, and down there! Beware of the same end!"
4. Direct characterization: (Page 18) "The face was of a dark-purplish color, stuck all over with large blackish-looking squares."
5. Dialect: (Page 24) "This man sleepee you- you sabbee? "Me sabbee."
6. Simile: (Page 114) "...his tail forty feet into the air and sank out of sight, like a swallowed-up tower."
7. Allusion: (Page 50) "Yes, but wasn't the biblical Ahab a wicked king who was killed."
8. Flashback (Page 84) "Seeing his men spinning about in little whirlpools of the sea, the captain grabbed a small knife with a six-inch blade and dashed at Moby Dick's heart like some wild man in a duel. That captain was Ahab."
9. Hyperbole (Page 216): "This whole act was decreed a billion years before this ocean rolled."
10. Symbolism (Page 232) The boat Pequod was a symbol of death in the story. "O Pequod, my death-glorious ship. Must ye then perish and sink without me?"


CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
Direct Characterization:
"The face was of a dark-purplish color, stuck all over with large blackish-looking squares."

"A thin white scar threaded its way out from his gray hair and continued right down his face and neck till it disappeared inside his clothing."

Indirect Characterization
"No, for me the way to escape the closeness of my home town of Manhatto, New York, was to go to sea as a plain seaman."
"He'd often pace the deck unsteadily. Sometimes the restless pounding of his leg upon upon the wooden deck at night would keep us awake."
2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?
Yes the author's diction changes when he focuses on a character. Queequeg is usually seen in a bright light, sometimes mysterious, but overall a nice guy. While the mood always gets darker whenever captain Ahab is being talked about of described.
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.
Ishmael is a dynamic character. You can see this simply through his relationship with Queequeg. When he first meets him he is scared for his life, and isn't accepting of him as a person. However, as the story goes along they become closer and closer friends, and real bonds are made.
4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.
I actually did not feel as if I'd met a person. Ishmael was never a particularly deep character, and the story more followed the action of the plot rather than get into the inner workings of any of the characters minds.