Moby Dick Summary

Moby Dick by Herman Melville is a story about a mad man who hunts a whale. The whale later comes to be known as Moby Dick.

The plot begins with a man named Ishmael arriving in Massachusetts. He shares a room with a harpooner named Queequeg. The two become close and even work together in a ship that is decorated with the bones and teeth of fish. This ship is known as Pequod. The ship owners are Peleg and Bildad. The ship Captain is called Ahab. Ahab intends to chase a great white whale with the ship but does not inform the owners. This whale took Ahab’s leg and even destroyed the ship he formerly had. He replaced the leg with the jaw of a sperm whale.

Pequod’s quest in full is to sail and hunt down Moby Dick and to kill this legendary white whale whom the Ahab describes as evil’s embodiment. Ishmael meets a new experience in the ship having to do dangerous hard work and also much diversity in the crew. Ahab sets sail towards the coast of Africa. On the way, he asks for information about the whale from all the ships they meet. In the journey, they come across several sperm whales and kill them, but Ahab is focused on Moby Dick. In the voyage, many events occur. Among them is a prophecy of doom on hunters of Moby Dick from a crazy prophet named Gabriel. A boy also accidentally goes overboard and loses sanity. There is also a fire that occurs on board that causes one of the members to fall and drown. Ahab’s resolve does not waver, and the obsession intensifies.

When they finally spot the whale Moby Dick, Ahab loses his reason and engages the whale recklessly. Moby Dick sinks Pequod after ramming it. Ahad dies after being caught in a harpoon line. All the crew members perish from drowning except Ishmael, the narrator who floats by hanging on to the coffin of Queequeg.