The Daily Dick: Musing in a Time of Angst
- Denise Tolan
- Feb 1, 2022
- 1 min read
From The Ship:
"Stricken, blasted, if he be, Ahab has his humanities!”
Musing: This line struck me the first time I read Moby-Dick. Captain Peleg already told Ishmael that Ahab went a little crazy after he lost his leg. He suffered bouts of depression and was a “godly-ungodly” man. I had my suspicions about Ahab. From what I heard about the book, I took him to be all evil. He was the reason the ship went down. Who needed a spoiler alert – Ahab was a famously well-known villain.
In reading Moby-Dick, I saw the half godly part of Ahab. He had vulnerabilities because of his missing leg, showed kindness to Pip, and displayed moments of mercy with Starbuck.
I always remembered Peleg saying Ahab had his humanities. And it changed the book for me. One line colored everything differently.
I try to remember that we all have our humanities. I try.
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