Ahab was the one mortal man most qualified, most skilled, most equipped, and crazed enough, to hunt down and kill Moby-Dick, who was both God and Devil simultaneously. Melville, however, made clear the futility of challenging so omnipotent a force of nature; he might as well have tried to destroy God himself. Melville made sure that even though we spurned Ahab for his naiivete and his ruthlessness, we lamented the demise of such a powerful figure.
Always a pleasure.
Yep!
I like to imagine Dagoth Ur as Ahab. Nothing would really change about the story, except I'm pretty sure no mere whale could take him down.
Ahab was the one mortal man most qualified, most skilled, most equipped, and crazed enough, to hunt down and kill Moby-Dick, who was both God and Devil simultaneously. Melville, however, made clear the futility of challenging so omnipotent a force of nature; he might as well have tried to destroy God himself. Melville made sure that even though we spurned Ahab for his naiivete and his ruthlessness, we lamented the demise of such a powerful figure.