Moby Dick-Structure And Form
Moby Dick's structure is in a sense one of the simplest of all literary structures-the story of a journey. Its 135 chapters and epilogue describe how Ishmael leaves Manhattan for Captain Ahab's whaling ship, the Pequod, how Ahab pilots the Pequod from Nantucket to the Pacific in search of Moby Dick, and how in the end Ishmael alone survives the journey. This simple but powerful structure is what keeps us reading, as we ask ouselves, "Where will Ahab seek out his enemy next? What will happen when he gets there?"
Some critics have divided the book into sections, like acts in a play. The first, from Chapter 1 to Chapter 22, describes Ishmael, portrays his growing friendship with Queequeg, and serves as a kind of dry-land introduction to themes-whaling, brotherhood, and man's relationship with God-explored in greater detail at sea. The next section begins as the Pequod sails and continues to Chapter 46. Here you meet both Captain Ahab and, in description if not yet in the flesh, his......
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Approximate Word Count: 413
Approximate Pages: 2 (250 words per double-spaced page)
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Moby Dick-Structure And Form
Moby Dick-Structure And Form. Moby Dick's structure is in a sense one of the
simplest of all literary structures-the story of a journey. ...
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