Examples Of Allusion In Moby Dick

Moby Dick

Throughout the novel Moby Dick, Melville uses allusion and tone to convey meanings and sometimes hidden messages. An allusion is a casual reference to another piece of literature. This is one of the most used literary devices in Moby Dick, other than tone of course. Tone is the attitude the writer has toward the specific passage, or subject. Melville uses the two to support and build upon the other. Specifically, Melville uses tone and allusion to send a message of the risks of obsession and idolizations. The character Captain Ahab is very important to the furtherance of the plot. He is the main reason that the whaling ship is out at sea. Ahab is in search for Moby Dick. As the story goes on we learn about Ahab. He lost his leg to Moby Dick and was stranded for three days before being picked up. Ever since that event he has had an unstoppable urge to get revenge for what Moby Dick did and kill him once and for all. This urge, however, gets out of hand and he becomes a madman in search for blood. He stops at nothing until he is finally killed at the end of the story. Ahab’s crazed search for the white whale ends up getting him and his crew killed, aside from Ishmael. There is

As the crew begins to realize they are fighting an unwinnable battle Starbucks says, “‘Oh! Ahab,’ cried Starbuck, ‘not too late is it, even now, the third day, to desist. See! Moby Dick seeks thee not. It is thou, thou, that madly seekest him!’”(Melville 1036). Although this excerpt is short, there is a tone in Starbucks voice. Melville uses fear to display what has come of Ahab and the crew. There is horror in Starbucks voice as he is asking Ahab to stop and retreat. He sees what Ahab has become, a madman seeking revenge, driven only by vengeance. He finally has the chance to pay his revenge and he is not going to stop simply because one of his crewmembers asked him