Introduction
Moby-Dick is a world famous psychological thriller and adventure novel. However, due to the Herman Melville’s lavish writing style and its esoteric subject, it can be challenging to read and can cause many readers to become quickly disinterested. Consequently, some of the concepts and significant themes in the novel become lost or hidden in the eyes of an inattentive reader. So how are we able to make the tale more appealing to a larger and more diverse audience? Create a twelve part animated series, or miniseries. Animated films appeal to both adults and children due to its appearance and the inviting illusion of playfulness. Yet, behind this facade we are still given opportunities to convey the significant themes present in
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It might seem like a great task, squeezing in all of the imagery, symbolism, and information into twelve short episodes, but it is possible. Take Cartoon Network’s popular miniseries Over the Garden Wall for example. Its charming and folk art inspired style is inviting and attracts many viewers of various ages, matching the shows whimsical tones and adventurous mood. Yet, do not let its appearance deceive you; the show is premised on Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, alluding to multiple elements within the nine levels of hell. It’s subtle, but by using the illusion of animation, the animators were able to expose more people to the concept of Inferno than the epic itself would have had some random person happened upon it; it spikes interests and curiosity, and curiosity is a powerful instigator. Thus, taking inspiration from Over the Garden Wall, we can create a short series that successfully conveys the key themes and concepts from Moby Dick while capturing the attention of multiple …show more content…
Ishmael and his new companion, Queequeg, finally arrive at Nantucket, and as they are about to enter their inn, Ishmael encounters another set of omens. This time, he seems to be more aware of what they imply. He recounts the omens he has come across, such as a “Coffin for (his) Innkeeper… tombstones… in the whalemen’s chapel” and now he is faced with the imagery of “gallows! and a pair of prodigious black pots,” admitting that these “oblique hints” are indeed “ominous” (66-67). It’s as obvious as it gets. Yet, this blatant foreshadowing is not more than two sentences long amongst a sea of rambling musings, and it is quickly dismissed with the simple “sight of a freckled woman” (67). Again, this threatening presence is hidden away and replaced with more comical and lighthearted scenes, forcing the omens into the background. As these warnings are continuously stowed away, the danger and suspense continues to build up, so much that if the calm surface was a balloon, it is eventually going to
Throughout the book the audience has seen Ishmael go through adventure and sorrow. In the novel Ishmael is forced to go to war at age thirteen, but what keeps him going were his grandmother's wise words. His grandmother was the one who told him powerful lessons that he could use in real life. These lesson that Ishmael is keeping him grounded is not only from his grandmother but also from his friends. Lessons that were seen by the readers are “wild pigs”, “Bra Spider”, and the story about the moon.
In society today, we are conditioned to believe certain sets of ideals. We use these ideals to interact and get along with the other people we surround ourselves with. These ideals are often the societal norms that form common ground amongst individuals. However, living life based off these basic and unchanging beliefs is not beneficial to humanity, nor does it make life any easier to live. In fact, holding on to the most accepted beliefs holds back society as a whole. Judith Halberstam, in her essay “Animating Revolt and Revolting Animation” challenges these societal norms through the analysis of animated movies and, in doing so, carves a path for a new way of thinking.
Throughout literature, there is a prevalent model found in various narratives that ensures its success. This archetype, called the “journey of the hero,” discovered by Joseph Campbell, serves as a guideline of three stages for authors to manipulate to their own desire. The departure, the initiation, and the return essentially create the same storyline, yet these formats can be molded into unique and refreshing works of art. Aspects of the “journey of the hero” in the movie Shrek 2 are highlighted as the main hero, Shrek, and his wife Princess Fiona depart from their accustomed residence, the swamp, rediscover the meaning of true love through peril, and return with Shrek being able to balance his identity between an ogre and royalty.
When a novel is adapted into a graphic novel, a spectrum of possible interpretations allows for new meanings. Due to the intermedial character of the graphic novel, the translation from text into a graphic novel differs from an adaptation from text to text. Graphic novels have a medium-specific language that consists of a combination of words and images, both following their own rules and conventions. These two channels of the graphic novel, the visual and the textual, enable the author of the adaptation to express her- or himself not only through words but also through images and make them decide what is expressed in images, what is left in words, and what is left out altogether.
Herman Melville's Moby Dick is a book which can be read as a general metaphor for the battle between the evil powers of the Devil versus the divine powers of God and Jesus, both try to obtain the souls of mankind in order to assist in each other's destruction. In this metaphor, the Devil is shown through the person of Captain Ahab, God becomes nature, Jesus is seen as the White Whale, and the representation of mankind is the crew. The voyage of the Pequod, therefore, is a representation of a similar voyage of mankind on earth, until the death of Jesus, during the whole thing the influences of these three “supernatural forces” are connected. Thus, the basis of this idea is that in the plot of Melville's book, there are also peeks of the "plot" of the Bible.
The sublime moment is the ultimate subsumption of the self. It is frightening in its intrinsic need to consume the experiencer and then emancipate him upon the consummation of the event. Melville composed a story that could have been filled with moments of the sublime and yet it is, frustratingly for the reader, almost entirely absent. However, this is not an indication of any fault in the text. Rather, it is the consequence of a meticulously planned physical and psychological space which is mapped out in the relationships the characters enjoy with one another. Ishmael, Ahab and Starbuck represent three characters whose actions and positions in the narrative determine their capabilities to encounter and experience the sublime.
An allusion is a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art. Writers often use biblical and mythological allusions to which their readers are familiar. In Moby Dick, Herman Melville frequently uses biblical and mythological allusions. With these allusions the reader begins to understand the topic of discussion and is also exposed to the wisdom and knowledge Melville possess.
When looking at the cycle of life one sees that creatures usually hunt others that are opposited from themselves. The relationship between cat and mouse is the apotheosis ot this idea, a classic case of one preying on the other where the two are looked upon as complete opposites. In Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" the whalers are hunting down the white whale. So according to my statement above this should make the crew members of the "Pequod" the absolute negation of Moby Dick. At first glance, maybe it seems this way, but in actuality the two are very similar. From the moment the crew members choose to embark on their voyage they become more like creatures of the sea than land dwellers. As the story evolves, the reader begins to uncover more and more similarities between the creatures on board the vessel, and those of the ocean. On top of this, as the characters progress and become more similar to their fellow ocean dwellers, they begin to actually show character traits similar to that of Moby Dick himself.
Herman Melville’s stories of Moby Dick and Bartleby share a stark number of similarities and differences. Certain aspects of each piece seem to compliment each other, giving the reader insight to the underlying themes and images. There are three concepts that pervade the two stories making them build upon each other. In both Moby Dick and Bartleby the main characters must learn how to deal with an antagonist, decide how involved they are in their professions, and come to terms with a lack of resolution.
At first glance, Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick, appears to be the story of a man, his captain, and the whale that they quest to destroy. But a closer look reveals the author’s intense look at several metaphysical ideologies. He explores some of the most ponderous quandaries of his time, among these being the existence of evil, knowledge of the self and the existential, and the possibility of a determined fate. All of these were questions which philosophers had dealt with and written about, but Melville took it to a new level: not only writing about these things, but also doing so in a lovely poetic language backed by a tale packed with intrigue. He explores the general existence of evil in his antagonist, the white whale, and through the general malice that nature presents to humans throughout the novel. The narrator, Ishmael, gains a lot of knowledge about himself through his experiences on the whaling voyage, where he also is able to learn much about the phenomenon of existence itself. Also, through Captain Ahab, he sees more about the existence of man and the things that exist within man’s heart. Especially through Ahab and his ongoing quest for the white whale, and also in general conversation amongst the whalers, the issue of fate and whether one’s destiny is predetermined are addressed in great detail, with much thought and insight interpolated from the author’s own viewpoints on the subject.
Textual Hybridity is a combination of elements from different sources or genres. The documentary, ‘The Cove’, incorporates textual hybridity within the documentary, such as the spy-thriller genre. Hybridity in documentary allows the views to be both entertained and informed by merging both fiction and non-fiction conventions. Textual Hybridity challenges and engages the viewer at a deeper level concerning a central issue focused on within the documentary. The hybridity technique allows the viewer to relate with the characters and cause people to debate about the central issue conveyed. For example, in ‘The Cove’, the team provided an animation of the cove which exposes their plan to the audience. This animation is used to create a sense of
One notable difference between William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Julie Taymor’s film version of the play is the altered scenes that made quite a difference between the play and the movie version. This difference has the effects of creating a different point of view by altering the scenes affected the movie and how Taymor felt was necessary by either by keeping or deleting certain parts from the play. I use “Altered Scene” in the way of how Julia Taymor recreates her own point of view for the movie and the direction she took in order to make the audience can relate to the modern day film. I am analyzing the way that the altered scenes changes to make a strong impression on the audiences different from the play. This paper will demonstrate
Lord of the flies, a film passed on William Golding's novel, mostly known for his prize-winning novels. In 1954 Golding published his first novel (Lord Of The Flies), which found a place in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels. Lord of the flies adapted to film in 1990 by the director Harry Hook, Meanwhile, the film got a huge success in many countries.
Back in 2003 Henry Jenkins caused a massive stir in the media world when he introduced the idea of transmedia storytelling, Jenkins describes it as a process where elements of fiction are dispersed across multiple media platforms in order to serve the purpose of creating a coordinated entertainment experience. Jenkins goes on to say that preferably, each medium will contribute different aspects which will assist in the telling of a story and unveil new aspects. However a good transmedia text does not simply supply information, instead it allows the fans, or fandom, to interact with the world within the text (Jenkins, 2007). This essay will arue that transmedia storytelling impacts on how the audience interacts with the story, in order to
Not long once at sea, the captain of the ship, Ahab reveals his plan to