Moby Dick
I. Biographical Insights
A. The culture this great author was a part of was the time in American history
where inspiring works of literature began to emerge. It was also a time when
American writers had not completely separated its literary heritage from Europe,
partly because there were successful literary genius' flourishing there.
B. Herman Melville was born on August 1, 1819, he was the son of Allan and Maria
Melville. During Herman's childhood he lived in the “good” neighborhoods of New
York City. In 1832 Herman suffered tragedy when his father died after trying to
cope with the stress of debts and misfortunes. After a short time in a business
house in New York City, Herman determined he needed to go to sea. He spent
years traveling on a variety of ships, including whaling ships.
C1. Melville's perspective on life is that God created the universe with an
infinite number of meanings and man is always trying to determine one specific
meaning.
D2. The “lessons” that Melville is likely to weave into his writing are 1. An
exposition on whales and the whaling industry. 2. A commentary on the universe
and human destiny. 3. Thoughts about God and Nature.
III. Characters
B. The protagonist in this book is Ishmael, a Christian, schoolteacher and part-
time sailor. Ishmael's role in the hunt for “Moby Dick” is to interpret what is
happening. He discusses his reasons for going to sea and interprets and looks
for understanding a number of reasons for any specific action where other
characters only understand one reason.
C. It is hard to say what changes take place in Ishmael's personality, since he
is the narrator he doesn't talk about himself, he only talks about what he sees.
D1. Ishmael befriends Queequeg who is a cannibal. Even though Queequeg is very
ugly Ishmael sees that Queequeg has an honest heart, great honor, and a lot of
courage. This friendship had a positive influence on Ishmael's behavior because
it taught him not to judge on outward appearances.
E2. Another relationship that was very short was the relationship between
Ishmael and Captain Ahab. For the first few days aboard the Pequod Ishmael
always saw Ahab in the shadows. When Ishmael finally saw Ahab he had shivers
run through his body. Ishmael felt Ahab's attitude of determination, dedication
and hatred towards “Moby Dick” in Ahab's appearance. This relationship was a
negative relationship because Ishmael now feared Ahab and did not want to
become friends with such an evil person.
F. The conflict that Ishmael experienced was that he saw how Ahab was such an
...ircumstances as he did, believe that revenge is not good and it keeps on going if no one stops the process. Overall, Ishmael eventually learned that revenge does not solve anything and seeking revenge just results in a longer war sustained by the counterproductive concept of vengeance. Additionally, Ishmael learned that by constantly thinking about his culpability, he was just bringing more harm to himself and in the process was unable to create any progress in his own life. Ishmael eventually realized that merely reflecting on his actions did not do anything and to fix and prevent the problems he faced, he would have to take initiative to reach out to the people who could help. By utilizing the idea of forgiveness, Ishmael learned that he could let go of the huge mountain of stress that was bringing him down and prevented him from overcoming the effects of the war.
It is hard to remain innocent during a time of war. Ishmael was an innocent 12 year old boy when the war broke out and the RUF took over his village. He was chased and shot at by the RUF. As a young boy he had to endure seeing people gunned down in front of him and murdered in the most gruesome ways as illustrated by the author when he said, “I had seen heads cut off by machetes, smashed by cement bricks, and rivers filled with so much blood that the water ceased flowing.”
From this point on, the novel is a Socratic dialogue between the narrator and Ishmael, as they seek to uncover “how things came to be this way” in the world. Ishmael claims that the topic of his teachings is “captivity” (33-34). Having spent the majority of his life in some form of captivity, Ishmael has been able to evaluate the subject to learn that humanity is also living under a form of captivity.
Most people who Ishmael came in contact with and himself, had a conflict between trust and survival. This conflict became an effect of the war in which many people suffered because they chose to live over a possible death. Beah retells his traumatic experience that gives countless situations where survival is picked over trust. In a world without war trust and survival can be
Ishmael’s search for revenge ended when he was taken out of the front lines of the war by
Laskowski, Gene L. Masculine Sentimentality in the Early Novels of Herman Melville. Diss. University of Michigan, 1993. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International, 1993. Print.
Throughout her presentation, she explains how public stigmas, once again, cause label avoidance pushing many who need help away from treatment. She then goes on to explain how these stereotyped behaviors cause discrimination towards people with a mental illness from employment to housing which only leads to the creation of more stigmas. Finally, she states how the impact of stigmas is associated with the reduction of self-esteem, overall poor health, and problems with interpersonal relationships (Willits). By using this presentation I am able to connect what we have learned about mental health stigmas to my article. First off, for example, Morris explains how psychiatric units invoke people to imagine a frightening place where insane patients are strapped down and poked and prodded for care (Morris). This stereotypical idea relates to how Willits described general stereotypes associated with mental illness such as crazy and dangerous (Willits). On top of that, Willits explained how these stigmas have negative consequences for patients (Willits). This relates to Morris’s explanation on how the stigma around institutions has caused these units to shut down forcing many people to be homeless or live in jail
Mental illnesses are common today and the stigmas that follow behind it. Stigmas can be created anybody including families, friends, co-workers, or even someone you don 't know. A stigma that is created usually sets a person apart from everybody else such as sexual orientation, gender or physical disabilities. A person with a mental illness is frequently labeled as a stereotype which can create negative attitudes.
Millions of individuals will be affected by poor mental health, although anyone can experience these problems, there are people from certain backgrounds and social situations who put themselves at greater risk; there are many more factors than can influence or worsen the disorder. There are current theoretical models that analyse mental health stigma as a complex theme that involves many features, such as; social environment/backgrounds, stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, behavioural problems and discrimination (Świtaj et al., 2014). There are many authors of different articles that agree that stigmatisation cannot be understood to it full extent without considering the perspective of people with mental illnesses, who ultimately play an important
Mental illness misconceptions construct stigmatization within society. There are many source of mental illness stigma from inadequate information, media, religion, and ethnicity. In their article “Wearing the Label of Mental Illness: Community-Based Participatory Action Research of Mental Illness Stigma”, by Jean Theuer, Nicole Jean-Paul, Kristi Cheyney, Mirka Koro-Ljungberg, and Bruce Stevens illustrate that inadequate information and the media construct negative stereotypes while religion and ethnicity are conciliators of mental illness. The authors conduct a study which focuses on the community level and examines how community member experience stigma associated with mental illness. And what occurs when an individual is labeled with mental illness. The study identified four sources of mental illness stigma. One, inadequate information, leads to dependents on stereotypes. One interviewee explains that “there’s no good place to get information about it in daily life unless you seek it out. I mean no one ever sits down and talks to you about it in school”. Two, the media contributes to negative stereotypes about mental illness. Since Interviewees could not find adequate information about mental illness. They rely on the media as a source of information. Some interviewees did know that the media illustrate the stereotypic mental illness. Emphasizing the high frequency of characters with severe mental illnesses than compared
Mental illness stigma is an issue that plagues many members of society. The consequences are not well known by the public and include, but are not limited to; family discord, job discrimination and social rejection (Feldman & Crandall, 2007). The most common stigma is the assumption every mentally ill person is dangerous to themselves and others. There are many conflicting articles both supporting and refuting this claim.
Ishmael, the narrator, announces his intent to ship aboard a whaling vessel. He has made several voyages as a sailor but none as a whaler. He travels to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he stays in a whalers’ inn. Since the inn is rather full, he has to share a bed with a harpooner from the South Pacific named Queequeg. At first repulsed by Queequeg’s strange habits and shocking appearance, Ishmael eventually comes to appreciate the man’s generosity and kind spirit, and the two decide to seek work on a whaling vessel together.
Mental health can be a sensitive subject to most of society. “In two identical UK public opinion surveys… over 80% [of participants] endors[ed] the statement that ‘most people are embarrassed by mentally ill people’, and about 30% agreeing ‘I am embarrassed by mentally ill persons’” (Byrne 65). People with a mental illness are thought of as including but not limited to: child-like, weak, and even dangerous. This stigma on people with mental illness(es) can have a negative impact on their lives. This stigma can affect their jobs, relationships, treatment, and overall happiness among other things. The stigma surrounding mental illness has been negatively impacting mental health for decades. The public, the media, and people in the mental health
McIntosh, James. "The Mariner's Multiple Quest." New Essays on Moby-Dick or, the Whale. ed. Richard H. Brodhead. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1986.
In brief, steroids should be legalized in professional sports for they can make the games a more exciting experience for society. Also, if all the athletes took steroids all the players would play equally. Sports fans can see who truly is the best player and their true potential. Under proper doctor supervision, steroids can be injected safely. Steroid doping and other have become the biggest scourge of professional sports leagues, and that’s why it may be time they were made legal. Athletes are never going to stop intaking the drugs and banning the drugs in sports will never be successful. We can all choose whether or not to improve and to be the better person or to stay normal.