The Whiteness Of The Whale

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The Great White Whale and its Many Meanings Herman Melville, in his epic novel Moby-Dick, utilizes the symbolism of the color of the Great White Whale to demonstrate his theme of duality. However, Captain Ahab tragically had a single mind set towards Moby Dick, as he believed that the whale was the symbol of the world’s evil and had to be destroyed. On the other hand, Ishmael sees that the color white can mean many various and opposing things. It would be dangerous to settle upon any one single meaning. In the chapter, The Whiteness of the Whale, Melville explains the importance of duality of meaning in the world, as opposed to man’s (and Ahab’s) desire to see only one meaning in any one thing. Melville utilizes the symbol of the color white to show us that, no one thing means only one thing. Instead, the color white and the meaning of all things depends upon the experiences and perception of the person viewing that object. Ahab viewed the White Whale only as the symbol of all evil in the universe, which eventually leads him to his downfall. On the day that Ahab threw his harpoon into the White Whale and Moby Dick ate his leg, Ahab decided that the Great White Whale meant only one thing, evil. From then on Ahab decided that there was something unusual about this whale, as if it had hidden inside him all the evil in the world. Since Moby Dick attacked Ahab, he then had cherished a wild vindictiveness against t...

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