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Captain Ahab's Insanity In Moby Dick

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“There is no folly of the beast of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men.”(Melville, 342) So claims Ishmael in the American epic, Moby Dick, authored by Herman Melville in 1851. This lengthy novel, feared and hated by countless high school students, details the adventures of a whaling ship, the Pequod, and her mysterious captain, Ahab. A great white whale, Moby Dick, on a previous voyage, ripped off Ahab’s leg and the now one-legged captain is out to get revenge. Once the crew discovers their captain’s monomaniacal desire to kill Moby Dick, they believe him to be mad. Ultimately, Melville uses Ahab’s voyage to show that the quest for revenge is a madness brought on by one’s own choice.
First, Captain Ahab 's relationship with the cabin-boy, Pip, casts a light on Ahab’s madness and contrasts the two seemingly mad characters which the Manxman sailor describes as "one daft with strength, the other daft with weakness"(Melville, 457). Ahab is "daft with strength" for his obsession is with the idea that a mere sperm whale, which he could turn into oil in a few days’ work, is stronger than himself. He is furious that Moby Dick …show more content…

Both Ahab and Pip are able to understand each other through their madness, yet each has very different views on the situation of the Pequod and Moby Dick. Ahab resolves not to follow his conscience, while Pip tries to warn him in vain. In the end, Ahab decision to follow this dark road of revenge and hate, ended in not only his own death, but also the destruction of his ship and crew, excepting for Ishmael. Just as Ahab 's madness was a choice he willingly made for himself, so can all human hearts choose whether they will embrace the madness of the path of

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