Maybe Ahab is the protagonist? The story is all about him and his quest to kill the whale. Every conflict seems to be about Ahab. Ahab verses the crew. Ahab verses Starbuck. Ahab verses fate. Ahab verses himself. Everything seems to be centered around Ahab and his madness. Without Ahab's desire to kill the whale, the voyage and the whole story wouldn't even have happened.
Every form of literature based off of Moby Dick centers Ahab to be the protagonist. However, I don't believe this to be the case. In fact, I think that Ishmael is the protagonist. Although he's not involved with Moby the whale, he still tells the entire story of the voyage through his own perspective, which shows his progress in rediscovering himself. He's gaining a lot of life experience from the trials and people on the Pequod. At first he was an unfulfilled schoolmaster. This voyage is his path to finding a new Ishmael.
I think that captain Ahab is the protagonist because the central conflict is his quest for revenge against the White Whale. Ahab is the protagonist over Moby because if Moby were to succeed, it would endanger all of the crew, including the narrator. I think that Ahab is also an antagonist, as Starbuck told him to beware of himself. His monomaniac obsession will ultimately lead to his defeat by the whale. --callmedick
I agree, Ahab seems to be the protagonist. The book goes more in depth with his conflicts, both internal and external, that those of any other character.
Is there anything wrong with having two protagonists? I believe both Ahab and Ishmael share that role, and one is just more prevalent than the other. Ishmael is the protagonist in the sense that he narrates the story and it is essentially a novel about HIS experiences on The Pequod. On the other hand, Ahab is the protagonist because he is the star of Ishmael's narrative. The protagonist of the story within a story, if you will. So really both are the protagonists and trade off on that role throughout the novel. The reader learns of BOTH of their inner conflicts, their individual personalities, and their worlds not just one.
Ahab is the definite protagonist. A protagonist is defined to be the central figure in a story, and one can easily see how Ahab's story and journey is the focus and drives the plot. As Oco said earlier, "the central conflict is his quest for revenge against the White Whale".
Ishmael is the narrator and main character in the novel. But, just like an author, he is telling the tale of Ahab's madness, not himself. Even though an author writes and therefore narrates a plotline, he/she is not considered the protagonist unless the work is a personal narrative. Through Ishmael's eyes, readers follow Ahab.
6 comments:
Maybe Ahab is the protagonist? The story is all about him and his quest to kill the whale. Every conflict seems to be about Ahab. Ahab verses the crew. Ahab verses Starbuck. Ahab verses fate. Ahab verses himself. Everything seems to be centered around Ahab and his madness. Without Ahab's desire to kill the whale, the voyage and the whole story wouldn't even have happened.
Peter Coffin
Every form of literature based off of Moby Dick centers Ahab to be the protagonist. However, I don't believe this to be the case. In fact, I think that Ishmael is the protagonist. Although he's not involved with Moby the whale, he still tells the entire story of the voyage through his own perspective, which shows his progress in rediscovering himself. He's gaining a lot of life experience from the trials and people on the Pequod. At first he was an unfulfilled schoolmaster. This voyage is his path to finding a new Ishmael.
Snowflake
I think that captain Ahab is the protagonist because the central conflict is his quest for revenge against the White Whale. Ahab is the protagonist over Moby because if Moby were to succeed, it would endanger all of the crew, including the narrator. I think that Ahab is also an antagonist, as Starbuck told him to beware of himself. His monomaniac obsession will ultimately lead to his defeat by the whale. --callmedick
I agree, Ahab seems to be the protagonist. The book goes more in depth with his conflicts, both internal and external, that those of any other character.
-Essex Haunt
Is there anything wrong with having two protagonists? I believe both Ahab and Ishmael share that role, and one is just more prevalent than the other. Ishmael is the protagonist in the sense that he narrates the story and it is essentially a novel about HIS experiences on The Pequod. On the other hand, Ahab is the protagonist because he is the star of Ishmael's narrative. The protagonist of the story within a story, if you will. So really both are the protagonists and trade off on that role throughout the novel. The reader learns of BOTH of their inner conflicts, their individual personalities, and their worlds not just one.
~laballenablanca
Ahab is the definite protagonist. A protagonist is defined to be the central figure in a story, and one can easily see how Ahab's story and journey is the focus and drives the plot. As Oco said earlier, "the central conflict is his quest for revenge against the White Whale".
Ishmael is the narrator and main character in the novel. But, just like an author, he is telling the tale of Ahab's madness, not himself. Even though an author writes and therefore narrates a plotline, he/she is not considered the protagonist unless the work is a personal narrative. Through Ishmael's eyes, readers follow Ahab.
Diane Shao
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