Moby Dick Book Report
...t in mid-nineteenth century America. The story begins in Massachusetts in New Bedford and Nantucket Island, the chief centers of the American whaling industry. From there, the setting of the novel shifts to the whaling ship Pequod as it cruises around the globe. The chief settings of the novel become the vast Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Moby Dick is told by Ishmael, a young man who wants to go to sea as a sailor to seek adventure and excitement. He signs on the whaling ship, Pequod, along with his newfound Indian friend, Queequeg, whom he has met one night at the Spouter Inn in New Bedford. Queequeg is a native of the Fiji islands and an expert harpooner. The captain of the ship, the dark brooding Ahab, is obsessed with hunting a giant white sperm whale, Moby Dick. Some years ago during an encounter at sea, Moby Dick had bitten off Ahab’s leg. Thirsting for revenge, the one-legged Ahab decides to hunt the whale down. Thus, Ishmael, along with the ship's crew, is caught under the spell of Ahab’s obsession for Moby Dick. The major conflict in Moby Dick is between Captain Ahab and Moby Dick. Moby Dick many years ago bit off Captain Ahab’s leg. Ever since then Ahab has wanted revenge. Eventually the two meet, and Ahab realizes the great whale can’t be killed when he throws a harpoon into the whale and nothing happens. In the end the Ahab drowns and Moby Dick destroy...