Analysis of Obsession and Fixation in Moby-Dick

In the novel Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, the relationship between Captain Ahab and Ishmael’s perspectives of Moby Dick is defined as obsession and fixation.

To Captain Ahab, Moby Dick is an obsession. It is, like most obsessions, unhealthy and deep-rooted in his thoughts and actions. Ahab’s obsession reveals itself in his behavior towards the whale, going so far as to assign a name to it as a way to further his obsession into something palpable. Because Captain Ahab has a history with Moby Dick, it makes sense for his view of Moby Dick to be an obsession. Moby Dick had taken Ahab’s leg from him, justifying a reasonable hatred from Ahab. However, Ahab continues his pursuit of the whale after the damage is already done. In chapter 41, told from Ahab’s point of view, Ahab “came to identify with him, not only all his bodily woes, but all his intellectual and spiritual exasperations” (200). Ahab begins to associate Moby Dick with anything and everything weighing him down and shapes the whale into an embodiment of evil. The captain goes nearly insane after his first encounter with Moby Dick and is permanently changed as a result. This is the origin of his obsession with getting revenge on the whale. Ahab also convinces his crew into searching for the white whale and all but abandons the main reason the Pequod set sail. He finds justification and validity through the sailors. They cheer and band together to hunt for Moby Dick, which is enabling Ahab’s violent and unhealthy fixation on his goal. Captain Ahab wants to see Moby Dick fall, no matter the cost. Moby Dick was once a whale that transformed into an incarnation of evil to Captain Ahab and the sailors on the Pequod.

To Ishmael, Moby Dick is continuously defined and influenced by Ahab’s views of the whale. Unlike Ahab, Ishmael sees Moby Dick as “the whale”; it is not just any whale, but it is also not something he had come into contact with before as Ahab has. Thus, Ishmael cannot make his own distinctions between other whales and Moby Dick yet, so he resorts to defining Moby Dick at the surface level: a white whale. In clearer terms, Ishmael sees the whale as a point of fixation. His view is not an unhealthy pursuit as Ahab’s views are. Rather, it is part of a pursuit of adventure, which also led Ishmael into whaling itself. In chapter 42, told from Ishmael’s perspective, Ishmael looks at a characteristic of Moby Dick and expands his views from there. He uses something he is familiar with to define one of the sole aspects of Moby Dick that he knows. Ishmael attributes Moby Dick’s whiteness to a beauty of nature, yet it is something he is appalled by. He sees the passion in the other members of the crew when Ahab introduces a new goal to them; he cheers when the others cheer, but not for the same reasons. Ishmael follows along with the other sailors to go along with the crowd.

Ahab uses his position as the leader on the Pequod to steer his crew in a direction most desirable to him and in favor of his obsession. Influencing and influenced by the sailors, Ahab pursues his goal ceaselessly. Ishmael, as a sailor, is perpetually influenced by Ahab and his views; Ishmael is constantly redefining the whale the longer he witnesses Ahab and the crew’s behavior. To Ahab, Moby Dick is a pursuit of a goal that must be attained by any means necessary. To Ishmael, Moby Dick is a whale that cannot yet be understood with certainty but allows for amendments within his mentality in his adventure.