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A Whale Of A Problem

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A Whale Of A Problem
A Whale of a Problem
How could humans feel no remorse killing a whale, a beautifully intelligent creature, just for their own good, unless the whale performed an unforgivable action? Moby Dick was a whale that had a thirst for blood that only humans could supply. The captain of the ship that was searching for Moby Dick, Captain Ahab, had encountered the whale once before and had his leg eaten by Moby Dick. The ominous nature of the whale and the haunting setting are the traits construe American Gothic literature. This type of literature is defined by curses and prophecies, mysterious characters, intense emotion, discouraging weather, and more. The most evident traits from American Gothic literature in Moby Dick are the mysterious characters, the gloomy settings, and the curses and prophecies told throughout the story; each of these defining traits contributes to the overall mood of the story that truly makes it a piece of American Gothic literature.
One of the most prominent traits of American Gothic literature shown in Moby Dick is the use of mysterious characters to have the audience draw their own conclusions about who they are and what they are included for. The most notable is Elijah, an old man who prophesizes that only one man aboard the Pequod will survive. Not much information is …show more content…
One curse in this movie is when one shipmate is climbing a ladder and exclaims, “May God sink the lot of you!” This is a curse because the man who said this wishes death upon the ship and everyone on it, and in the end, the ship is sunk. The biggest prophecy of this story is Elijah’s prophecy that of all of the people on the ship, only one man will survive. His prophecy becomes true in the end and it is the only prophecy spoken that comes true. These prophecies and curses are the most prominent trait of American Gothic literature shown in this
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