Herman Melville's Moby-Dick

Success is something that we all strive for. It is part of our inescapable nature that pushes us to move toward some kind of goal, no matter how unattainable it may seem. In the great American novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, Captain Ahab’s goal engulfs him. His goal becomes his obsession. Fulfilling his revenge on the white whale that took his leg was all that Ahab wanted in his final months. He would stop at nothing to reach this goal. After the book gained popularity, the phrase “white whale” was coined meaning a seeming impossible goal that you strived to achieve. To be a white whale this goal had to be your obsession. The idea of reaching this goal has to be what drives you through each day bringing you closer to achieving it as every
His infamous first encounter with the abominable white whale was what set his hatred in motion. The whale had taken his leg and left a void inside of him that nothing but it’s death could fill (or he so thought). As time passed the constant hatred of Moby-Dick evolved into something worse. Moby-Dick began to symbolize everything that was wrong with the world. It was the cause of every one of Ahab's problems. Just as any demagogue does, Ahab uses this as a way to gain supporters in his hunt. Beyond all logic and reason he is able to inspire his crew of whalers to abandon their normal whaling routine and hunt down and kill one specific whale out of pure burning hatred for it. “I see in him outrageous strength, with an inscrutable malice sinewing it. That inscrutable thing is chiefly what I hate; and be the white whale agent, or be the white whale principal, I will wreak that hate upon him. Talk not to me of blasphemy, man; I’d strike the sun if it insulted me."(Melville,179) Coming from the chapter “The Quarter-Deck” this quote not only touches in on Ahab’s hatred for Moby-Dick, but also the whale’s elusiveness. Seen only once by Ahab, the whale is a mysterious and ubiquitous force that will destroy anything that confronts it. It was a challenge like no one on the pequod had ever
But before I could achieve acceptance, I had to complete the application process. a daunting pile of applications, essays and deadlines that would encompass most of a three month period. weeks of stressful forms to fill out paired with seeking letters of recommendation and writing multiple personal statements, I found myself in a state of constant stress. All the while there is an ominous shadow of doubt hanging over my head. “Will I get in anywhere?” was the question that poisoned my brain stunting the process and adding more stress. Instead of moving forward, I seemed to be getting infinitely further away from my goal. However my mind was still on the goal of acceptance. But it was slowly becoming my white whale. I had this one seemingly unattainable goal that was slowly consuming me becoming my sole purpose for existence. School would be a 7 hour period in the day where, if not focusing on my studies, I would have my eyes glued to the Common Application page attempting to make a dent in it. After weeks of writing and filling out applications, the process soon came to an end. The constant work had come to an end but my shadow of doubt remained. I was still just an applicant. I had not been accepted yet and self doubt shrouded over me. Although I seemed to have made it out alive, my stress was still a constant factor. However the day came when I received my first acceptance letter