This position holds that the White Whale in Moby-Dick symbolises all the evil in the world. It argues that Ahab projects onto the creature the concentrated malice of existence, and that the novel's imagery — especially the dread of its whiteness — casts the whale as the embodiment of universal evil.
Supporting arguments · 3
- Moby Dick Represents RevengeCaptain Ahab's quest for revenge consumes him.
- Moby Dick Represents EvilThe white whale Moby Dick is the subject of Captain Ahab's revenge. Ahab is so angry at the whale for taking his leg from him, that he will stop at nothing to get him killed. The whale has Captain Ahab so obsessed with revenge that the man cannot even sleep in his bed. That is how much the evil has taken over Ahab's life. At the end of the novel, Captain Ahab and the entire crew are killed, except for Ishmael. The evil took over them all. That shows the destruction of evil and revenge.
- The whiteness of the whale in Moby Dick symbolizes universal evil