Spotlight on the Classics - Moby Dick

By Edward Correia

What makes Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, one of the greatest American novels? It is rich, almost too rich, in detail. When the rowboats are lowered, we feel the tension as the crew rows madly to the hunt. When the whale is lashed to the side of the Pequod and sliced apart, blood splatters over us. We see the blubber melted down and the whale’s head drained to make candle wax. A short rest and the voyage goes on.

But we do not read Moby Dick to learn about whaling or to feel the rush that comes when a harpoon is launched. We read it to watch obsession from a distance. Ahab, entangled by harpoon lines, reaches out in a death wave and beckons the crew to follow. They care nothing about the white whale but they are pulled down, too. We know there is a tiny dark spot in our psyche that could, under certain conditions, lead to an overpowering desire that might produce tragic results. But we cannot let obsession destroy our lives, can we? Relieved, we close the book and walk away. Our life goes on. We are not insane.

Call us the public. We see President Bush’s obsession with Iraq. Does he walk the halls of the White House at night imagining the victory we were promised years ago? Thousands of lives lost, madness in the streets of Iraq every day, no end in sight. Ensnared in his legacy and past promises, Bush beckons us to follow. Surely, he is not insane, like Ahab, is he?