Starbuck Makes Me Mad
According to Dictionary.com, the term mad can be defined in many different ways. A person
who is mad can be mentally ill or deranged, overcome by desire or eagerness, greatly provoked or
irritated, extremely foolish or unwise, or wildly excited or confused. (Dictionary.com, 2015). In
Herman Melville s book Moby Dick, Captain Ahab states, What I ve dared, I ve willed; and what
I ve willed, I ll do! They think me mad Starbuck does; but I m demoniac, I am maddened! That
wild madness that s only calm to comprehend itself! The prophecy was that I should be
dismembered; and Aye! I lost this leg. I now prophecy that I will dismember my dismember. Now
then, be the prophet and the fulfiller one. That more than ye, ye great gods, ever were. ... Show more
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If using the definitions of overcome by determination or eagerness, deranged, and foolish and
unwise, then it would be easy to say yes Captain Ahab was mad. Supported by observation of
crewmembers of the Pequod and the soliloquy of Ahab himself, it is, again, easy to agree Ahab
was mad. In the case of Moby Dick, Captain Ahab was overcome by determination and eagerness
to kill the white spermwhale, Moby Dick, who caused Captain Abab to lose his leg during their
encounter. Captain Ahab was so focused on meeting the whale again that he appeared deranged
and at times foolish and unwise. He put the lives of his crewmembers in jeopardy because of his
infatuation of killing this whale. Not having the concern of others can also be a definition of
someone who is mad. Captain Ahab in Herman Melville s, Moby Dick, was, indeed,
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