Bill Federer writes:
“There she blows!” cried the lookout, sighting Moby Dick.
Captain Ahab, driven by revenge, sailed the seas to capture this great white whale, who had bitten off his leg in a previous encounter.
The crew of the ship Pequod included Quaker chief mate Starbuck, second mate Stubb, Captain Boomer, a tattooed Polynesian harpooner named Queequeg, and Ishmael, the teller of the tale.
Ahab finally caught up with Moby Dick in the Pacific Ocean.
As fate would have it, when the harpoon struck Moby Dick, the rope flew out so fast it entangled Ahab, pulling him under.
This classic was written by Herman Melville, born AUGUST 1, 1819.
Continue reading: William J Federer’s American Minute for August 1st.
I read Melville’s classic during a vacation on the east coast where I visited places from the story like the Seamen’s Bethel in New Bedford and the island of Nantucket. If you’ve never read this classic story, give Netflix a rest this weekend and get a copy. The book is in the public domain so you can download it at no cost and read it on the very device you’re using now via Kindle software…
Related articles
- We Are All Aboard the Pequod (truthdig.com)
- The Whiteness of the Whale (tennyson888.wordpress.com)
- KEY FACTS of Moby Dick (cinthiatanner2.wordpress.com)
- Moby Dick or The Whale by Herman Melville (rosemarysbookreview.wordpress.com)
Filed under: History Tagged: Herman Melville, History, Ishmael, Moby Dick, Pacific Ocean, Pequod, Quaker, Queequeg, United States
