Mar 02 2010
Ahab’s last words
“Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!”
Ahab speaks these words- his last, after Moby Dick destroys The Pequod in the last chapter before the epiloque. During this chapter the pace of the plot has significantly picked up and the sense of the looming tragedy is very heightened. Like many other words from Ahab, these again show how devoted he is to the chase and killing of Moby Dick. As even in his last words, he does not show any signs that his plan may have not been such a good idea. Even with his last breaths he is damning and cursing Moby Dick, solidifying his hate of the whale. It is also interesting that he says “sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool” because shortly after this, The Pequod goes down into a vortex, which in a sense, is a common pool where most of the crew drowns and dies. Ahab also cries that “from hell’s heart I stab at thee” and this made me wonder if the thought that he was going to hell, and was vowing that even in the afterlife he would chase Moby Dick. Though Ahab admits that the whale has one since it is “all destroying” he also says that it is “unconquering” and in this way, in his last words Ahab is refusing to let the whale defeat his spirit and as a final act of defiance curses the whale with his last breaths.
2 Responses to “Ahab’s last words”
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This was the climax of Ahab’s craziness in my opinion, and I really felt bad for the guy. All the while he seemed possessed of this irrational hatred that he was aware of and couldn’t stop. I hope he didn’t go to hell for that. For leading hundreds of people to their death maybe though.
I’m jealous that I didn’t think of blogging on this myself. How important, Ahab’s last words; and how fitting and characteristic of him they are. I love how, if I am reading correctly, he says that he would stab at that white monster even from the deepest depths of hell. This reminds me of one of my Ahab quotes, when he says to Starbuck in chapter 36, “Talk not to me of blasphemy man; I’d strike the sun if it insulted me.” This guy doesn’t take sh*t from anyone. Even as he is about to be dragged to his watery grave, for hate’s sake he spits his last breath at that Whale. A whale! A swimming tub of blubber (no offense, Moby)! What a crazy, monomaniacal man. And what a fitting final outburst from him.