Response Journal Week 11 - Gabriel

I feel quite accomplished after finishing Moby Dick. It’s nice to be able to tell people that you’ve read Moby Dick, the Great American Novel. I was a bit disappointed, however, because I remember hearing that Ahab kills Moby Dick so as I started sympathizing with Ahab I got excited thinking he was going to fulfill his goal. I really did like the end though. For a while I didn’t sympathize with Ahab because I viewed him as a selfish, monomaniac who was leading a crew of innocent men to their death. In the last few chapters I really started to like Ahab for a variety of reasons. For one thing, I respect him because he let’s nothing deter him from his goal and he shows no fear when chasing Moby Dick even though he is the obvious underdog in that battle. The reader also gets to see Ahab’s normal side on 405 when he and Starbuck have a heart to heart conversation. They both talk about their families and how they miss Nantucket. They both show their sensitive sides, and I was very moved. It’s also interesting how Ahab and Starbuck who both in fact debated killing the other with a musket became so close in the end. They are complete opposites yet in the face of danger they bond.
In Moby Dick there are many instances in which a supernatural event is described, and then later a rational description of the event is given asserting that the event was never supernatural to begin with. The character of Fedallah is never explained and his prophecies turn out to be true, giving the novel a very supernatural aspect. I’m very interested in finding out what Fedallah’s deal is, however, it might just be best left alone. I also wanted to point out how it’s interesting that I found myself rooting for Ahab to kill Moby Dick and how I sympathized with the whalers when Moby Dick should’ve in fact been the protagonist. He does nothing wrong besides fend off the men who are trying to kill him for no reason.
In regard to the project, I am trying to get in touch with Susan Greenfield, my mom’s friend, who is an English Professor at Fordham University. I can also probably set up an interview with my next-door neighbor Fritz Weaver who played Ahab in the BBC’s radio production of Moby Dick. I also want to stop by the Museum of Natural History to see if I can get in touch with any biologists who have read Moby Dick so that we can interview him/her about the Cetology chapter. I also think we should interview Mr. Peterson, of course we’d need to send him an email first and see if he’d be willing to be a part of our documentary.