captain ahab

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• commandsPequod

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  Captain Ahab is the designated captain of the Pequod, though not present during the narrator's interview.

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  Captain Ahab is the Captain of this ship.

• has_prosthetic_limbIvory Leg

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  Captain Ahab uses an ivory leg as a prosthetic limb, replacing one lost in a past incident.

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  barbaric white leg upon which he partly stood

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• developed_vindictiveness_againstMoby Dick

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  Following the almost fatal encounter where he lost his leg, Ahab cherished a wild vindictiveness against Moby Dick.

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  Ahab had cherished a wild vindictiveness against the whale, all the more fell for that in his frantic morbidness he at last came to identify with him

• personified_evil_inMoby Dick

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  In his delirium, Ahab transferred the idea of an intangible malignity to the abhorred white whale, pitting himself against it as the embodiment of all evil.

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  deliriously transferring its idea to the abhorred white whale, he pitted himself, all mutilated, against it.

• usedLine-knife

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  Captain Ahab seized a line-knife from his broken prow and blindly dashed at Moby Dick.

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  one captain, seizing the line-knife from his broken prow, had dashed at the whale, as an Arkansas duellist at his foe

• sailed_aroundPatagonian Cape

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  Ahab and his anguish lay stretched together in a hammock for months, rounding the Patagonian Cape during his recovery.

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  rounding in mid winter that dreary, howling Patagonian Cape; then it was, that his torn body and gashed soul bled into one another

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• referenced_by4th Nantucket Sailor

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  I heard old Ahab tell him he must always kill a squall, something as they burst a waterspout with a pistol—fire your ship right into it!

• referenced_byEnglish Sailor

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  admires

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  Blood! but that old man’s a grand old cove! We are the lads to hunt him up his whale!

• referenced_byIshmael

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  I, Ishmael, was one of that crew; my shouts had gone up with the rest; my oath had been welded with theirs; and stronger I shouted, and more did I hammer and clinch my oath, because of the dread in my soul. A wild, mystical, sympathetical feeling was in me; Ahab’s quenchless feud seemed mine.

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• focused onLife

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  During the typhoon, Captain Ahab's primary concern was the preservation of life for all hands on board.

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  Life was what Captain Ahab and I was thinking of

• experienced incident atCape Horn

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  Elijah alludes to a significant event that happened to Captain Ahab off Cape Horn, where he lay 'like dead'.

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  nothing about that thing that happened to him off Cape Horn

• foughtSpaniard

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  Captain Ahab was involved in a violent confrontation with a Spaniard before an altar in Santa.

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  deadly skrimmage with the Spaniard afore the altar in Santa?

• usedSilver Calabash

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  Elijah mentions a mysterious past event where Captain Ahab spat into a silver calabash.

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  the silver calabash he spat into?

• lost leg due toProphecy of Ahab's Leg Loss

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  The loss of Captain Ahab's leg was a fulfillment of a prior prophecy.

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  losing his leg last voyage, according to the prophecy.

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• studiesSea Charts

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  Captain Ahab meticulously examines and traces additional courses on large sea charts in his cabin.

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  bringing out a large wrinkled roll of yellowish sea charts, spread them before him on his screwed-down table. Then seating himself before it, you would have seen him intently study the various lines and shadings which there met his eye; and with slow but steady pencil trace additional courses over spaces that before were blank

• refers_toLog-books (Whaling)

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  Ahab consults old log-books for historical data on whale sightings and captures to aid his chart studies.

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  At intervals, he would refer to piles of old log-books beside him, wherein were set down the seasons and places in which, on various former voyages of various ships, sperm whales had been captured or seen

• pursuesMonomaniac Thought (Ahab's)

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  Ahab's extensive chart studies are undertaken with the goal of accomplishing his obsessive, singular quest.

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  Ahab was threading a maze of currents and eddies, with a view to the more certain accomplishment of that monomaniac thought of his soul

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• inquired_aboutMoby Dick

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  Captain Ahab urgently questioned Captain Mayhew about any sightings or information regarding the White Whale.

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  “Hast thou seen the White Whale?” demanded Ahab

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• lost_leg_toAccursed Whale

  description

  Captain Ahab lost his leg during a previous voyage, an injury inflicted by a specific, 'accursed' whale.

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  lost his leg last voyage by that accursed whale

• has_wifeAhab's Wife

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  Captain Ahab is married to a sweet, resigned girl, though they have been wedded for less than three voyages.

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  he has a wife—not three voyages wedded—a sweet, resigned girl.

• has_childAhab's Child

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  Captain Ahab is a father to a child, which the speaker believes indicates his underlying humanity.

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  by that sweet girl that old man has a child: hold ye then there can be any utter, hopeless harm in Ahab? No, no, my lad; stricken,

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• is_captain_ofPequod

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  Captain Peleg confirms that Captain Ahab is the commanding officer of the whaling ship Pequod.

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  Captain Ahab is the Captain of this ship.

• usesLance (Ahab's)

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  Captain Ahab is known for having fixed his fiery lance in mightier and stranger foes than whales, indicating his prowess and past battles.

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  fixed his fiery lance in mightier, stranger foes than whales.

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• marshalsPequod's forces

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  Captain Ahab would marshal his forces to descend on the whales, with the headsmen acting as captains of companies.

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  Captain Ahab would probably marshal his forces to descend on the whales,

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• refuses_aid_toCaptain Gardiner

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  Captain Ahab sternly refuses Captain Gardiner's earnest plea for help in his search for lost children, prioritizing his own hunt.

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  Captain Gardiner, I will not do it. Even now I lose time. Good-bye, good-bye. God bless ye, man, and may I forgive myself, but I must go. Mr. Starbuck, look at the binnacle watch, and in three minutes from this present instant warn off all strangers: then brace forward again, and let the ship sail as before.”

• commandsStarbuck

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  Captain Ahab orders Starbuck to ensure all strangers are warned off the ship after his interaction with Captain Gardiner.

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  Mr. Starbuck, look at the binnacle watch, and in three minutes from this present instant warn off all strangers: then brace forward again, and let the ship sail as before.”

• prevents_from_followingPip

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  Captain Ahab firmly tells Pip that he must not follow him, believing his own 'malady' makes his presence unsuitable for Pip.

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• givesScrewed Chair

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  Captain Ahab offers his 'screwed chair' to Pip, instructing him to sit there as if he were the captain.

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  Aye, lad, thou shalt sit here in my own screwed chair; another screw to it, thou must be.”

• hasAhab's Malady

  description

  Captain Ahab acknowledges his 'malady' (his obsession with Moby Dick) and states that for his hunt, this malady becomes his 'most desired health'.

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  There is that in thee, poor lad, which I feel too curing to my malady. Like cures like; and for this hunt, my malady becomes my most desired health.

• wearsAhab's Hat

  description

  Captain Ahab consistently wears his hat 'slouched heavily over his eyes', making his gaze and true state difficult for the crew to discern.

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  his hat slouched heavily over his eyes; so that however motionless he stood, however the days and nights were added on, that he had not swung in his hammock; yet hidden beneath that slouching hat, they could never tell unerringly whether, for all this, his eyes were really closed at times

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• sufferedCape Horn fit

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  Captain Ahab experienced a significant incident known as the Cape Horn fit, which is a source of speculation and wonder.

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  and the Cape Horn fit;

• ownsSilver calabash

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  Captain Ahab possesses a distinctive silver calabash, which is one of the mysterious items associated with him.

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  and the silver calabash;

• will_commandPequod

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  Captain Ahab is anticipated to be the absolute dictator of the Pequod once the ship sails.

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  the man who was to be the absolute dictator of it, so soon as the ship sailed out upon the open sea.

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• threatenedStarbuck

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  Starbuck recalls that Captain Ahab had previously pointed the studded stock musket at him.

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  He would have shot me once,” he murmured, “yes, there’s the very musket that he pointed at me

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• referenced_byFedallah

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  tries to bargain with

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  the devil there is trying to come round him, and get him to swap away his silver watch, or his soul, or something of that sort, and then he’ll surrender Moby Dick.

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• referenced_byPequod

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  that same voyage when thou went mate with Captain Ahab

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• has_prosthesisIvory Leg

  description

  Captain Ahab uses an ivory leg as a prosthetic replacement for his lost limb.

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• was_dismasted_offJapan

  description

  Captain Ahab lost his leg, an event referred to as being 'dismasted', in the waters near Japan.

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  Aye, he was dismasted off Japan,” said the old Gay-Head Indian once; “but like his dismasted craft, he shipped another mast without coming home for it

• steadies_leg_inAuger Hole

  description

  Captain Ahab steadies his bone leg by inserting it into an auger hole on the quarter-deck.

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  His bone leg steadied in that hole

• holds_ontoMizzen Shrouds

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  Captain Ahab supports himself by holding onto a mizzen shroud while standing on deck.

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  one arm elevated, and holding by a shroud

• withdrew_toAhab's Cabin

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  Captain Ahab withdrew into his cabin after his first visit in the air.

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  he withdrew into his cabin

• usesIvory Stool

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  Captain Ahab occasionally sits upon an ivory stool he owns while on deck.

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  or seated upon an ivory stool he had

• views_asBerth

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  Captain Ahab views his berth as being like 'going down into one’s tomb' or a 'grave-dug berth'.

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  It feels like going down into one’s tomb,”—he would mutter to himself—“for an old captain like me to be descending this narrow scuttle, to go to my grave-dug berth

• accesses_viaCabin-Scuttle

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  Captain Ahab descends through the narrow cabin-scuttle to go to his berth.

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  descending this narrow scuttle, to go to my grave-dug berth

• gripsIron Banister

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  Captain Ahab grips the iron banister to help his crippled way as he emerges from below deck.

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  gripping at the iron banister, to help his crippled way

• confrontsStubb

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  Captain Ahab angrily confronts Stubb after Stubb's suggestion about muffling his ivory heel.

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  Am I a cannon-ball, Stubb,” said Ahab, “that thou wouldst wad me that fashion? But go thy ways; I had forgot. Below to thy nightly grave; where such as ye sleep between shrouds, to use ye to the filling one at last.—Down, dog, and kennel!

• intimidatesStubb

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  Captain Ahab's overbearing terrors in his aspect cause Stubb to involuntarily retreat.

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  Ahab advanced upon him with such overbearing terrors in his aspect, that Stubb involuntarily retreated

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• was_unaware_ofThe Town-Ho's Story

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  The secret part of the Town-Ho's story never reached the ears of Captain Ahab or his mates.

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  never reached the ears of Captain Ahab or his mates.

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