--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Captain Ahab was a man possessed with an…" description: "\"Captain Ahab was a man possessed with an obsessional drive to pursue the white whale which had harmed him - which had torn his leg out - to the ends of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/093/edward-said-6412_ahab_captain-ahab-was-a-man-possessed-with-an_3053044.jpg" --- # Captain Ahab was a man possessed with an obsessional drive… ![“Captain Ahab was a man possessed with an obsessional drive to pursue the white whale which had harmed him - which had torn his leg out - to the ends of the Earth, no matter what happened. In the final scene of the novel, Captain Ahab is being borne out to sea, wrapped around the white whale with…” quote by Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/093/edward-said-6412_ahab_captain-ahab-was-a-man-possessed-with-an_3053044.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/093/edward-said-6412_ahab_captain-ahab-was-a-man-possessed-with-an_3053044.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/093/edward-said-6412_ahab_captain-ahab-was-a-man-possessed-with-an_3053044.jpg) > “Captain Ahab was a man possessed with an obsessional drive to pursue the white whale which had harmed him - which had torn his leg out - to the ends of the Earth, no matter what happened. In the final scene of the novel, Captain Ahab is being borne out to sea, wrapped around the white whale with the rope of his own harpoon and going obviously to his death. It was a scene of almost suicidal finality.” [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Obsession drives destructive pursuit; Ahab’s fixation on the whale leads to self‑destruction, illustrating the perils of single‑minded vengeance. **In simple terms:** Obsession can destroy you. Key Takeaway Beware obsessive goals. Themes obsession destruction revenge Mood cautionary dramatic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal vendettas - career ambitions - political movements Key Concepts literature psychology ethics Questions to Reflect On - What drives your relentless pursuits? - When does determination become harmful? A Different Perspective Obsession may also fuel perseverance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ahab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ahab/) [Captain Ahab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/captain-ahab/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Finality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finality/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Whales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whales/) ## Related quotes > [“Ahab is for ever Ahab, man. This whole act's immutably decreed. 'Twas rehearsed by thee and me a billion years before this ocean rolled.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/ahab-is-for-ever-ahab-man-this-whole-act-s-immutably-decreed-twas/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [As Herman Melville wrote of that seagoing monster of a man Captain Ahab, “All mortal greatness is but disease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-philbrick/as-herman-melville-wrote-of-that-seagoing-monster-of-a-man-captain/) [Nathaniel Philbrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-philbrick/) > [“She felt like Captain Ahab, for the first time sighting his great white whale.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/she-felt-like-captain-ahab-for-the-first-time-sighting-his-great/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“one captain, seizing the line-knife from his broken prow, had dashed at the whale, as an Arkansas duelist at his foe, blindly seeking with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/one-captain-seizing-the-line-knife-from-his-broken-prow-had-dashed-at/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Captain Ahab: I do not sleep, I die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby-dick/captain-ahab-i-do-not-sleep-i-die/) Moby Dick > [Captain Ahab drowned, he reminded himself; it was the trimmer, Ishmael, who survived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/captain-ahab-drowned-he-reminded-himself-it-was-the-trimmer-ishmael/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Captain Ahab was neither my first husband nor my last.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sena-jeter-naslund/captain-ahab-was-neither-my-first-husband-nor-my-last/) [Sena Jeter Naslund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sena-jeter-naslund/) > [“Vengeance on a dumb brute!" cried Starbuck, "that simply smote thee from blindest instinct! Madness! To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/vengeance-on-a-dumb-brute-cried-starbuck-that-simply-smote-thee-from/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“Long ago, in a town called Nantucket in the state of Massachusetts, there lived an old, eccentric sea captain named Ahab.  He was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-james/long-ago-in-a-town-called-nantucket-in-the-state-of-massachusetts/) Max James > [“His three boats stove around him, and oars and men both whirling in the eddies; one captain, seizing the line-knife from his broken prow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/his-three-boats-stove-around-him-and-oars-and-men-both-whirling-in/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“If Jack Dylan was Captain Ahab, Bart Breitner was Moby Dick. Jack felt exhilarated, as Ahab must have felt when he finally encountered the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-m-bello/if-jack-dylan-was-captain-ahab-bart-breitner-was-moby-dick-jack-felt/) [Mark M. Bello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-m-bello/) > [“To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab, seems blasphemous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/to-be-enraged-with-a-dumb-thing-captain-ahab-seems-blasphemous/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“Mara, remember how you kicked sand into that neighbor child’s eyes? I yelled at you and made you apologize in your best dress, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-maria-machado/mara-remember-how-you-kicked-sand-into-that-neighbor-child-s-eyes-i/) [Carmen Maria Machado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-maria-machado/) > [“Every time Elvis sings, he makes a bargain with the devil -- just like Captain Ahab in MOBY DICK!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greil-marcus/every-time-elvis-sings-he-makes-a-bargain-with-the-devil-just-like/) [Greil Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greil-marcus/) > [So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/so-ahab-went-up-to-eat-and-to-drink-and-elijah-went-up-to-the-top-of/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) ## More by Edward Said > [Beginning is not only a kind of action. It is also a frame of mind, a kind of work, an attitude, a consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/beginning-is-not-only-a-kind-of-action-it-is-also-a-frame-of-mind-a/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [It's very hard, for example, to justify the thirty-four-year occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It's very hard to justify 140 Israeli settlements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/it-s-very-hard-for-example-to-justify-the-thirty-four-year-occupation/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ \[9/11\] was bloody-minded destruction for no other reason than to do it. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/9-11-was-bloody-minded-destruction-for-no-other-reason-than-to-do-it/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Look at situations as contingent, not as inevitable, look at them as the result of a series of historical choices made by men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/look-at-situations-as-contingent-not-as-inevitable-look-at-them-as/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [I was one of the first people in the Palestinian world, in the late 1970s, to say that there is no military option, either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/i-was-one-of-the-first-people-in-the-palestinian-world-in-the-late/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Take a young man from Gaza living in the most horrendous conditions - most of it imposed by Israel - who straps dynamite around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/take-a-young-man-from-gaza-living-in-the-most-horrendous-conditions/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ \[One task of intellectuals is\] to break down the stereotypes and reductive categories that are . . . limiting to human thought and communication. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/one-task-of-intellectuals-is-to-break-down-the-stereotypes-and/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [I have never known what is Arabic or English, or which one was really mine beyond any doubt. What I do know, however, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/i-have-never-known-what-is-arabic-or-english-or-which-one-was-really/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/every-single-empire-in-its-official-discourse-has-said-that-it-is-not/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ The just response to this terrible event \[9/11\] should be to go immediately to the world community, the United Nations. The rule of international… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/the-just-response-to-this-terrible-event-9-11-should-be-to-go/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Since when does a militarily occupied people have the responsibility for a peace movement?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/since-when-does-a-militarily-occupied-people-have-the-responsibility/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Refuse to allow yourself to become a vegetable that simply absorbs information, pre-packaged, pre-ideologized , because no message.. is anything but an ideological package…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/refuse-to-allow-yourself-to-become-a-vegetable-that-simply-absorbs/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [No cause, no God, no abstract idea can justify the mass slaughter of innocents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/no-cause-no-god-no-abstract-idea-can-justify-the-mass-slaughter-of/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [What we must eliminate are systems of representation that carry with them the authority which has become repressive because it doesn't permit or make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/what-we-must-eliminate-are-systems-of-representation-that-carry-with/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Part of the main plan of imperialism... is that we will give you your history, we will write it for you, we will re-order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/part-of-the-main-plan-of-imperialism-is-that-we-will-give-you-your/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) [Explore all 97 Edward Said quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) ## More Ahab quotes > [So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/so-ahab-went-up-to-eat-and-to-drink-and-elijah-went-up-to-the-top-of/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [“It was a black and hooded head; and hanging there in the midst of so intense a calm, it seemed the Sphynx’s in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/it-was-a-black-and-hooded-head-and-hanging-there-in-the-midst-of-so/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [I see 'Ahab's Wife' as offering an alternative vision to](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/i-see-ahab-s-wife-as-offering-an-alternative-vision-to/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [“Captain Ahab was neither my first husband nor my last.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sena-jeter-naslund/captain-ahab-was-neither-my-first-husband-nor-my-last/) [Sena Jeter Naslund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sena-jeter-naslund/) > [Prophet just means intellectual. They were people giving geopolitical analysis, moral lessons, that sort of thing. We call them intellectuals today. There were the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/prophet-just-means-intellectual-they-were-people-giving-geopolitical/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Captain Ahab drowned, he reminded himself; it was the trimmer, Ishmael, who survived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/captain-ahab-drowned-he-reminded-himself-it-was-the-trimmer-ishmael/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [ His \[Elijah\] heart was beginning to give signs of alarm; he was enjoying being at this woman's side. Love could be a more frightening… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/his-elijah-heart-was-beginning-to-give-signs-of-alarm-he-was-enjoying/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Those whom God calls to such a ministry - and a call is essential - must be prepared for a pathway of unpopularity and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-wallis/those-whom-god-calls-to-such-a-ministry-and-a-call-is-essential-must/) [Arthur Wallis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-wallis/) > [Satan turned Eve's eye to the apple, Achan's eye to the wedge of gold, Ahab's eye to Naboth's vineyard, and then what work did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-alleine/satan-turned-eve-s-eye-to-the-apple-achan-s-eye-to-the-wedge-of-gold/) [Joseph Alleine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-alleine/) > [Captain Ahab: I do not sleep, I die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby-dick/captain-ahab-i-do-not-sleep-i-die/) Moby Dick > [“one captain, seizing the line-knife from his broken prow, had dashed at the whale, as an Arkansas duelist at his foe, blindly seeking with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/one-captain-seizing-the-line-knife-from-his-broken-prow-had-dashed-at/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“To accomplish his object Ahab must use tools; and of all tools used in the shadow of the moon, men are most apt to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/to-accomplish-his-object-ahab-must-use-tools-and-of-all-tools-used-in/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Is Ahab, Ahab? Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm? But if the great sun move not of himself; but is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/is-ahab-ahab-is-it-i-god-or-who-that-lifts-this-arm-but-if-the-great/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“I leave a white and turbid wake; pale waters, paler cheeks, where'er I sail. The envious billows sidelong swell to whelm my track; let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/i-leave-a-white-and-turbid-wake-pale-waters-paler-cheeks-where-er-i-2/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“She felt like Captain Ahab, for the first time sighting his great white whale.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/she-felt-like-captain-ahab-for-the-first-time-sighting-his-great/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) [Browse all 26 Ahab quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ahab/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Captain Ahab was a man possessed with an obsessional drive to pursue the white whale which had harmed him - which had torn his leg out - to the ends of the Earth, no matter what happened. 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