Preview

Comparing Evil Manifest In The Scarlet Letter And Moby-Dick

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
749 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Comparing Evil Manifest In The Scarlet Letter And Moby-Dick
Evil manifest in the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthrone, through an evil man named Roger Chillingsworth that seeks revenge on the man who committed adultery with his wife, Hester Prynn, resulting in a child, pearl, who the whole colony believes to be of the devil. In another literary works of the 18th century, Moby-Dick, Herman Melville writes about a young man, Ishmael, who goes on a whaling ship with his friend, Queequeg, in search of adventure; little does he know he will be under the instruction of Captain Ahab, a man seeking revenge on the white whale for taking his leg. In the novels The Scarlet Letter and Moby-Dick there are similarities in the way evil manifest in the two characters, Roger Chillingsworth and Captain …show more content…
He not only puts his own life in danger, but his whole crew’s lives because they all ignore the prophecy that Elijah made about the ships fate. The method that Ahab wishes to uses to torture Moby-Dick is death, but this goes along with torture similar to Chillingsworth’s. Ahab says he shall no rest until the white wale is hanging by his tail on the Pequod having his fat cut off of his bones. This is a common thing that would happen to all whales that were harpooned, but the captain means it in a different way in this situation. The whale’s torture will not end after its death Ahab intends to get full revenge on his lost leg. Just like Chillingsworth, Ahab neglects the people around him and puts them in danger while doing it. He asks his crew to take a blood oath swearing their lives to finding and killing the whale. He doesn’t care for the needs of his crew, whom he is obligated to be responsible for. Around the middle of the story, Ahab begins to show affection for a young boy named Pip. Pip was cast over board in a whaling ship one night late while looking for the white whale. He has a near death experience by almost getting eaten by a shark and drowning. When Pip gets back aboard the Piqued rumors go around saying he is filled with dark magic, much like Pearl. Ahab begins to care for the boy one day after seeing him dressed up in his own cloths and a peg leg. He says that the boy appears to be him, starts to take a strong liking to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The book “Moby Dick” is a very interesting book with many interesting characters. The main character of this story is Captain Ahab. Captain Ahab is a man who is obsessed with finding the Great White Whale. I believe that the most interesting thing about Captain Ahab is how he is so obsessed with trying to find the great white whale that in my head I think that his obsession will make him insane. The reason for his obsession for finding the Great White Whale came from When Moby Dick Bit off one of his legs which left him with a prosthetic leg made out of whalebones. This is the reason for Captain Ahab's obsession…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Almost every story has an antagonist. The Scarlet Letter and Moby Dick are no exception. The characters that allow evil to manifest itself in these stories are Captain Ahab and Roger Chillingworth. There are many differences in Mr. Ahab and Mr. Chillingworth and how they become evil.…

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Scarlet Letter, a historical fiction novel written in 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author uses specific rhetorical devices to describe the physical deformities and eccentric behavior of Roger Chillingworth. Chillingworth, a representation of human immorality, is a significant figure contributing to Hawthorne’s purpose of conveying the message that revenge not only hurts the intended target, but it also hurts one who attempts to carry it out. Through the use of specific diction, unique syntax, and extensive detail, Hawthorne illustrates the disadvantages of attempting to seek revenge.…

    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    It starts bumping onto their shit and about 2 men had died because the power of the whale was the power of 10 elephants and it had many run ins with other ships. The struggle against Moby Dick lasts three days. On the first day, Ahab spies the whale himself, and the whaling boats row after it. Moby Dick attacks Ahab's boat, causing it to sink, but Ahab survives the ordeal when he reaches Stubb's boat. Despite this first failed attempt at defeating the whale, Ahab pursues him for a second day. On the second day of the chase, roughly the same defeat occurs. This time Moby Dick breaks Ahab's ivory leg, while Fedallah dies when he becomes entangled in the harpoon line and is drowned. After this second attack, Starbuck chastises Ahab, telling him that his pursuit is impious and blasphemous. Ahab declares that the chase against Moby Dick is immutably decreed, and pursues it for a third day. On the third day of the attack against Moby Dick, Starbuck panics for ceding to Ahab's demands, while Ahab tells Starbuck that "some ships sail from their ports and ever afterwards are missing," seemingly admitting the futility of his…

    • 1849 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Living under a strict society where the system and all of its components were based on God, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Judge Danforth from Arthur Miller's The Crucible were bound to suffer from the Puritan values which they believed in during the Puritan era. After thoroughly analyzing both Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Arthur Miller's The Crucible, it is evident that Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and Judge Danforth were notably victimized by the Puritan ethics of body politic and the statute of God as the law. Even though Dimmesdale and Danforth held different powers in their society, their positions were threatened or destroyed by the ethic of body politic, and they were ultimately…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Scarlet Letter was a novel composed by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The events in the novel were dated back to the 17th century. The Massachusetts Bay Colony included the Puritans that were heavily influenced with the Church. With religion being their origin for both moral and government regulations, many things were outlawed. The Puritans obeyed strict standards and if anyone was to deviate from them, they were to be punished. Public humiliation and self-punishment were the common disciplines associated with The Scarlet Letter.…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Roger Chillingworth is a physician in The Scarlet Letter, by NathanielHawthorne. Captain Ahab is the experienced captain of a ship called The Pequod inMoby Dick, by Herman Melville. Although there are some differences between them,Roger Chillingworth and Captain Ahab have evident similarities in the way evilmanifests itself in each of them.First of all, Chillingworth and Captain Ahab both want revenge on someone orsomething that has wronged them. Chillingworth’s wife, Hester Prynne, committedadultery. He seeks revenge on Arthur Dimmesdale, the man she committed adultery with.He does not plan to kill Dimmesdale, but he wants to make his life miserable. Ahabpursues revenge on Moby Dick, the white whale who took his leg while he was whaling.He selfishly makes revenge his priority, on a ship whose purpose is to gain profit fromwhale oil. He puts his desires before the needs of others.Secondly, Chillingworth and Ahab both put others in danger in order to reachtheir ultimate goal of revenge. Chillingworth is Dimmesdale’s physician; he…

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter follows the life of Hester Prynne after she commits adultery and is forced to wear the scarlet letter upon her bosom for the rest of her life. Hawthorne uses setting, allusion, metaphor, irony, and diction to set a sombre tone. In chapter 9, Hawthorne reveals the evil qualities of Roger Chillingworth and Reverend Dimmesdale’s disposition. In the battle of good and evil, good does not always win.…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He is a man plagued by vengeance. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne describes how a woman named Hester Prynne fits into a Puritan society after committing an act of adultery and giving birth to another man’s child. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, develops a bitter coldness and a vindictive obsession that impacts both Hester Prynne and her secret lover.…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout history, many references have been made to the battle that rages on between good and evil. In the bible we are shown good in the form of God and evil in the form of the devil. In everyday life we are shown examples of good in people such as Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and Mother Theresa. But with that said, we are also shown examples of evil as well in people such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Osama Bin Laden. When talking about books and novels, the majority of them feature some type of story depicting good versus evil and The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is no different. Throughout the novel, the reader is engaged in a story that is engulfed in a theme featuring good versus evil. From Hester's…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nathaniel Hawthorne challenges love’s true power in his novel The Scarlet Letter, a tale of adultery, sin, repentance, and emotion. Living in a Puritan colony in the 1630s, Hester Prynne had been separated from her husband on their journey from Europe to America. During the 3 years of separation, Hester had an affair with a secret lover, and a child was born. The colony realized what she had done and immediately convicted her of adultery and punished her by requiring her to wear an embroidered A on her clothes. Ironically, one of her punishers was Arthur Dimmesdale, with whom she had the affair. Hester had to face the community’s judgement every day and she developed a demeanor to help her get through. However, her new attitude eventually affects her true personality both positively and negatively.…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne emphasizes the sin present in early Puritan society by following the lives a three people who commit major sins. Of those three, each one experiences different amounts of remorse, penance, and guilt; but the person that felt none of these was Roger Chillingworth. Roger Chillingworth is the greatest sinner in the Scarlet Letter because of his drive for revenge, lack of guilt, and infliction of pain onto others.…

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The whale toward the end defeats Ahab in Moby Dick but with Ahab’s final lines he never gives up or let it hinder his motivation. "'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 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!'"(135.477). Ahab with his death in hand does not let the whale defeat him only under his terms of to give up his spear. I will not let my whale defeat me as well. I will continue to prosper and conquer my seemingly never-ending…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Through his novel Moby Dick, it is obvious that during his life Herman Melville experienced conflicts in his religious beliefs, an understandable outcome stemming from the intellectual background of the nineteenth century. There existed during Melville’s time, a contradiction between the Calvinist theory of predestination, with its idea of inborn immorality and original sin, and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s concept of Transcendentalism, which emphasized the idea of inherent goodness and self-reliance. Critics have long debated Melville’s shared beliefs with Emerson and Transcendentalism and his faithfulness to the Calvinist religion. Moby Dick reflects the conflict between Calvinism and Transcendentalism as, through the characters and the biblical…

    • 1817 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Moby Dick Passage Analysis

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Three months pass with no further successes, and Pollard realizes that the Atlantic is fished out. The Essex sails for the Pacific hoping for better luck. In Ecuador, the officers meet a Spanish captain who tells them his crew found the bountiful "Offshore Grounds" 2,000 miles to the west, but claims that a vengeful "white whale" destroyed his ship. This mammoth creature not only destroyed their boat but took the caps army along with killing about 6 crew members. He warns them but they are too enthralled by the prospect. They choose to disbelieve the story of the white whale. Pollard and Chase lead the expedition west. They find the undisturbed grounds and find a beautiful sight of hundreds of whales, but when they launch the whaling boats, the white whale, a massive bull sperm whale, attacks. It ends up damaging the boats and turning on the ship, Chase harpoons it from the Essex's deck, but the whale stoves the ship three of four times and ends up creating a massive hole in the hull and breaking a mast eventually killing two men. The crew abandons the Essex on the three intact whaling boats and must sail hundreds of miles to shore on very limited supplies. The whale follows and attacks once more. They managed to escape to Henderson Island, but it is 2,000 miles away from home and with no sailing ship the journey seems…

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays