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==The author of Moby Dick==

Herman Melville, the author of the novel (1819-1892) was born in New York, into an affluent family, his father a merchant died when he was quite young. This left Melville and his family in a precarious financial position and dependent on relatives. The young man signed up to serve on a whaling ship and went to sea in 1840 on-board a whaling ship. In the 19th century, whales were hunted for their oil. While at sea the young Melville had many adventures <ref> Delbanco, Andrew, Melville: His World and Work (New York: Knopf, 2005), p 23</ref>. In 1841 he jumped ship in Tahiti and later joined another whaler. He became involved in a mutiny on board this ship and was briefly jailed. Melville served as an ordinary seaman on a US Navy frigate before he eventually returned home. Soon he became a full-time writer and had great success with his first novel Typee, based on his own adventures<ref>Delbanco, p 145</ref>. His later works were not commercially successful and the book that he is best known for, Moby Dick was a complete failure. Melville was obliged to work as a custom’s official and continued to write poetry and prose, but they were largely ignored. He died penniless and forgotten in 1891 in New York. Since then his fame has grown and his novels, short stories, and poems are regarded not only as classics of American literature but of World literature<ref>Delbanco, p 112</ref>.

==The plot of the novel==

The novel opens with the narrator Ishmael looking for a ship, he is a man who is seeking a purpose in life. He signs up to serve on a whaling ship the Pequod ,in Nantucket,. The captain of the ship is Ahab, who over the course of the novel is shown to be unstable and man possessed. Ishmael meets a host of colorful characters on-board the ship including Queequeg, and Fedallah, both harpooners. Captain Ahab has lost his leg in an encounter with a gigantic white sperm whale and he is consumed by a desire for revenge. He nails a gold coin to the mast and states that he will give it to the first man who sees the whale, the legendary Moby Dick. Ishmael soon realizes that this is not a typical whaling mission but a revenge mission. The Pequod sails around the globe, hunting whales, but Ahab is only interested in finding Moby Dick. The ships have a number of adventures including being battered by a typhoon in the Pacific. One of the crew members prophesized that the whale will kill Ahab, this does not deter the one-legged captain and he continues to pursue his vendetta. During the search, they hear tales of the great white whale and in one instance they learn that it has recently sunk a ship. Finally, the Captain himself sees the whale and there begins a brutal three-day encounter between Ahab, his men, and Moby Dick. On the first day, the captain and his crew attack the whale with harpoons from small boats, but the white whale smashes the boat and nearly kills Ahab. Several sailors are lost that day. The following day Ahab and his crew again try and slaughter the whale but again it sinks the boats. On the third day, the captain once again, engages with Moby Dick, during this the whale is killed and Ahab also dies. The Pequod is badly damaged and sinks, and the only survivor is Ishmael, he floats in a wooden coffin until he is rescued<ref>Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick (London, Penguin Books, 2012)</ref>.