The story of Moby Dick is one of the most popular works of literature ever produced in America. It describes the journey of vengeance between Captain Ahab and the infamous great white sperm whale “Moby Dick”. The overall story is very interesting and exciting; however, I believe that the story that the book was based on, was much more interesting.
The real-life event that the story of Moby Dick is based on is really about the tragic fate of the ship, the Essex. The Essex, much like the ship from Moby Dick, was a whaling ship from Nantucket, the current whaling capital of the world at that time. Also, sorry, the real-life Captain Ahab, whose name really was Captain Pollard, did not actually go back and try relentlessly to find the whale that destroyed his ship. The purpose of the ship was to just kill sperm whales to feed the ever-growing and profitable market of oil during that time. What ended up happening to the Essex, was that while the ship was stopped to hunt some sperm whales, one of the sperm whales rammed into the ship multiple times, sinking it. But the tragedy of the Essex did not stop there, that’s just where it began. The crew of the ship at that point had to use their whaling boats, with minimal supplies, to make it to South America, which was the closest landmass that they felt comfortable landing in. It was through a combination of bad decisions and just plain old bad luck that resulted in most of the crew not being able to make it.
Here are some of the examples of why the Essex is known as a tragedy:
- The Whale Attack Itself:
Sperm whales attacking ships at the time was almost unheard of. Even today, when almost all the news of the world is at your fingertips, you never hear of whales attacking ships. So why did this one do it? According to the experiences of the cabin boy that survived the attack, while the crew was attacking a pod of whales, one of the whaling boats were struck and the crew on that boat had to return to the ship to repair it. While hammering into the broken boat, the infamous whale attacked. Researchers nowadays now know that whales communicate through clicks and calls. Male sperm whales upon hearing clicks that resemble other males, become aggressive and begin the ritual of fighting for dominance. It is believed that the pings from the hammers of the boat repairing caused the sperm whale to attack the ship.
- The Decision to Go to South American:
After the attack, Captain Pollard and his First Mate had to decide upon where they were going to go. Although they know that there were islands with a native population that were a reasonable distance away, they decided to instead go towards South America due to their fear that they were going to encounter cannibals on those islands. No, the natives on the islands they were looking at were not cannibals, in fact, most of the native islands’ populations were not cannibals. It was just a rumor spread that put a stigma on all native populations. Funnily enough, the same crew would end up eating their own fellow crewmates after they would die of hunger or thirst.
Although these are just a few examples, it just goes to show how a situation can go from bad to worse without thinking with a clear mind. But a story of vengeance, in my opinion, is not as interesting as a story of survival. If you want to know more information about the ship, “The Essex”, then please by all means go ahead and read “In The Heart of The Sea” by Nathaniel Philbrick so you can truly see how tragic the situation was.
Wow I agree that this was much more interesting! I think a movie about this would actually be just as big of a hit! I find it really interesting that they were able to figure out the reason that the sperm whale attacked. I wonder if that’s not a problem anymore because the ships are built differently. I can not imagine being on a ship that is being attacked by a whale.