2006-12-23 06:59:05 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Moby Dick was a sperm whale--sperm whales were the whales hunted most avidly by 19th century American whalers, for their high-quality oil.
He could NOT have been a humpback or other baleen whale, because he is described as being a toothed whale. Sperm whales, like killer whales, are toothed whales. He could not have been a killer whale, however, because they weren't hunted by American whalers, and just weren't big enough to attack a ship, as Moby Dick is described as doing.
Therefore, he was a sperm whale. Here's a useful reference at Wikipedia to confirm:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby_Dick#Moby_Dick
2006-12-23 07:14:14 · answer #1 · answered by haroldu_2000 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
1
2016-05-21 15:08:41 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Herman Melville based his character "Moby Dick" on a real sperm whale. However, while the novel described the whale as "mottled" or white, the actual sperm whale isn't all white - only his forehead and hump are.
There are other discrepancies between truth and the fiction. The character Ishmael insists that the whale is a fish when, during the time the novel was written, it's been nearly a century that whale as a mammal was established.
Melville most likely based his character on two real events that could have inspired him: the 1820 sinking of the Nantucket whaling ship Essex by an 80-ton sperm whale in South America; and a real-life albino sperm whale, known as Mocha Dick, whose encounter with a ship in Chile was recorded by Jeremiah Reynolds. Like Moby Dick, the real Mocha Dick was also attacked frequently by whalers, whom he fought against. Mocha Dick was eventually killed in the 1830s.
2006-12-23 07:10:43 · answer #3 · answered by DarkAngel 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Moby Dick
Moby Dick is a mottled (with a white hump) sperm whale of extraordinary ferocity, but is also possessed of ineffable strength, mystery, and power. The color white is explored in the chapter "The Whiteness of the Whale".
2006-12-23 08:47:41 · answer #4 · answered by Martha P 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-06-27 14:30:01 · answer #5 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a great white whale
2006-12-23 07:01:06 · answer #6 · answered by jane7 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i thought it was a white whale
like a sperm whale.
2006-12-23 07:00:58 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
a blue whale because it was really pale blue and mistaken for a white whale
2006-12-23 07:04:58 · answer #8 · answered by daniele™ 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
ol moby was one big mother of an albino rightback whale. Or it could have been an albino killer whale.
2006-12-23 07:03:00 · answer #9 · answered by badmanbrown 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
ahhh great white whale.
yarrrhh.
2006-12-23 07:01:59 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋