Moby Dick, or the White Whale

At the heart of Melville's novel "Moby-Dick; or, The Whale" is the deadly confrontation between the courageous whaling ship captain Ahab and a giant white whale that embodies universal evil. Against the backdrop of epic seascapes, the crew of the Pequod is portrayed as a symbol of humanity, wandering the ocean of life and fearlessly defying hostile, destructive forces. Rejected by his contemporaries, the author's "Moby-Dick" only emerged from obscurity at the beginning of the last century and to this day is considered one of the greatest American novels.