One of the more famous passages in the novel Moby-Dick arrives with the revelation of the Pequod’s true mission: vengeance. Ahab acknowledges that his desire for retribution on the white whale is what has gathered the extraordinary platoon of talented harpooners and has launched the rest of the crew on its implacable hunt. After the revelation, Ahab continues, fulminating about the metaphysical dimension of their voyage: All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event—in the living act, the undoubted deed—there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind Read more