Changes: Moby Dick

Revision as of 14:21, 17 April 2015

SS Botany Bay-library — A copy of *Moby Dick* found aboard the SS *Botany Bay*.

"...To the last, I grapple with thee; from hell's heart, I stab at thee; for hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee."

- Moby-Dick, quoted by Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

Moby-Dick is a novel by American author Herman Melville, published in 1851 on Earth. The story describes Captain Ahab's obsessive quest to hunt down the eponymous white sperm whale that had maimed him years earlier. In the end, Ahab's thirst for vengeance destroyed both him and his ship.

In 1986, a tour goer in one of Doctor Gillian Taylor's tours at the Cetacean Institute asked her if whales attacked people like in Moby-Dick, leading Dr. Taylor to explain that they did not, because most whales didn't have teeth. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

During his exile on Ceti Alpha V, Khan Noonien Singh read Moby-Dick as he became immersed in his own desire for revenge on James T. Kirk. During his search and battle with Kirk, he quoted lines from the novel. While some are direct quotes (such as the line above), some were modified from the original. For example, Khan's stated "I'll chase him round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares maelstrom and round perdition's flames before I give him up!" (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

The original, from the novel's thirty-sixth chapter, is "I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up!" Some thematic elements from the movie were borrowed from the plot of Moby-Dick, including Khan's relentless pursuit of Kirk which ultimately results in his own death and the loss of his ship.

Its cultural significance was such that the story was well-known to most people on Earth regardless of their literary knowledge. In 2063, Lily Sloane compared Jean-Luc Picard's hatred for the Borg to Ahab's desire to destroy the white whale when he insisted on fighting them rather than destroying the Enterprise and the Borg along with it, sending Picard into such a rage that he destroyed the display of Enterprise's past in the ship's observation lounge - but when the captain, realizing she was absolutely right, paraphrased a verse from the forty-first chapter, ("And he piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the rage and hate felt by his whole race. If his chest had been a cannon, he would have shot his heart upon it.") Sloane, clearly unfamiliar with the words, admitted she had never actually read the book. (Star Trek: First Contact)

The original is "He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it."

When Qatai invited The Doctor to join him on his quest to destroy the telepathic pitcher plant in 2375, The Doctor replied, "My Ishmael to your Ahab?" (VOY: "Bliss")

Tom Paris was fond of Moby-Dick when he was a child. (VOY: "Thirty Days")

Background

In addition to First Contact, the original series episodes "The Doomsday Machine" and "Obsession" were also loosely based on the story of Moby-Dick.
Patrick Stewart played Captain Ahab in a 1998 made-for-TV adaptation of the novel.
The comic book story "Behemoth, Part 1" and Part 2" are based on Moby-Dick. [1]

External links

Moby-Dick at Wikipedia
ISBN 0393972836 - search for Moby-Dick at external book sources
Power Moby-Dick, full text of the book online with annotations
Moby Dick at Project Gutenberg

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[File:SS Botany Bay-library.jpg|thumb|A copy of ''Moby Dick'' found aboard the SS ''Botany Bay''.]]
 :''"...To the last, I grapple with thee; from hell's heart, I stab at thee; for hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee."''
-::- '''''Moby Dick,''''' quoted by '''Khan''' (''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]'')
+::- ''Moby-Dick,'' quoted by Khan Noonien Singh ({{film|2}})
+'''''Moby-Dick''''' is a novel by [[American]] author [[Herman Melville]], published in [[19th century|1851]] on [[Earth]]. The story describes [[Captain]] [[Ahab]]'s obsessive quest to hunt down the eponymous white [[sperm whale]] that had maimed him years earlier. In the end, Ahab's thirst for vengeance destroyed both him and his ship.
+In [[1986]], a tour goer in one of [[Doctor]] [[Gillian Taylor]]'s tours at the [[Cetacean Institute]] asked her if [[whale]]s attacked people like in ''Moby-Dick'', leading Dr. Taylor to explain that they did not, because most whales didn't have [[teeth]]. ({{film|4}})
-[[Image:SS Botany Bay-library.jpg|thumb|''Moby Dick'' found aboard the [[SS Botany Bay|SS ''Botany Bay'']].]]
-'''''Moby Dick''''' is a [[Human]] novel by American author [[Herman Melville]], published in [[19th century|1851]]. The story is about [[Captain]] [[Ahab]]'s obsessive quest to hunt down the eponymous white sperm [[whale]] that had attacked him years before and left him crippled. In the end, Ahab's thirst for vengeance destroyed both him and his ship.
-During his exile on [[Ceti Alpha V]], [[Khan Noonien Singh]] read ''Moby Dick'' as he became immersed in his own desire for revenge on [[James T. Kirk]]. During his search and battle with Kirk, he quoted lines from the novel. While some are direct quotes (such as the line above), some are modified from the original. For example, Khan's line is: ''"I'll chase him round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares Maelstrom and round perdition's flames before I give him up!"'', while the original line is ''"I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up!"'' Some thematic elements are borrowed from the plot of Moby Dick, including Khan's relentless pursuit of Kirk which ultimately results in his own death and the loss of his ship. (''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]'').
+During his [[exile]] on [[Ceti Alpha V]], [[Khan Noonien Singh]] read ''Moby-Dick'' as he became immersed in his own desire for revenge on [[James T. Kirk]]. During his search and battle with Kirk, he quoted lines from the novel. While some are direct quotes (''such as the line above''), some were modified from the original. For example, Khan's stated "''I'll chase him round the [[moon]]s of [[Nibia]] and round the [[Antares maelstrom]] and round perdition's flames before I give him up!''"  ({{film|2}})
+{{bginfo|The original, from the novel's thirty-sixth chapter, is "''I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up!''" Some thematic elements from the movie were borrowed from the plot of ''Moby-Dick'', including Khan's relentless pursuit of Kirk which ultimately results in his own death and the loss of his ship.}}
-Although she had never read the book, [[Lily Sloane]] compared [[Jean-Luc Picard]]'s hatred for the [[Borg]] to Ahab's desire to destroy the white whale. Although at first dismissive of her accusations, Picard subsequently began to quietly paraphrase a passage from the novel's forty-first chapter, and realized how true her comments were. Picard's line is: ''"And he piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the rage and hate felt by his whole race. If his chest had been a cannon he would have shot his heart upon it."'' The original line is: ''"He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it."'' (''[[Star Trek: First Contact]]'').
+Its cultural significance was such that the story was well-known to most people on Earth regardless of their literary knowledge. In [[2063]], [[Lily Sloane]] compared [[Jean-Luc Picard]]'s hatred for the [[Borg]] to Ahab's desire to destroy the white whale when he insisted on fighting them rather than destroying the ''[[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)|Enterprise]]'' and the Borg along with it, sending Picard into such a rage that he destroyed the display of ''Enterprise''{{'}}s past in the ship's [[observation lounge]] - but when the captain, realizing she was absolutely right, paraphrased a verse from the forty-first chapter, ("''And he piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the rage and hate felt by his whole race. If his chest had been a cannon, he would have shot his heart upon it.''") Sloane, clearly unfamiliar with the words, admitted she had never actually read the book. ({{film|8}})
-: ''In addition to ''First Contact'', the original series episode "[[The Doomsday Machine]]" was also loosely based on the story of ''Moby Dick''.
-: ''[[Patrick Stewart]] played Captain Ahab in a 1998 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120756/ made-for-TV adaptation] of the novel.
-: ''The actual title for the book as originally released is ''Moby-Dick''.
+{{bginfo|The original is "''He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it.''"}}
-== External Links ==
+When [[Qatai]] invited [[The Doctor]] to join him on his quest to destroy the [[telepathic pitcher plant]] in [[2375]], The Doctor replied, "''My Ishmael to your Ahab?''" ({{VOY|Bliss}})
+[[Tom Paris]] was fond of ''Moby-Dick'' when he was a child. ({{VOY|Thirty Days}})
+== Background ==
+*In addition to ''First Contact'', the original series episodes {{e|The Doomsday Machine}} and {{e|Obsession}} were also loosely based on the story of ''Moby-Dick''.
+*[[Patrick Stewart]] played Captain Ahab in a 1998 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120756/ made-for-TV adaptation] of the novel.
+*The comic book story "[[Behemoth, Part 1]]" and [[Behemoth, Part 2|Part 2]]" are based on ''Moby-Dick''. [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=59057]
+== External links ==
 * {{Wikipedia-title|Moby-Dick}}
 * ISBN 0393972836 - search for ''Moby-Dick'' at external book sources
+* [http://www.powermobydick.com Power Moby-Dick, full text of the book online with annotations]
-[[Category:Earth literature]]
+* {{gutenberg|2701}}
 [[de:Moby Dick]]
+[[fr:Moby-Dick]]
 [[nl:Moby Dick]]
+[[Category:Earth literature]]