Ahab’s Dual Motives
Though Ahab was consumed with capturing Moby Dick and ready to sacrifice all mortal interests to that passion, he remained too wedded to a fiery whaleman’s ways to abandon the collateral prosecution of the voyage. There were additional motives beyond his monomania that influenced him. While it might be too refined to suggest his vindictiveness toward the White Whale extended to all sperm whales, there were other considerations capable of swaying him.
The Starbuck Problem
Ahab knew that while his magnetic ascendency over Starbuck was strong, it did not cover the complete spiritual man—corporeal superiority does not involve intellectual mastership. Starbuck’s body and coerced will belonged to Ahab as long as he kept his magnet at Starbuck’s brain, but the chief mate’s soul abhorred the captain’s quest and would gladly frustrate it if possible. During long intervals before seeing the White Whale, Starbuck would be prone to open rebellion unless ordinary, prudential influences were brought to bear upon him.
Occupying the Crew
Ahab’s subtle insanity manifested in his shrewdness in recognizing that the hunt must be stripped of its strange, imaginative impiousness. The full terror of the voyage needed to remain in the obscure background, for few men’s courage could withstand protracted meditation without action. When standing their long night watches, his officers and men needed nearer things to think of than Moby Dick. Though the savage crew had eagerly hailed the announcement of his quest, all sailors are capricious and unreliable, so temporary interests and employments must intervene to hold them healthily suspended for the final dash.
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