In the novel, did not Moby Dick die of his Pequod-afflicted wounds...? Didn't he "blow" black blood, which means a fatal harpooning? Because in the film, he doesn't spray black blood and in the last shots, he's still alive.
shareMoby Dick didn't die in the book. While he was harpooned, it wasn't unusual for whales to be harpooned and survive. Moby Dick himself had evidence of previous harpoonings anyway (I think, been a while since I read it).
PS if you're an IMDB regular ignore the above and read this instead;
He didn't die at the end....it was all a dream....
I remember Ishmael saying he didn't know if Moby Dick was still alive.
No, according to the film, ALL are dead - the whale too - only the narrator Ishmael survives the tale.
shareOut of the Pequod crew, only Ishmael survives to tell the tale in English to his fellow humans.
That is the meaning of "And I alone survived to tell thee".
It gives no information whether Moby Dick survived to tell other whales in their language.
No, he does say Moby Dick died. Ishmael's last dialogue goes something like. "All are gone, the Pequod, her crew ... and Moby Dick... I, alone, am alive to tell thee." (Of course, I doubt had Moby lived he would've had reason to talk or write about his encounter with the Pequod).
shareI don't remember what he said exactly, but I prefer to think the end was ambiguous on whether or not the whale survives. It's a better ending IMO.
share@intexor ยป Thu Jan 19 2012
The film may imply that Moby Dick eventually dies; Melville's splendid novel, however, is deliberately ambiguous as to the whale's ultimate fate.
You're right, the dialogue is:
'The drum is done. All are departed away. The great shroud of the sea rolls over the pequod, the crew... and Moby Dick. I only am escaped, alone, to tell thee.'
It could perhaps contain some ambiguity, while shroud certainly suggests death, Moby Dick lives under the sea while the others don't. But I agree it does imply the death of Moby Dick as well. Despite the dialogue, the film itself doesn't show Moby Dick die and infact his last scene he remains stronger than ever. Perhaps he used up the last of his strength, perhaps he was mortally wounded by Ahab's determination and the new weapons he had made.
The ending does imply his death. But I wouldn't like to say anything stronger.
Actually, he does in the movie, just after Starbuck harpoons him right near the end. The bloody blow is not very explicit, but it's there nonetheless
shareIt's interesting that the movie(s) always make Ahab's death into an epic event; when actually in the book he basically is just caught up in a line and pulled over the side of his boat and never mentioned agian.
In the book it's actually Ahab's harpooner Fedallah (who isn't even a character in the movie) who is the one who is wrapped up in the rope and bound to Moby Dick (like happens to Ahab in the movie).
And at the end of the book when Ahab dies unceremoniously the person who has an incredibly epic death is rather insignificant character Tashtego. Tashtego goes out in a spectacular fashion indeed, which is defitnely not featured in any of the movie(s)
I read the original book multiple times. Harpoons are only used to snag the whale, like a fish hook, then the whale tires itself out dragging the boat around. The whalers in the boat pull up alongside the whale, and chop deep into it with what is called a "lance," to cut up vital organs, until the whale is dead. That's how they did it in the book.
Ahab does hit the whale in the face with a final harpoon, as Moby charges his little boat, but the line on the harpoon spins out of the boat, entangling Ahab with the whale, and Moby "drags him down into the ocean depths," to approx. quote the book.
Moby and Ishmael survive. Everything else dies. I don't remember what happens in this movie, but if that didn't happen, it didn't follow the book. The book was also heavy on symbolism and philosophy, and to have the whale "die" at the end, would render Melville's message a moot point. It's long winded, but read the book. You'll soon realize that they've yet to make a proper movie about this novel.
THANK GOD we have box office totals to let us know which movies are best!!!
@ bastasch8647
You remark, "In the novel, did not Moby Dick die of his Pequod-afflicted wounds...? Didn't he 'blow' black blood, which means a fatal harpooning? Because in the film, he doesn't spray black blood and in the last shots, he's still alive."
I respond: In the novel, the whale apparently does not die. On this subject, the page about "Moby-Dick" in "Wikipedia" is helpful: Whoever wrote it observes, in effect, that what happens to the whale is not known. The whale is my favorite part of the novel AND the film, so let's hope he lives on!
But he actually gets to WEAR his enemy's rotting corpse like an earring, and flaunt his victory to other sperm whales.
Until Ahab's remains just disintegrate and fall away.
Well, actually, little fish would eat Ahab's body pretty quickly. They'd be swimming in and out of his empty eye sockets in no time.
If to stand pat means to resist evil then, yes, neighbour, we wish to stand pat.
This is a very old thread, but I was always under the impression that Moby Dick dies in the film, drowned was my belief. I can't recall whether anything was said in the book. It's been decades since I read it.
shareI saw no indications that he died; when he destroys the Pequod at the very end, he appears stronger than ever, not even slowed by all the harpoons at all. The films ending lines of "all are departed away. The great shroud of the sea rolls over the Pequod, her crew....and Moby Dick" could just mean the crew and the ship are all dead, with Moby Dick taking on the roll of an "angel of death" type figure, as earlier in the film the man Elijah stated that Ahab would go to his grave, but rise and beckon, and "all, save one, shall follow." The crew basically took up the obsession of Ahab, and were ultimately damned to follow him into oblivion. Only Ishmael was the most purest one (in that he never actively took part in the harpoonings, so he incidently was spared; wether it was intentional or not on behalf on the whale remains unknown, but thats the beauty of anbiguity).
Just my thoughts on the matter.
Yeah, I can't tell from the film if MD died, I think he lived - but doesn't he die in the book - isn't there a reference to him spouting black (arterial) blood - a sure sign of a fatal blow having been struck? Been years since I've read it, though...
share