Read the excerpt from Chapter 28 of Moby-Dick . It had previously come to me that this ivory leg had at sea been fashioned from the polished bone of the sperm whale’s jaw. How is the fact that Ahab’s leg is made from whale bone significant to the novel’s theme of humans versus nature?

Question

Revolt · Accepted Answer

It signifies that Ahab has pitted himself against nature in an effort to dominate it.

Pretest

Read the excerpt from Chapter 28 of Moby-Dick . It had previously come to me that this ivory leg had at sea been fashioned from the polished bone of the sperm whale’s jaw. How is the fact that Ahab’s leg is made from whale bone significant to the novel’s theme of humans versus nature?

More from this Course