Eye - 09 November 2012

From whales to ducks

by Eye 9th November 2012

Moby’s first mate

An avid fan of Herman Melville got in touch to remind Eye of the other side of the literary coin in his book: ‘Anne Adams (2 November) is right about the monstrous Quaker shipowners in Moby Dick. But Eye might remind its readers that the wisest and most humane character in the book, the first mate Starbuck, is also a Quaker. He is the only one who dares confront Ahab about his fatal obsession with the white whale.’