NCHS AP English Language

Differences - L. Mill and E. Rew

5) Discuss the difference between 4 major points in the novel and the film.

The novel, MOBY DICK, differs greatly from the film, MOBY DICK. One such difference between the novel and the film is the origin of Pip's madness. In the novel, Pip goes mad after being left for in the ocean and seeing the numinous. However, in the movie, Pip goes insane when he views the slaughtering and butchering of a whale on deck. All the and guts gets to him and causes him to go insane. Furthermore, another major difference between the novel and the film is Ishmael's outer character. In the novel, Ishmael is an old sailor, an outsider because he is simply set apart from the rest of mankind. Yet, in the film, he is a newbie sailor, set apart from the rest of the crew because he is new and does not know what he is doing.
Yet another difference is the fact that Fedallah and Ahab's bond is not emphasized at all in the movie. In the novel, however, great importance is given to the fact that Fedallah and Ahab are bonded on a more spiritual level. Chaspter 73 references that Fedallah is Ahab's Shadow in the Jungian theory of the mind. One reads of the Persian being in Ahab's elongated shadow, and they are merged together in one being. Also, the crew can clearly tell in the novel that Fedallah possesses an evil, aura about him. This relates to Ahab because he himself states he believes he is the epitome of madness.
Lastly, Ishmael does not really relate to his numinous experience in th movie like he does in the novel; therefore, the reader cannot correlate Ishmael and Pip's similar experiences. The prescence of the numinous in the novel helps stress the theme of insanity versus reality and Moby Dick's ethereal nature.
One further point is that Ahab's obsessive character is more emphasized in the novel than in the movie. This is because the novel can have more detailed information [as that would make for a boring movie], but the movie did not stress as much as it could have how obsessed Ahab was. An example is, in the chapter, The Sphinx, Ahab talks to a whale head, blaming and accusing Moby Dick, but also divinizing him. This clearly shows Ahab's madness and obsession in the pursuit of Moby Dick, which should have been used in the movie to stress Ahab's character even more so. It also shows how he relates to the numinous, which is completely omitted from the movie, and it may remove some of the spiritual depth that the novel possesses.

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 8:38 AM