NCHS AP English Language

Kyle Smith #2 Ahab's Mark

2. Research and discuss Ahab’s mark of Cain. Closely read and constellate Ahab’s major qualities.


Cain is the biblical character who killed his brother Abel in an act of jealously and envy. His personality and character is closely related to that of Ahab’s. In a way, the Cain is Ahab’s archetype, or mark. His mentality resembles the way Ahabs controls what happens on the Pequod. He seeks revenge for the whale (Moby Dick) who took his leg in an earlier whaling expedition. The primary purpose of the journey that Ishmael embarks upon is actually to kill the big, white whale of the sea, not for the purpose of adventure. Ahab’s mark is also shown through his scars on his body. It represents the “scars” that Cain gave Abel in his brutal murder.

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 8:32 AM