Moby Dick by Herman Melville is a novel that explores the theme of revenge and how the need for revenge can lead to a person's ruin. Ishmael, an unwitting thrill seeker, joins the crew of a whaling ship on what Ishmael believes to be a typical whaling voyage but instead turns out to be a single-minded mission of revenge led by a crazed captain.

This novel was first published in 1851 and was the novel that earned Melville his place among the great American writers. It begins with Ishmael's introduction of himself and his desire to go to sea on a whaling voyage. Ishmael leaves behind his job as a schoolmaster and travels to New Bedford where he is forced to spend a few days waiting for a boat to carry him to Nantucket. During his time in New Bedford, Ishmael becomes the bedfellow of Queequeg, a...