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Do The Work! 83
3. Add that Ahab lost the leg, fighting a whale.
4. Not just any whale, but Moby Dick himself.
5. Let Ahab tramp the quarterdeck nightlong, obsessed
with vengeance—and let the echo of that whale-ivory leg
resound through the crew’s quarters below like a knell of
madness.
6. Add a crazed white streak running through Ahab’s hair
and beard, as if metaphysical hatred-lightning had carved
a scar upon his soul.
7. Add beats to heighten Ahab’s obsession. Here’s one:
When the Pequod passes another whaling vessel, the
Rachel, which has just seen and fought Moby Dick and
lost beloved members of the crew, including the captain’s
son, for whom they’re searching now, let Ahab spurn all
appeals for help and drive his own ship faster in pursuit
of the white whale.
8. Let Ahab renounce his whaling contract and denounce
the for-profit nature of the voyage. The hell with killing
other whales for their oil! Ahab will hunt Moby Dick for
vengeance alone!
These changes are helping. Ahab is much better than he was
before, with two good legs and regular hair. But we need more.
We need to take the theme one level deeper ...
The story can’t just be about “the clash between man’s will and
the malice of nature.” That’s not enough. It must add the element
