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84 Steven Pressfield

of man-as-part-of-nature-himself. So that Man is dueling the
evil inside himself and being consumed by it.

Again, “What’s missing?”

The involvement of the crew! If Ahab is the only crazy person
aboard and the crew meekly follows him, that’s no good. The
men must become as obsessed as their captain.

A new scene. Ahab assembles the crew and forges new harpoons,
made not for other whales but only to kill Moby Dick.

“Advance, ye mates! Cross your lances full before me. Well done! Let me touch
the axis.” [Ahab pours the full voltage of his own electric hate, by the medium
of his hand, into the lances of his three harpooneers.] “Drink, ye harpooneers!
drink and swear ... Death to Moby Dick! God hunt us all, if we do not hunt Moby
Dick to his death!”

That’s Why They Call It Rewriting, Part Two

Does the prior Ahab scenario sound far-fetched? Melville was a
genius, you say; he could never fail to realize a character to the
fullest on his first try.

Maybe. Probably. But if this didn’t happen to HM then, I prom-
ise you it happened to him other times. And it happened to a
million other guys and gals, over and over and over.