In his novel Moby Dick, Herman Melville seeks to explore the ambiguities between good and evil, as well as the ambiguities within man himself. Melville treats the ocean and the Pequod, a whaling ship, as a microcosm of society in order to explore the true nature of humanity. During this journey, the reader discovers two essential characters: Ishmael and Ahab. Although the two may seem polar opposites in terms of personality and aspirations, it is with Ishmael and Ahab that Melville highlights the intrinsic attributes of humanity as a whole. Ishmael is presented to the reader as a contemplative, even melancholy, young man. He is drawn to the sea to escape the monotony of daily life and cherishes it as a “substitute for the gun and the bullet” (CITE). As a narrator, Ishmael's naturally contemplative nature invites the reader to reflect with him as the ship leaves port and sets sail for the ocean. It must be understood, however, that Ishmael does not play the passive role of a character or a sailor, but rather takes to the sea "like a simple sailor, just in front of the mast, directly in the forecastle, up there to the royal mast. -head." (QUOTE). As narrator, he is presented to the reader as a terribly intelligent man searching for something – freedom, adventure or experience – on the wave carried by Pequod. It is interesting to note, however , that there is an event which lingers in the reader's mind and which Ishmael seems to ignore without the gnashing of teeth pontification essential to his character – that of his meeting with the prophet Elijah Biblically, Elijah sought to defend the. sovereignty of Yahweh during a period in northern Israel when Baal, a pagan deity, was worshiped. It is certainly no coincidence that the most important medium of the paper was lost: Ishmael, his peace of mind, and Ahab his pride However, while Ishmael intends to find his through escape and exploration, Ahab seeks to find his through revenge. It is worth noting here that although many would simply attribute them. Ishmael's unlimited pontifications to naivety, as literary critic Nina Baym explains, "the voice we hear is not that of the morose Ishmael who went to sea to commit suicide, found escape by submitting to the will of a charismatic captain and faced annihilation in the form of a white whale. It is the voice of the returned traveler, with a much wider reach, which now writes a book” (917). By the time Ishmael writes his book, he has already had an experience far worse than Ahab ever endured, and therefore possesses the same propensity toward sadness and madness that Ahab once clung to..