Changes

The facts (which take up about 1/3 of the text, the remaining 2/3 of the book is more of an encyclopedia of the American whaling industry) concern an obsession by one Captain Ahab to hunt and kill an albino whale named Moby-Dick, in revenge for the whale's prior attack on Ahab leaving him with only one leg.  The novel addresses the human struggle for meaning, happiness, and salvation.  Historians view ''Moby-Dick'' as the epitome of American Romanticism.  "Call me Ishmael" is the famous beginning of the book, and it cites other biblical figures and themes throughout its story.

The facts (which take up about 1/3 of the text, the remaining 2/3 of the book is more of an encyclopedia of the American whaling industry) concern an obsession by one Captain Ahab to hunt and kill an albino whale named Moby-Dick, in revenge for the whale's prior attack on Ahab leaving him with only one leg.  The novel addresses the human struggle for meaning, happiness, and salvation.  Historians view ''Moby-Dick'' as the epitome of American Romanticism.  "Call me Ishmael" is the famous beginning of the book, and it cites other biblical figures and themes throughout its story.

The story begins with a lengthy onshore prelude. The narrator decides to enlist as a sailor:

The story begins with a lengthy onshore prelude. The narrator decides to enlist as a [[sailor]]:

{{quotation|Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off--then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.}}

{{quotation|Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off--then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.}}