The character of Ahab can be read as a symbol who is the captain of the ship Pequod. He symbolizes a man of scar because of his profession. He is mentally scarred because of his desire to harm the white whale who broke his leg before. In addition to this, Ahab symbolizes a man of Renaissance. His spirit and determination to challenge the prophecy of Fedallah and other makes characters warning sign makes him a man who is thirsty for knowledge and ability to do on his own for his objective.
Ahab symbolizes evil in the novel. His persistence to capture Moby Dick is seen as evil which shows the anthropocentric behaviour of a man. The anthropocentrism revolves around in the novel where Ahab and the man or the ship kills the whale only for the “oil” which is the value worth in the market. He also symbolizes a finite man. It is because man is finite and cannot transcend beyond the forces of nature. Ahab was a finite man who is strong and determined but failed to recognize the strong forces of nature which are more powerful than him.
