A paperback edition of Moby Dick.
Moby Dick (in original editions known as Moby-Dick) was a 19th century novel written in 1851 by human author Herman Melville, which describes the voyage of the whaling ship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab, in a vengeful hunt after the great white whale, Moby Dick. When initially released, Moby Dick received a mixed critical reaction, and was eventually forgotten about until after Melville's death. In the early 20th century the book became well known again, and has secured its place as one of the greatest novels of that time period.
Legacy[]
One of the books Khan Noonien Singh had in his possesion during his exile on Ceti Alpha V was a copy of Moby Dick. He quoted from Moby Dick quite frequently during his pursuit of then-Admiral James T. Kirk. His second in command Joachim assumed a Starbuck like role, counseling Khan not to bother seeking vengeance against Kirk, but to instead take the USS Reliant elsewhere. Like Ahab, Khan's pursuit of Kirk eventually cost Khan his own life, the lives of his crew, and his ship. (TOS movie: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; TOS novel: To Reign in Hell)
In the year 2293, moments after Captain James T. Kirk was transported into the Nexus, he found himself commanding a whaling ship near Ahab's Pequod. Kirk wrecked Pequod's rudder and saved the white whale's life. (TOS - Star Trek: Explorer short story: "All That Most Maddens and Torments")
In 2365, Data gave a copy of Moby Dick to Worf. (TNG novel: Metamorphosis)
When the USS Enterprise-E traveled back in time to 2063 to prevent the Borg from interfering in human history, the Borg were able to partially assimilate the Enterprise. Realizing that the situation was becoming untenable, the crew called for the ship to be abandoned and destroyed, but Captain Picard refused. Lily Sloane realized that Picard's obsession with the Borg was clouding his judgment, something he finally realized when Sloane told him that "Ahab had to go hunt his whale." Picard then remembered that Ahab sacrificed his ship and crew in an attempt to seek revenge on the whale who injured him. Following this, Picard ordered the crew of the Enterprise to abandon ship. Sloane admitted that, despite knowing of the themes involved, she had never read the book. (TNG movie: Star Trek: First Contact)
In 2372, Kira Nerys was reading Moby Dick. At one point when the USS Defiant was strongly buffeted by shuck waves, she compared the buckling to being aboard Captain Ahab's Pequod when it was being tossed about by a whale. (DS9 novel: Vengeance)
Bart Faulwell owned an old leather-bound copy of the novel, which he used to demonstrate the ability to make flawless replicator patterns of his hand-written letters to Anthony Mark. (SCE eBook: Wildfire, Book 1)
Appendices[]
External links[]
- Moby Dick article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Moby-Dick article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.