"I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing." --- Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale Moby-Dick is an 1851 novel by Herman Melville. It describes the ill-fated voyage of the whaling ship Pequod to find and destroy the eponymous white whale, driven by the obsessive Captain Ahab. The language is highly symbolic and many themes run throughout the work. The narrator's reflections, along with complex descriptions of the grueling work of whaling and personalities of his shipmates, are woven into a profound meditation on hubris, providence, nature, society, and the human struggle for meaning, happiness and salvation. Moby-Dick is often considered the epitome of American Romanticism.