Here's my idea for my paper: Captain Ahab as Moby Dick-We are Defined by our Weaknesses
MOBY DICK
- Captain Ahab's leg is destroyed by Moby Dick; his artificial leg is made of sperm whale jaw bone
- He is preceded by his reputation of wanting to kill Moby Dick
- He has the opportunity to "recreate" himself on every voyage with strange sailors, but chooses to be defined by his lust for Moby Dick
- Every action he takes is driven by motives to seek and kill Moby Dick
- The whale seems to know him and is able to always find his boat to destroy
"Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!" (Chapter 135)
DIGITAL CULTURE
- We are known by our online personas
- We typically create better, different or more enhanced versions of ourselves as avatars on the internet
- Why do we feel the need to portray ourselves as people we're not?
- Self-Awareness in general: Are we not fixated on our faults and weaknesses, more so than our achievements and strengths?
-Catfishing an article on fake profiles used to trick people into romances
-Fake Online Personality Motives
I'd appreciate any ideas you have relating to this proposal and whether you think I can successfully argue it!
I love your idea and think you're off to a great start! I also like that you've searched out sources online that actually teach fake online personalities. A potential argument against your thesis would be something like "not all avatars are fake or embellished avatars." There are people who post literally everything they are thinking without a filter. There are others who don't update their Facebook or tweet every three seconds and barely have an online profile at all. Perhaps you could counter these points by looking at other characters in the book and use them as models for different types of avatars? I know we're limited on word count, but just a potential point you could counter against in your paper. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks Amber for your helpful feedback! I'll be sure to explore both ends of the "identity" spectrum.
ReplyDeleteI can see the connection between Ahab and an online identity pretty easily. You could probably argue that Ishmael himself is selective in what he tells us about himself. However, I think you might have difficulties with the other members of the crew. I feel like they are all pretty genuine. I guess you could tie that in to Amber's idea about how there are some genuine people online as well as those with constructed identities.
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