When I wrote about Moby-Dick last summer, I implicitly assumed that Ahab was, or could be, a heroic figure. Fanciful in a some ways, not at all in others.

I’m not sure that the identification is necessary, though. I can identify, sort of, with Ishmael, however wobbly his narration, while still admiring, fearing, etc. Ahab from a distance.

I can also imagine a reading where I identify with the great champion of whale-kind, Moby-Dick.