Herman Melville's Moby Dick is the story of Captain Ahab's self-destructive obsession with the white whale called Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that bit off his leg on the ship's previous voyage.

It is told through the narration of Ishmael, a sailor new to Ahab's ship, the Pequod. He is a young man from New York City, who is preparing to go on a whaling voyage for several reasons—to make money, to entertain himself, and to leave behind what he considers the stifling confines of city life, which make him bored.

The plot of the novel follows Ahab's manic drive to kill the whale for vengeance, even as it endangers his crew.