Captain Bildad

Moby-Dick (1851) is a whaling novel by Herman Melville. While some characters only appear in the shore-chapters at the beginning of the book, and others are captains and crewmembers of other ships, the majority of the characters are crewmembers of the Pequod. The following is a list of the characters.

The title character is a giant, largely (but not completely) white bull sperm whale and arguably the main antagonist of the novel.

Ishmael, the only surviving crewmember of the Pequod, is the narrator of the book. As a character he is a few years younger than as a narrator. His importance relies on his role as narrator; as a character, he is only a minor participant in the action. The name has come to symbolize orphans, exiles, and social outcasts

Ahab is the tyrannical captain of the Pequod who is driven by a monomaniacal desire to kill Moby Dick, the whale that had maimed him off the coast of Japan during a previous whaling voyage. Ahab’s obsession with Moby Dick ultimately causes the death of the entire crew of the Pequod, except for Ishmael. He's the main protagonist of the novel.

A former whaler who is a preacher in the New Bedford Whaleman's Chapel.

The character Elijah (named for the Biblical prophet Elijah, who is also referred to in the King James Bible as Elias), on learning that Ishmael and Queequeg have signed onto Ahab's ship, asks, "Anything down there about your souls?" When Ishmael reacts with surprise, Elijah continues:

Oh, perhaps you hav'n't got any," he said quickly. "No matter though, I know many chaps that hav'n't got any — good luck to 'em; and they are all the better off for it. A soul's a sort of a fifth wheel to a wagon."

Later in the conversation, Elijah adds:

Well, well, what's signed, is signed; and what's to be, will be; and then again, perhaps it wont be, after all. Any how, it's all fixed and arranged a'ready; and some sailors or other must go with him, I suppose; as well these as any other men, God pity 'em! Morning to ye, shipmates, morning; the ineffable heavens bless ye; I'm sorry I stopped ye.

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