Question

excerpt from moby - dick
by herman melville
chapter 28 - “ahab”
for several days after leaving nantucket, nothing above hatches waseseen of captain ahab. the mates regularly relieved each other at the
watches, and for aught that could be seen to the contrary, they seemed
to be the only commanders of the ship: only they sometimes issued
from the cabin with orders so sudden and peremptory, that after all it
was plain they but commanded vicariously. yes, their supreme lord and
dictator was there, though hitherto unseen by any eyes not permitted to
penetrate into the now sacred retreat of the cabin.
now, it being christmas when the ship shot from out her harbor, for a
space we had biting polar weather, though all the time running away
from it to the southward; and by every degree and minute of latitude
which we sailed, gradually leaving that merciless winter, and all its
intolerable weather behind us. it was one of those less lowering, but
still grey and gloomy enough mornings of the transition, when with a
tair wind the ship was rushing through the water with a vindictive sort of
leaping and melancholy rapidity, that as i mounted to the deck at the
in chapter 28 of moby - dick, which ailment of humankind is best
symbolized by ahab’s plight?
dependency on others
obsession with the past
fear of the future
respect for nature

Explanation:

In "Moby - Dick", Captain Ahab is obsessed with his past encounter with Moby - Dick (the whale that injured him), and this obsession drives his actions throughout the story. The other options don't fit: "dependency on others" is not shown in his plight; his issue is not a "fear of the future"; and "respect for nature" is contrary to his desire to hunt and defeat the whale.

Answer:

obsession with the past