Question

question 8 of 10
which feature of gothic writing does this passage from herman melvilles moby - dick best illustrate?
the white whale swam before him as the monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious agencies which some deep men feel eating in them, till they are left living on with half a heart and half a lung. ... all that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in moby dick.
a. death and mortality
b. obsession
c. guilt
d. natures power

Explanation:

The passage describes Ahab’s perception of Moby Dick as the embodiment of all malicious forces, tied to his intense, fixated pursuit. Gothic writing often explores extreme psychological states like obsession, which is highlighted here through Ahab’s monomaniacal view of the whale as a personification of all that torments him.

Answer:

B. Obsession