by Andrew Maple

Would Moby Dick, the acclaimed “Great American Novel,” still be such a highly praised story if the book was all based on lies? Herman Melville leaves much of Moby Dick up for interpretation, with a lot of unanswered questions. For hundreds of years, people have questioned the so-called whale, but none of these fake and horrific ‘scholars’ are even close to being on the right track.

Let’s look back on some history: primarily, the history of the sea. Moby Dick is considered to be a sperm whale; however, sperm whales are not typically known to be aggressive. Most whales just swim around, hoping to snag a snack. The only known whale that is aggressive and hunts (to my admittedly inferior knowledge) is the orca whale, also known as the killer whale.

Moby Dick is also described as a white whale throughout the novel, even having whole chapters describing the whiteness of the whale. The only whale with the same brightness and whiteness is the beluga whale, famous from the song “Baby Beluga”.

So, we are left with three options of whales for Moby Sick. We could believe the novel, and consider him a sperm whale. However, this does not make sense since historically sperm whales are peaceful creatures. The second option is the orca whale, but we know the whale cannot be an orca for orcas are white and black, while Moby Dick is fully white. The third and final option for the whale is the beluga whale. The beluga is also wrong because Moby Dick is described as “a sperm whale of uncommon magnitude and malignity.” Belugas are not known for their size, and are relatively small compared to creatures like Moby Dick.

Thus, I raise a question. A simple question that will single handedly change the way you see this novel. What if the infamous Moby Dick is not a whale at all?

Let’s break this down. Moby Dick is a huge creature. He attacks boats, kills lots and lots of sailors, is very fast in chasing ships, is virtually indestructible, and also is white. Now tell me, is the creature I just described a whale? No! So, what could it be?

Moby Dick is considered by many characters in the novel to be the king or protector of the sea. If we look back at history, primarily prehistoric times, we see one creature that fits the description of Moby Dick being the King of the Sea perfectly. That animal? The Megalodon.

We constantly hear how sharks are the kings of the ocean, for sharks are dangerous and commonly portrayed as evil characters. For background, the megalodon was the ruler of the sharks. The biggest, the fastest, and the strongest of all the sharks in the sea. These megalodons were famous for even killing huge dinosaurs, and if the megalodon can do that, a couple of whaling boats would not stand a chance.

These are two main objections to my argument, the first being that megalodons are generally considered to be extinct. However, there are still potential sightings of these sharks today, and plenty of evidence that the megalodon could have been alive in Melville’s time.

The second concern is the fact that most sailors should be able to tell the difference between a shark and a whale. However, this is not true. For if sailors see this creature, it will give them a sense of fear that they have never felt before, and if the megalodon has really survived this long, it had to sustain some damage in its many battles.

At the end of the day, the answer is obvious: the great, powerful, and destructive Moby Dick can in no way be a whale, and he is no mere shark either, but rather he is the far superior megalodon. The story is not about Ishmael growing in life; in fact, he is just a side character, mere filler. The real story is of the megalodon’s redemption, and how it comes to dominate the sea, in the form of the Great Moby Dick.