Pasteboard Mask Essay Throughout my life, I have made most of my decisions and performed certain acts based on how I felt at that particular period. You could say that I did these things because they made me happy and I thought that it was appropriate at the time. In Moby Dick, Captain Ahab feels that he must explore the outer limits of the "pasteboard mask" he has painted for himself, which would be his eagerness to encounter the whale with the intent to kill it. However, his intention turned on him and the whale ultimately destroyed him.
Although Ahab's experience was negative, pasteboard masks can have positive results as well. After situations like these, we might often find ourselves asking why we do such things or how we get these motives in the first place.
Ahab is an admirable and intelligent man whose balance has been disturbed by the blind and aimless anger of the whale that eventually destroys him.
English: Jack Aranson as Captain Ahab in Moby Dick...
English: Illustration from an early edition of Mob...
English: Illustration of the final chase of Moby-D...He is a man capable of love, but love by no means outweighs him. Nevertheless, his pride dominates his love. He tends to despise those who do not see the universe as he sees it. However, the center of his pride lies in the fact that he is not content merely to "see" more than other men, but wishes to put forth his power over what he sees. He seems to want to alter the world. He seeks to destroy the whale to prove that man is greater than the power that hides behind the "pasteboard masks" of physical reality. His pride, though it comes from a terrible sense of hurt with which we can sympathize, is irreverent. His longing for revenge is directed at God, or whatever Ahab considers to be God, rather than only at the whale. This urge to get revenge is even more surprising because it is directed at such an obscure object. Whatever power controls the universe, Ahab wants to attack it as he feels he has been attacked. The immensity of his mission sets Ahab apart from most tragic characters. Even with his dying breath, he refused to ask repent for his actions.
In my experiences, I have had various ways of attempting to go beyond my "pasteboard mask." A pasteboard mask might be one's attempt to be happy, not necessarily for the moment, but for later on in their future. It also can but put as a chain linked situation, where everything we see is a sign for something else. One of my efforts to do this would be my interest in television and film. For now, I find that lately I have turned to movies whenever I get into a dispirited mode. One can interpret that as an alternative to medication and a decision made at a specific moment in my day. The results might be negative considering the amount of time I spend watching television as well as the lack of concentration that I put into my work. However, this is not the only time that I would want to watch television or films. I find the entertainment business very fascinating and exhilarating. In the future, I hope to learn more about how television and films are produced and directed and the process beyond that.
Furthermore, I do not just watch, but I learn new things and sometimes relate to the situations that are being portrayed in the program. Looking at it from this perspective, the outcome would be positive because it would be benefiting my future plans, not to mention the knowledge I would retain that would be helpful for different circumstances.
I believe that by doing what I do, I will be on the course to what I find satisfying and how I want to incorporate that in my plans. At this point, I see my future leading to more good, such as traveling while going from different locations and perhaps one day getting recognition for a film or television show. By searching for the reasons of why I do things, I will be finding out more about what I like and what I am really made of.
My experience as compared to Captain Ahab is not nearly as dramatic or dangerous. Ahab was looking for revenge for what the whale had done to his leg. His intentions were negative, but did not deserve to be killed in the process. Like everyone else today, we find some point or another where we want to get retribution for what someone or something has done to us, but we do not necessarily have to die because of it.
In my situation, I was simply looking for something fulfilling that would comfort me and make me content.
In conclusion, everyone has his or her own individual pasteboard mask. Just as Ahab and I, everyone has their own different attitudes on how they go about achieving their desires and dealing with the consequences.
Featured: Martin Epstein as Ahab and Michael Berry...
English: Captain Ahab proclaims: "Blacksmith, I se...
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