Daddy thinks history starts fresh every day, every minute, that time itself begins with the feelings he’s having right now. That’s how he keeps betraying us, why he roars at us with such conviction. We have to stand up to that, and say, at least to ourselves, that what he’s done before is still with us, still right here in this room until there’s true remorse. Nothing will be right until there’s that.” “He looks so, sort of, weakened.” “Weakened is not enough. Destroyed isn’t enough. He’s got to repent and feel humiliation and regret. I won’t be satisfied until he knows what he is.”" Do we know what we are?"" We know we aren’t him. We know that to that degree we don’t yet deserve the lowest circle of hell. Jane Smiley
About This Quote

The protagonist in this quote, Captain Ahab, is a ruthless and violent man who seeks vengeance for the death of his friend and shipmate, Moby Dick. Captain Ahab’s obsession with Moby Dick is clear as he continues to hunt down the white whale until he kills it. The idea that history can be “rescued” from the past is absurd. While Captain Ahab was obsessed with his quest for revenge, he can never truly move on.

Ahab’s quest for revenge is not something that can be undone. Ahab was given a great deal of power that he could have used to make the world a better place. Instead of using that power to make the world a better place, he used it to exact revenge for his friend’s death.

The novel shows us that once history is already set in motion, it will continue to repeat itself until humanity takes action to stop it.

Source: A Thousand Acres

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  1. Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book.
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