Pip, the cabin boy

Pip is the cabin boy who did not survive the sinking of the Pequod, in Herman Melville's literary masterpiece Moby Dick. Pip (nicknamed "Pippin," but "Pip" for short). An African-American youth said to be from Tolland County, Connecticut, although he is referred to as "Alabama Boy." He is "the most insignificant of the Pequod's crew." Because he was physically slight, he was made a ship-keeper, (a sailor who stays aboard the ship while its whaleboats go out). Although, he did go out on one venture, he jumped from the rowing boat, causing the crew to lose a harpooned whale.

Gregory Peck gives an outstanding performance as Captain Ahab, the obsessed master of the Pequod, in the 1956 movie: Moby Dick.

A BIT OF HISTORY

Moby Dick is the story of a great white sperm whale that fought back at whalers who tried to harpoon him. The idea came to Herman Melville after he spent time on a commercial whaler, where stories abounded of the sinking of the Essex in 1821 and Mocha Dick, a giant sperm whale that sank around 20 ships, before being harpooned in 1838.

Moby Dick has inspired a great many adaptations, the same basic story finding its way into the making of four films and two television adaptations.

In addition there are many comics and illustrated volumes, adapted from the original, one of which is the emerging graphic novel version of a large humpback whale called Kulo Luna.

Kulo Luna is not as big as the whales depicted in Herman Melville's Moby Dick, but she has a diamond encrusted heart of gold, only attacking whaling ships that present a danger to herself or her friends.

Herman Melville was the author of a story about what we'd now consider an illegal activity, the commercial hunting of whales for oil and meat. Whaling is still carried out by Japan, Iceland and Canada, among other nations, though most nations voluntarily abstain in the interests of conserving the magnificent animals - as per International Whaling Commission guidelines.

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