Tools of Destiny

Come, Ahab's compliments to ye; come and see if ye can swerve me. Swerve me? Ye cannot swerve me, else ye yourselves! Man has ye there. Swerve me? The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run. Over unsounded gorges, through the rifled hearts of mountains, under torrents' beds, unerringly I rush! Naught's an obstacle, naught's an angle to the iron way! (337)
In the passage above, Ahab is daring anyone on the ship to divert him from his purpose, which is to gain vengeance on Moby Dick and ultimately end all evil. …