Read the excerpt from Chapter 41 of Moby-Dick . The White Whale swam before him as the monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious agencies which some deep men feel eating in them, till they are left living on with half a heart and half a lung. What theme of the novel does this excerpt best address?

The excerpt describes Ahab seeing the White Whale as the embodiment of forces that have consumed and damaged people from within. The phrase “monomaniac incarnation” points to obsession, while “half a heart and half a lung” suggests that it leaves people diminished. This best expresses the self-destructive nature of obsession, not personal empowerment.

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