About a third of the way through Moby-Dick, it becomes evident that Ishmael, after surviving the disastrous voyage of the Pequod, has gone back to sea a whaleman many, many times, met many "named" — meaning memorable, vengeful and dangerous — whales, and seen many sailors die on these voyages. One might think the way Ishmael's time on the Pequod culminates would put a stop to a person's desire to see the watery part of the world in just this way, but the opposite is true, apparently. We learn here that Ishmael has become as obsessed with whaling as Ahab is with Moby-Dick. By Chapter 45, we are deep into the book, and yet we did not quite understand that before. Maybe he was obsessed enough to write this book about his trauma, but to go back again and again for more of the same? It profoundly changes our understanding of Ishmael's personality to know this. Melville slips it in as if inadvertently. It wouldn't have been nearly as impactful a realization if it had been explained up front, or more directly.

PROMPT

Let a crucial fact about your central character slip out as if inadvertently.