"Call me Ishmael."

A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both..." (Name the poem)

A twenty-eight-year-old military veteran from Venice. He is obsessive, relentless, bold, and ingenius in his efforts to manipulate and deceive the other characters.

War is irrational - it simply makes no sense at all.

"Stelllllllaaaaaa"

Extreme exaggeration

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

A captain in the Air Force and a lead bombardier in his squadron, but he hates the war. His powerful desire to live has led him to the conclusion that millions of people are trying to kill him.

Search for unconditional, true, and fulfilling love.

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

A person's thoughts and conscious reactions to events, perceived as a continuous flow.

"Cruel and sudden, hast thou since
Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence?" (Name the poem)

A big, redheaded gambler, a con man, and a backroom boxer. His body is heavily scarred and tattooed, and he has a fresh scar across the bridge of his nose.

The corrupting influence of wealth to the purity of a dream.

"Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he would have to fly

Language or writing that exposes follies or abuses by holding them up to ridicule

A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry

Starbuck's skilled harpooner who was once a prince from a South Sea island. He stowed away on a whaling ship in search of adventure.

Rebellion against authority and conformism.

"Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Ti

Two or more syllables that together make up the smallest unit of rhythm in a poem.

An eight-line stanza. Most commonly, octave refers to the first division of an Italian sonnet.

An Alpha male who fails to fit in because of his inferior physical stature. He holds unorthodox beliefs about sexual relationships, sports, and community events.

Solitude as the consequence of independence.