“Ishmael's speech is often calculated to undermine the myth of white supremacy, asserting that the survival of society may ultimately depend on the acceptance of democratic vision of Ishmael (who sees equality in diversity) and a rejection of the tyrannical Ahab (seeing only white). » Joseph Adriano's quote from his article "Brother to Dragons: Race and Evolution in Moby-Dick" not only affirms Herman Melville's goals of producing a novel that gets people to discuss the problem of racial inequality, but it also helps reveal the main point of Moby-Dick, which is that for black people to be assimilated into American society, people must accept change. Although people of his time were unwilling to demonstrate such flexibility, Melville saw it as a necessary step toward achieving the essential goal of racial equality. Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, written in 1851, reveals his provisions on the theme of equality in an interracial society and the importance of keeping an open mind when it comes to reform. Melville ultimately achieves his goal of creating a protest novel by introducing a plethora of characters, themes, and situations that go against the status quo of the racist American society to which he belonged in the 19th century. The question of whether or not black people should be accepted into society has long stood the test of time. For centuries until 1851, white supremacy was a generally accepted theory among Americans and Europeans. However, by the mid-1800s, the number of abolitionists had increased significantly. This debate between white supremacists and abolitionists laid the foundation for Melville's Moby-Dick. In the 1850s, slavery was at its peak. According to the 1850 U.S. census, there were 23.1... middle of paper ...... to warn against pursuing the whale, as when the captain of the Samuel Enderby proclaimed: "There would have great glory in killing him... but, listen to yourself, it is better to leave him alone; you don't think so, captain? However, Ahab never listened. Although it may seem that the many ships that warned Ahab not to pursue the whale seem too obvious to foreshadow what would happen in real life, the same hints were being given to the Americans at the same time. Other countries, such as England, had abandoned slavery years before the Americans. Likewise, once the Civil War began and southerners sought some support from the British, they were rejected on the grounds that Britain would not support slavery. Whether it was pride or determination that drove Ahab to find Moby Dick, both were too strong and prevented him from seeing that changes had to happen for the Pequod to survive..