When Ahab's mother dies in childbirth, the infant's gruff father places his son in the care of his pious aunt. It is Rose who sparks the imagination of the young boy by teaching him to read the Bible, though when Ahab is reclaimed by his father a decade later the growing boy strives to become a hunter like his old man. Later, after Ahab warms to his father's lover Louise, the old man dies and the boy is sent back to his God-fearing aunt. Rejecting Rose and her abusive husband Henry's unforginv brand of discipline and infuriated that his aunt confiscated the locket given to him by Louise, young Ahab boldly stages his own kidnapping as an ingenious escape plan.

1840. Qui aurait bien pu imaginer que ce jeune garçon lisant la Bible dans une cabane de chasse perdue au milieu des bois, deviendrait un jour capitaine de navire baleinier ? Personne. Et pourtant, de mains tendues en coups reçus, Achab grandit et s'empare des océans. Devenu un capitaine redoutable, il rencontre une baleine éblouissante de blancheur... Moby Dick.