Starbuck (Ethan Hawke) fears the blind vindictiveness of Ahab (William Hurt), whose madness and manipulative tactics can mean death for the seamen. On the long and arduous journey across the Atlantic, which takes the Pequod around the Cape of Good Hope and to the South China Sea, the crew members are subjected to hunger and thirst, to the terrifying stillness of the doldrums and to naked fear. Yet Ahab unswervingly pursues his goal: the hunt for Moby Dick.