The Man of Starbuck The reading of Moby Dick by Melville focuses on differences between Ahab and Starbuck. Both of them apply different standards of masculinity. Masculinity is another word for manliness, or to have man like strengths. Ahab and Starbuck constantly show there different ways of how they interpret their job on the ship. Ahab has a personal task instead of killing whales that they come across like the crew usually does. Abab takes the role of being the dictator on the ship. Once he gets all of his crew together, he says, “Whosoever of ye raises me a white-headed...he shall have this gold ounce” (356). That was the order given by Ahab to kill Moby Dick. Moby Dick is the whale that ate his leg so he wants the revenge on that whale.