His bone leg steadied in that hole; one arm elevated, and holding by a shroud; captain ahab stood erect, looking straight out beyond the ship’s ever pitching prow. there was an infinity of firmest fortitude, a determinate, unsurrenderable willfulness, in the fixed and fearless, forward dedication of that glance. which best describes the theme melville develops in this excerpt from the chapter? a. obsession b. optimism c. love d. loss