Question

read the source of the allusion.

in herman melville’s classic novel moby - dick, captain ahab is fixated on his goal of tracking down and getting revenge on a white whale.

what is the meaning of the allusion in the sentence below?

the detective spent his career chasing his white whale, a notorious bank robber who had eluded law enforcement for decades.

options: a mysterious figure; a clever criminal; an object of obsession

Explanation:

In Moby - Dick, Captain Ahab is fixated on the white whale, making it his obsession. In the given sentence, the detective spends his career chasing the bank robber, just as Ahab chases the whale. So the “white whale” here refers to an object of obsession. “A mysterious figure” doesn't fit as the robber is notorious (not mysterious in the sense of unknown), and “a clever criminal” isn't the main point— the focus is on the detective's obsession, not the criminal's cleverness.

Answer:

an object of obsession