It was Ahab's obsession with the past.
Repetition. the word “alive” is repeated.
Well if it was me i would bring up points about telephones being used in these places for many reasons such as communicating with others such as if you were in a store and you wanted to see if someone liked something and for other things such as emergencies such as if you were being followed or were in any life threatening situation. sorry if this doesn’t help
