properly constructed sentence
Answer:
It helped make him an American legend, because of his courage to travel the countryside, and all that he could have come across throughout the way as well, not only that but it also, thanks to him, now people would have a better understanding of what could be in the countryside.
It signifies that Ahab sees himself as an equal and dependent part of a greater whole. Simply, he's lost part of himself trying to dominate it so now he is dependent upon it.