As I begin to dive into this section of reading, something that keeps sticking out to me is the way in which Ishmael has started to speak about whales since joining the mission Ahab is on. In Chapter 45, The Affidavit, he is trying to express to the readers just how possible what is happening in their book is by discussing the habits and stories about sperm whales. But one quote that really stuck out to me was him saying “The man and the whale again came together, and the one vanquished the other.” (Melville, page 222) This quote does not exactly seem to truly have any significance to the overall message he is trying to present, but it really stuck with me.
I think the use of the word “vanquished” within this quote is so extremely impactful and shifts the way in which I feel the whale is being spoken about. It seems that since Ahab brought them all in on his mission of vengeance against Moby Dick, the whale is being spoken about in a more mythical sense, much like the way Ahab was spoken about prior to his introduction. it feels, to me, as if Melville is really trying to emphasize the true size and threat of the whale. Earlier in the book, he was really emphasizing just how massive sperm whales were to give the readers a perspective that they might not have, but now it seems like the power of the whale is what is being emphasized. This is effectively setting up the whale as such a looming presence on the ship despite it not having made an appearance yet.
I am not sure if this is the way it has been throughout the book and I am just now noticing, but I think regardless it is really impactful to the experience of reading.
Hey Marley!
I agree with you that the word choice and language changes throughout the story to alter the dynamic between man and the whale. I think what is done here is to significantly understand the ways in which human emotion taints our every autonomy and notion; and I think this is exactly what Ahab is dictated by: human impulse and a desire to access his internal feelings. It is clear that Ahab does so because, while he is the villain, internal feelings articulate much of the Pequod’s autonomy in the novel, overall personifying the boat as a vessel for Ahab’s though process and trajectory of his feelings at that moment.
I think this affective reading response is very helpful, and I think you are right about the slow education that Melville provides his reader about whales. Different aspects of power– size, impact… and ?? Great post.