In the middle of chapter 87, Ishmael is directly telling readers to understand the importance of killing a sperm whale by saying: “Stick to the boat, Pip, or by the Lord, I won’t pick you up if you jump; mind that. We can’t afford to lose whales by the likes of you; a whale would sell for thirty times what you would, Pip, in Alabama. Bear that in mind, and don’t jump anymore. Hereby, perhaps Stubb indirectly hinted that though man loves his fellow, yet man is a money-making animal, which propensity too often interferes with his benevolence.” (Melville 452). 

This passage highlights how a sperm whale is such a rare creature, and by hunting it, humans are exploiting the very essence of a whale, which is oil, to gain profit from it. This also reflects on the problem of slavery, where Melville is creating an analogy between the hunt for the whales and the hunt for the escaped slaves to teach readers to think critically about how humans exploiting whales is similar to humans using slaves for labor. Through this connection, Melville points out the truth that whales were never enemies. It was the humans who did all the hunting, all the killing, and all of the exploitation that they could get their hands on, while reflecting the problem of slaves being captured and sold for labor during that time period.

The mirroring of the hunt between whales and slaves was to tell readers that it was always about money. In this passage, Stubb said: “We can’t afford to lose whales by the likes of you” (452). He is referring to Pip as ‘the likes of you’, meaning he is very much annoyed by the fact that Pip keeps messing up everything. This attitude of Stubb is influenced by money, and when money controls you, nothing matters anymore, including the lives of people on that boat. The reason why the hunt between whales in the sea and slaves on land mirror each other is that both were used for the purpose of capitalism. Think about it, when people sell whales, they usually extract gallons of oil and sell it for consumers to use. When it comes to fugitive slaves, there are markets that people use for the slave trade. They use the auction block as a way to sell slaves to the wealthy for labor. In this case, the consumers and the wealthy are mirroring each other because they were meant to exploit, while whales and slaves are considered to be objects, things to be sold for the purpose of money. This is peak capitalism because businesses were meant to operate and make profits, while exploiting more and more valuable resources. 

Stubb was referred to as specifically a ‘money-making animal’ because he lost the human nature of showing his emotional side to others. In the passage, we get a glimpse of Stubb through Ishmael, where he said: “Hereby, perhaps Stubb indirectly hinted that though man loves his fellow, yet man is a money-making animal.” (Melville 452). The sea plays a huge factor here because it influenced Stubb, while using the values of a whale in order to lure Stubb in and show him the importance of money. Because money is power, and when power rises, that is when greed plays into hands. Humans will do whatever it takes to exploit their own resources. To them, nothing is ever enough, and they will keep talking until there is no resource left. In this passage, when Ishmael refers to Stubb, a human being to an animal, it means Stubb blindly follows money, like an animal blindly hunting its prey. He does not think meticulously like a human; instead, he seeks what he sees. In this case, a whale is all that Stubb sees, and when Pip interferes with him, Stubb literally threatens Pip that he is going to leave him behind because he is being too clumsy. Stubb only sees whales, which is why human lives do not matter to him. Stubb could leave a hundred Pip behind with no problem. The real problem here is that capitalism is what changed Stubb, and it made him into a money-making animal with no thinking at all.

With the analogy between the hunt for whales and the hunt for fugitive slaves, Melville is showing readers the truth of how whales were never the enemies. Humans are the reason why whales are being hunted. They are also the reason why slaves were captured and sold for labor. In the passage, Stubb told Pip: “We can’t afford to lose whales by the likes of you; a whale would sell for thirty times what you would, Pip, in Alabama. Bear that in mind, and don’t jump anymore.” (Melville 452). This particular phrase shows how undervalued a human life is when it is being compared to whales. However, a fugitive slave is different because they are worth being purchased over. You see, the humans, alongside their curiosity, led them to hunt, to explore, and to exploit everything that they could lay their hands on. This is important because all actions have consequences, and every action that they took, such as hunting whales, capturing slaves, led to exploitation and inequality among themselves. Nothing good comes out of it, and money is what influences all of them to do these things. Melville is letting readers know the danger behind these specific circumstances because he wants us to learn from it. It’s insane how Melville sees this happening way longer before we do, and we are too blinded by the fact that money is what empowers us when the truth is it’s been controlling us this whole time.

The whales did not do anything to us; it was we humans who endangered them first, and we are the threat to them. If we think about it, the whales were out in the sea, enjoying their own company and their own home, and all of a sudden, these aliens came out of nowhere, attacking them face-on. What would their response be? To fight back. They will fight back to defend themselves and their homes. This applies to the slaves on land as well because slaves are normal human beings, but because of their skin color, it made them turn into something that inferior to others, hence it was the assumption that those who are lesser are not considered to be a human being, and that makes them view slaves as less than a human and more than an object. But money plays the real game because both the whales and slaves are worth something, and humans did what they could, which is to exploit and deceive in order to get more money. Greed, selfishness, and assumption are what influence humans. 

This is why it has come to the conclusion that humans were different due to these factors. I do believe that Melville succeeded in letting people know the importance of it because humans do learn from their mistakes. In today’s society, we have learned that racism stems mainly from slavery, and we have moved away from it. We learned about sustainability and how resources have been exploited for a really long time. We came up with alternatives in order to hunt and farm more sustainably. This tells readers that humans can be changed for the better, and we should have done it a long time ago if we all understood what Melville is trying to say through this novel. But I am glad we saw this mistake beforehand and are trying to fix it.