Author Archives: Angelina Gonzalez

Chapter 55: An Interlude

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In this chapter we pause the narrative once again, to return to Ishmael’s wide berth of knowledge concerning the worldly and historical preconceptions of what whales look like, based on depictions of artists and scientists that have never seen a living whale. As can be expected, they’ve got it all wrong : “Consider! Most of the scientific drawings have been taken from the stranded fish; and these are about as correct as a drawing of a wrecked ship, with broken back, would correctly represent the noble animal itself in all its undashed pride of hull and spars (288).” 

This pause, for suspense, serves as a narrative reminder that we are about to embark into the unknown, and never seen before. The great leviathan is about to be viewed in its natural environment, thrashing in the roiling sea. This chapter is a reminder, that in the grand scope of historical documentation, from the ancient Egyptians to Melville’s present, there has been very little understanding of the size, or scope of such a marvelous creature. And then, there is the reminder, that the only way to be intimated with the sight of the whale, is to embark on the dangerous and often ill-fated task of whaling.

What is interesting is that Ishmael seems to be most focused on the one thing these images, skeletons, and even carcasses can not capture, it soul: “even in the case of one of those young sucking whales hoisted to a ship’s deck, such is then the outlandish, eel-like, limbered, varying shape of him, that his precise expression the devil himself could not catch (289).” To stare into the eye of the living creature, one must meet it in it’s living state, submerged and alive within the water.

Ahab: His Mission, God’s Abandonement, and a Man’s Worldview Threatened

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Ahab’s biblical mirrors to king Ahab, is a humbling reminder that men can be abandoned, or punished by god. Despite the social constructions of hierarchy and power, men can still be the victims of the fragile patriarchal and monarchical structures they have created. The language Ahab uses to describe himself and his mission explores how despite his charade as the maniacal ruler of the Pequod, he was deeply wounded when he was scorned by God, or Moby Dick, so much so that his soul, his humanity, is in an altered state. The rage that fuels him and his newfound willingness to scorn and attack God, or nature, convey the fragility and desperation of men in power when their patriarchal worldview is threatened.

In Chapter 37, Sunset, he finds a frigid comfort in the security afforded to his position as Captain, which in turn, validates the prophecy that he previously attempted to avoid comparisons to. He muses about the weight of the ‘crown’ he wears: “‘Tis iron –that I know–not gold. ‘Tis split, too–that I feel; the jagged edge galls me so, my brain seems to beat against the solid metal; aye steel skull, min; the sort that needs no helmet in the most brain-battering fight.” Here we have insight into what continues to separate him from the common man, what excuses he tells himself to justify his remaining captain, a position above all other men on board. He is cut from a different cloth, as stated in previous chapters, he too believes he is Ungodly, and Godlike. He is made of Iron metal, and unkillable, but as he states, this position is in direct contrast to his nature.

Ahab has lost all connection and appreciation of nature: “ Oh! Time was when the sunrise nobly spurred me, so the sunset soothed me. No more. This lovely light, it lights not me; all loveliness is anguish to me, since I can ne’er enjoy it. Gifted with the high perception, I lack the low, enjoying power; damned, most subtly and most malignantly! Damned in the midst of Paradise! (182)” He is Surrounded by the beauty and splendor of the open ocean, which seems to have been his heaven on earth, his paradise, but he can enjoy none of it. Ahab is like a dead man walking. He is completely disconnected from God and fueled only by anger and rage, which is focused on Moby Dick. Because his revenge against Moby, is an afront to all nature, he can no longer rejoice and partake in it’s beauty.

Ahab seems to still be surprised that he was removed from his position at the top of the food chain: “it was Moby Dick that dismasted me, Moby Dick that brought me to this dead stump I stand on now(177).” Even though he has long since physically recovered from his injury, and embarked on this new voyage with the sole mission of revenge, he is still somewhat stupefied from the idea that he was humbled in what he excelled at, hunting whales. Ahab’s mission to kill Moby dick, is a mission to dominate God through his attempt to triumph over nature. Not only does he proclaim to see out the prophecy of his own doom, but he continues to scorn god by stating: ““The prophecy was that I should be dismembered; and – Aye! I lost this leg. I now prophecy that I will dismember my dismemberer. Now then, be the prophet and the fulfiller one. That’s more than ye, ye great gods, ever were(183).” By describing losing his leg to the whale as ‘dismasting’ and ‘dismembering,’ we understand that this act by the whale, or by god, threatened his masculinity. His acts of madness, his exertion of force amongst the crew, and intimidation of Starbuck, are paltry attempts by him to restore his masculinity and power through his position at the top of the hierarchy. Starbucks questioning of this mission means nothing to him, when he has already been visibly humbled by nature. 

The biblical comparisons between the doomed King Ahab, the lamentation of the natural, and repetitive emphasis of his dismemberment, serve to emphasise the spiritual fall from grace he has experienced, as well as his disenchantment with worldly conventions of rank, masculinity, and patriarchy. They become only tools for revenge. His crew have a right to feel fearful of him, as his dismantled preconceptions of the world and what he was owed, as a captain, as a strong and virile man, have now been dismantled by a whale. His revenge is not rooted in redeeming himself, or a position in the larger world structure that he no longer believes in, rather he has accepted he has one foot in the grave, and is intent on taking the whale, and his crew with him, as a final hurrah in the face of God. A world that no longer serves him, a man of formerly famed prestige, is not one that he cares to take pleasure in.

Ahab; or the fallen angel

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Ahab is searching for God. Chapters 36, 37, and 38 were interesting to me because not only does Ahab confront the crew and have them sign a pact (or a deal with the devil), but Starbuck publicly questions the madness of his captain and voices the doubts that others are more than willing to ignore in favor of peace. What interested me was the fragile peace maintained on the ship, and how Ahab is almost daring Starbuck to challenge him, and inspire rebellion. This instability is revealed to us in Chapter 37, Sunset, where we get insight into Ahab’s inner thoughts. What I found there proves to me without a doubt that this quest, for the whale, is the quest of a fallen man, a quest for God. 

Ahab has lost all connection and appreciation of nature: “ Oh! Time was when the sunrise nobly spurred me, so the sunset soothed me. No more. This lovely light, it lights not me; all loveliness is anguish to me, since I can ne’er enjoy it. Gifted with the high perception, I lack the low, enjoying power; damned, most subtly and most malignantly! Damned in the midst of Paradise! (182)”

Like Starbuck, I feel such immense pity for Ahab. Surrounded by the beauty and splendor of the open ocean, which seems to have been his heaven on earth, his paradise, but he can enjoy none of it. Ahab is like a dead man walking. He is completely disconnected from God and fueled only by anger and rage, which is focused on Moby Dick. But why has his disillusion with god become funneled into this Whale? I look to these passages where he acknowledges the accident: 

“it was Moby Dick that dismasted me, Moby Dick that brought me to this dead stump I stand on now(177).” 

“The prophecy was that I should be dismembered; and – Aye! I lost this leg. I now prophecy that I will dismember my dismemberer. Now then, be the prophet and the fulfiller one. That’s more than ye, ye great gods, ever were(183).”

By describing his losing his leg to the whale as ‘dismasting’ and ‘dismembering,’ we understand that this act by the whale, or by god, threatened his masculinity. His acts of madness, his exertion of force amongst the crew, and intimidation of Starbuck, feel like attempts by him to restore his masculinity and power through his position at the top of the hierarchy. Furthermore, he numerously attempts to scorn God by enlisting pagan harpooners, making them swear an oath to him (to hunt and kill Moby Dick), and describing himself as a prophet and fulfiller, greater than “ye great gods ever were.” This path Ahab is intent on paving has a biblical mirror, and like the fallen angel Lucifer, he has joined forces with his crew to wage war on God and his creatures.

Elijah and the Prophecy

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Prior to setting off on his 3 year long voyage, Ishmael is tasked with the important decision of choosing between the three whaling ships docked in Nantucket. His decision to choose the Pequod, is entirely based on his admiration and romanticized notions of the whaling ship which he describes as: “a thing of trophies. A cannibal of a craft, tricking herself forth in the chased bones of her enemies(78).”

After having gotten to know Ishmael in the past 16-19 chapters, it is no surprise that he is inclined to court death, evidenced by the quick friendship he began with the intimidating Queequeg. However, he seems determined to board the ship despite any protest or challenge, even after the prophetic and ominous warnings by Elijah, who equates signing onto the ship as signing away your soul. Elijah seems to know more than anyone is capable of divulging about Captain Ahab, but does not go into depth: 

“But nothing about that thing that happened to him off Cape Horn, long ago, when he lay like dead for three days and nights; nothing about that deadly skrimmage with the Spaniard afore the altar in Santa?—heard nothing about that, eh? Nothing about the silver calabash he spat into? And nothing about his losing his leg last voyage, according to the prophecy. Didn’t ye hear a word about them matters and something more, eh?(101)”

His name, based on the biblical reference to the prophet Elijah and King Ahab, is either an attempt to scare Ishmael, or his way of hinting that this prophecy (of biblical scale), which even Captain Peleg seems forbidden to mention in Ahab’s presence, is already on its path of being concluded. It seems even captain peleg is incapable of forming a concrete opinion on Captain Ahab who is both “a grand, ungodly, godlike man(88),” as well as “a good man– not a pious, good man, like Bildad, but a swearing good man–(89).” I wouldn’t say that the chances of this voyage ending on a good note are high for Ishmael and Queequeg, but I would say, based on Elijah’s warnings that they are inevitable or otherwise fated.

There is a certain quality to these chapters, that make everything feel like it’s clicking into place, not in the usual narrative sense, but like seeing a prophecy play out. Ishmael decides almost at once to join the Pequod based on a feeling of rightness, and even Elijah tells him “you are just the man for him– the likes of ye. Morning to ye, shipmates, morning! Oh! When ye get there, tell’em i’ve concluded not to make myself one of ‘em.” I take this to mean that in Elijah’s journey, he has decided, upon meeting Ishmael, to resist the magnetic pull of the Pequod and of the infamous Captain Ahab. It seems, unfortunately, that Elijah has bequeathed this burden of knowing to Ishmael. Only time and the progression of reading this book will tell us if this is true.

Chapter 10: A Bosom Friend

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Ishmael, who at once seemed so afraid of the foreignness of Queequeg, has over the course of these chapters become his ‘bosom friend’. I was, at once, astounded at the way Melville wrote the blossoming friendship between these two. Although it could be argued that their relationship is that of a very close friendship between two men, the tropes (like sharing a single bed) felt akin to the romance novels I love to read. Those who also enjoy reading romance novels might have also felt a click of awareness at the familiarity of this trope, and the romantic connotations of being thrust into the space of a total stranger, and the intimacy that results from this forced proximity. Ishmael’s growing positive regard for Queequeg also does little to stifle the feeling that his fondness does not strictly stem from friendliness, but rather a deeper appreciation and attraction. Although he at first considers Queequeg to be ugly and severe, Ishmael begins to warm up to his features and regular presence, regarding him as “by no means disagreeable(p.55),” his eyes as “fiery black and bold, there seemed tokens of a spirit that would have dared a thousand devils,(p.56)” and his head as “phrenologically” excellent. I am left in total shambles at this not-so-shy and growing affection within Ishmael.

This fascination and blossoming romantic interest, is also reciprocated by Queequeg who is “pleased, perhaps a little complimented,(57)” at Ishmael returning as his bedfellow, and proclaims them “married(57),” which supposedly means “bosom friend.” However, I wonder if, through Ishmael’s naïvety and innocence, Melville means to push the boundaries between the prescribed ideals of marriage, between man and woman, by having Ishmael and Queequeg partake in each other’s space, friendship, and religions and questioning “But what is Worship – to do the will of god – that is worship. And what is the will of God? – to do to my fellow man what I would have my fellow man do to me– that is the will of God.” 

Through this internal questioning of the overarching goal of worship and the will of God, Ishmael decides to “turn Idolater (58),” in order to unite with Queeqeg. The steps that he goes through with Queeqeg, and the intimacy that grows between them in this scene, is also reminiscent of a marriage ceremony, an official union that occurs between lovers, which makes me question how Ishmael could possibly see this ceremony as an act simply between “bosom friends”, and not one of lovers. Of course, there is much I don’t understand about queer romance and the expression of coded homoeroticism during this era, but I can not deny that the relationship between Ishmael and Queequeg is a romantic one, insofar as we have read in these chapters. I hope to read much more of their relationship, and hope that it lasts into the days of their voyage!

Week 5: Chapter 1: Loomings

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“Why is almost every robust healthy boy with a robust healthy soul in him, at some time or other crazy to go to sea? Why upon your first voyage as a passenger, did you yourself feel such a mystical vibration, when first told that you and your ship were now out of sight of land? Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and make him the own brother of Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning. And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting, mild image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all.(p.5)

This passage in the first chapter drew me in with the sheer passion for the water that Ishmael has. Ishamel argues that water is the gravitational pull of life. But there is also a mysticism and fascination of water, of being in it, even to the point of drowning as Narcissus did. His ponderings and emphatic assertions of the pull of water, remind me of conversations we had concerning the blue humanities, and its limitlessness in the human connection with all bodies of water. 

In this chapter, as Ishmael prepares to tell his tale, he argues that his pull to the ocean is not a unique one but one felt throughout all humanity. That much is true for my own experiences. As someone who lives in a coastal city, I can’t bear the thought of being so far away from the open ocean; it makes me feel trapped. And indeed, the few times I’ve visited deserts and forests, I’ve searched for water, whether it was a small creek formed by the melting of ice somewhere higher in the mountains, or the spring blooms reliant on rain and groundwater. 

I enjoy the way Ishmael seems to be speaking and arguing to the reader, reinforcing his assertions through the citing of myths, and the analysis of painted landscapes being nothing without the glorious river running through it: “yet all were vain, unless the shepherd’s eye were fixed upon the magic stream before him(p.4).” I loved the comical sarcasm in his voice as he questions, “Were Niagara but a cataract of sand, would you travel your thousand miles to see it?(p.5)” Through his view of the world, it could be seen as a universal truth that the human soul is on a never-ending quest to return constantly to the water. Though humans are indeed creatures of the land, our survival is tied to the water, so much so that it not only quenches our thirst but fills up and renews our souls (or at least this is the quest Ishmael has set upon). 

Questions for Steve Mentz

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  • In Deterritorializing Preface, you question if scape, as in Seascape, is problematic because our language is too focused on the visual. In contrast, you state, “underwater creatures seldom rely very much on sight.” Have you considered any words or phrases that might better capture this concept?
  • How might deterritorializing our language help us study and understand the blue humanities and the anthropocene?
  • You speak about having a deep connection to the North Atlantic coast. Has your experience shifted or deepened by visiting different bodies of water? 
  • Can you share how reading/writing about the ocean (or bodies of water) within the contexts of blue humanities expands and deepens your connection with water and life?
  • Which of your books was your favorite to write, and why?

Word 4: Ship (formerly state)

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As we learn about blue humanities and sail through histories carried through bodies of water, we must confront the way colonization and imperialism have inherently shaped a culture of the ocean as a tool of the oppressors. While discussing language as a means to dissolve the invisible and terrestrial boundaries imbued by bureaucracy and imperialism, we delve into the history of lands discovered through ship sightings, a history of colonization spreading and arriving by ocean, and a legacy of human cruelty carried across oceans. I think about how the expansion of our language, or deterritorializing, might help us to decolonize a language and a sea of peoples so fragmented and disoriented from movement. Steve Mentz Deterritorializing Preface offers insight into how to Blue humanities, and the ungrounding of our language might help bridge the gap between “our shared cultural history.” 

This complex relationship with the ocean is confronted through the Ship. In this effort to decenter the terrestrial, the ship replaces the state, which “the dissolving force of oceanic history works against nationalism, though at times it may also tend in the directions of global or even imperial totality.(xvi)” The prevailing symbolism of the ship is, to many, an agent of imperialism and capitalism. The ship offers us a way to discuss the converging politics of the world, which have disrupted, uprooted, and scattered humans and cultures throughout the globe. 

While the ship offers an alternative understanding of hierarchy, community, and civilization, it also holds a fragile relationship with the shifting chaos of the sea, and the places it visits, disturbing and changing the fragile ecosystems it comes into contact with. 

Intro

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Hi everyone! My name is Angelina Gonzalez! I have lived in San Diego my whole life, and though I’ve always wanted to travel the world (and hopefully I will when I can afford it), I know that I’ll always come back to San Diego. I love to complain about the monotony of San Diego’s usually temperate weather, but deep down, I know I could never handle the struggle of the extreme cold or heat. I feel truly spoiled to live in this beautiful city! 

I transferred from Southwestern College in Chula Vista in 2023. Originally I was set on pursuing my major in psychology, but as I moved along in the college process, I felt like I was missing something. I’m currently double majoring in Psychology, as well as English & Comparative Literature. I feel so happy that I get to learn about something that I am truly passionate about, and expand my understanding of the world. 

A little bit about me, is that Im the second of four daughter, and we are animal lovers. I currently have 5 dogs and one cat, so you’ll often see me covered in dog hair (which I try and fail at removing). I love to knit, and crochet, although I often unwind most of my projects because I’m a terrible perfectionist. This means it takes me forever to finish a project. I am by no means an expert and every project I start teaches me something new! Like most in this class, I am fond of reading, specifically from the works of Jane Austen, which have been accused of being a bit boring and slow. While this critique can be true, I still love to read about the way Jane Austen portrays women during this time as complex, flawed, and intelligent. 

I’m so excited to be part of this class’s effort to tackle this book together! I look forward to learning from all of you!