Author Archives: Caitlyn King

Jonah and the Whale – Potential Foreshadowing? – Chapter 9

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This week I stumbled upon the following passage in Chapter 9, on page 47. “Yet what depths of the soul does Jonah’s deep sea-line sound! What a pregnant lesson to us is this prophet! What a noble thing is that canticle on the fish’s belly!”

For those who don’t know, or struggled to understand how Melville framed the story, the Book of Jonah in the Bible is that Jonah, a prophet, disobey’s God by not going to the City of Niniveah. Jonah attempts to escape from God on a boat, and when the boat is being overwhelmed by a storm, her relives that it is his fault, and asks the shipmates to throw him overboard. The storm stops, and he is swallowed by a “big fish”, and then is thrown up after 3 days, after which he goes to the city of Nineveh.

Why do I bring this up? Because I believe this is an instance of foreshadowing. My guess is that Ahab will either be mutinied against, like Jonah being thrown overboard, or eaten by the “Big Fish” that is Moby Dick, just like Jonah.

Now, I don’t remember much of my first read-through, but I do remember that Melville is brilliant at foreshadowing. (If you were paying attention in the first 3 chapters, you will be rewarded later on). I do not remember, however, if this pays off or not. I guess I’ll just have to read and find out.

This Chapter within Moby Dick is riddled with quotes that feed into that theory as well, not just the one I shared. In fact, pretty much the entire Chapter supports this. I believe that this is a clear instance of Chekov’s Gun. And, while Melville does tend to go on philosophical tangents, which this can also be perceived as, I believe it will directly relate to the plot.

If you want to do your own research, I highly recommend reading Jonah. As Mapple says, it is only 4 chapters. It’ll put into context a lot of what the sailors, most of whom are Christian or grew up son, act and think the way they do about and around whales.

Language and Word Choice in Chapter 1

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While reading Chapter 1, Loomings, I was struck by the following quotation on page 4. “Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries.” The reason this sentence spoke to me in particular was just because of how beautiful it is. I particularly like the use of alliterations, in this case “silent sentinels” and “mortal men”. To be honest, this feels more like poetry than a line from a novel.

Later in the same paragraph this is expanded upon, when Melville, through the voice of Ishmael, says that “these are all landsmen”. None of them are carrier sailors, so, as Ishmael puts it “What do they here?” Especially because, at the time, the beach was not a recreational place. But I’d like to think that these people still saw beauty in it, although they weren’t brave enough to enter the waters. Maye they were just conptemplating the endlessness of the ocean, or the mythical beasts and sailors that ventured it’s endless waters.

In a lot of ways, we are those people. How many of us have actually spent time as crew on a ship? Most likely none of us. But, as people who live in San Diego, we tend to go to the beach at least every once in a while. Some people surf, or play in the waves. But some, like me, start attempting to read a book, but instead find ourselves staring at the waves, wondering if someone on the other side of the ocean is doing the exact same thing.

The ocean inspires all humans, in some way or form. Melville later writes about how it inspires the artist (like him). Because the vastness of the ocean is so unexplored, we can really run with our minds, imagining what lays in its depths. Who knows? There may even be mermaids.

Melville and Tone Within “Moby Dick”

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Within the introduction to Moby Dick, Deblanco calls the novel “A noisy book written in a braggart’s voice”. And, according to Google, a braggart is “a person who boasts about achievements or possessions”, which, I can assume from this quote, is a character trait of our protagonist Ishmael.

As a reader who has read 287 books (and counting) I absolutely LOVE when you can learn things about characters from the author’s writing. Or rather, when the author doesn’t TELL us what a character’s traits are, but shows us through their actions, thoughts, and most importantly, their writing. While this is most prevalent in books that switch point of views, it makes be excited to read the rest of this book.

In particular I notice this most within books that talk about race, glass, and generational gaps. Authors use words that fit the character, rather than words that might make the novel more understandable fir the reader. And it really engages me, as a reader. I want to feel immersed into the world. And, ultimately, it doesn’t make sense for a 75 year old to use Gen Z slang terms, or for a British character to use the word “trunk” for the back compartment of a car, rather than “boot”. And, hopefully we see this with Melville in the novel within the dialogue of characters, and everything in between. From the descriptions and outside perspectives we have read in class, I assume that this will happen, as we learn, in depth, about what it was like to be on a Whaling ship. After all, if an Alien could recreate whaling from this book, it must be very, very in depth, (and as someone who had read the novel in previous years, I can confirm that it indeed, does).

On the very first page of the Introduction, “Moby Dick” is called “the greatest English novel”. And, to be called that, it must have inspired countless authors. And even in other completely unrelated genres, sometimes I see authors who have clearly been inspired by Melville, using their words to show us character traits of both the point of view character, and the world.

“Blue Humanities” and Modern Day Obsession with the Ocean

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This week while reading “The Blue Humanities”, this particular tidbit stood out to me: “A shift in attention from land to sea is under way in several fields simultaneously.” The piece goes on to explain how differing scientific fields have now shifted to an oceanic point of view, this quotation in particular got me thinking about how the ocean and all it offers, both real and imagined, are portrayed in popular culture.

Now, I’m going to be honest here. I grew up without cable, so I didn’t grow up with many popular “oceanic” tv shows, except for shows that talked about all kinds of animals, such as “Wild Kratts”. But in middle school, I began to have an obsession over mermaids. I was always binging “H2O” and “Mako Mermaids”, not to mention reading books with mermaids at the forefront, such as “Siren” by Kira Cass. And, as I look back at my pre-teen self, I realized how I romanticized the creatures. Because, in reality, the mythology behind them is so much more interesting than the “dumbed down” version of them in popular culture. Am I saying that these pieces are bad? Not by any means! But they do not portray mermaids at their core. Classically speaking, mermaids lured sailors to their deaths. And, while these pieces do portray mermaids as having extraordinary singing ability, they don’t portray the true deadliness of that power. (Which does make sense, as most of these are for kids. And who wants their child to watch sailors drown?)

That’s why nowadays I am more drawn into media that portrays mermaids more like the “monster” they are in old mythology, such as in ” Into the Drowning Deep” by Mira Grant. When you really get more in depth on the creatures, I find said media to be much more interesting, and feel much more real.

But it’s not only mermaids that have become main stream pop culture, but marine veterinarians as well. My best friend growing up’s favorite movie was “Dolphin Tale”. And now she’s studying to become a Wildlife Vet! This pop culture phenomenon is inspiring thousands of people to take an interest in oceans. While the more “dumbed-down” versions of ocean mythology are what have gained popularity, at least in main stream media, they have and will inspire future scientists and artists.

“Blackfish” also comes to mind. A group of activists fighting for the Ocean animals within the Sea World parks to be released into the wild, or, at the very least, gain better living conditions. We now value ocean life more than ever!

And what’s even more amazing is how the re-emergence of “Moby Dick” really started all of it! Scholars critiquing the whaling industry took center stage, pointing out it’s brutality. Because the process is described so in depth within the novel, we, as readers, are able to truly understand it. It shows how far we have come with how we treat our sea-faring friends, both within the real world, and with how we portray them within the pages of a book.

Emmerson and the Abuse of Books

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After reading the “American Scholar”, this particular quote has stuck with me:

“Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst.”

I agree that books and written language truly are the “best”, whether through escapism or knowledge. Fiction, and in particular fantasy, offer a place for people to escape from the real world, into the problems of other people. Another example of this is Romance, which people, especially women, often read to fill their romantic desire. And even fiction books can help you build knowledge, particularly on different countries and cultures, as well as empathy. Books are glimpses into other worlds, and into the minds of their authors.

I, personally, am so thankful to have readers in my family. As a child, they encouraged my addiction to series such as “Nancy Drew”, “Warrior Cats”, and “Little House on the Prarie”. And each and every one of those has helped to shape the person I am today. “Nancy Drew” made me curious and observant, “Warrior Cats” kicked off my fantasy addiction, and “Little House on the Praries” caused me to get interested in American history and politics.

Books, when “well used” can and will shape identities, and help us as readers grow as human beings.

When I think of abused literature, I not only think of book banning and/or burning, but an abuse of the contents within the books. In this modern world, people will often take quotations from books out of context and post them online. While this can be fun, such as in the case of “out of context” quotes, used for memes or comedic purposes, it often leads to a misinterpretation of the ideas presented in the text.

One that I have learned of recently is how in “Romeo and Juliet”, when Juliet says “Where for at thou Romeo”, she is not asking for his location. She is essentially asking “Why are you Romeo”, alluding to the feaud between their families.

In particular, this is dangerous when out of context quotes change people’s perception of the literature. This is also a problem when it comes to book reviewers. Because, ultimately each and everyone of us will have infinite interpretations on the meaning of books. But when readers look to others about their perceptions, they go into a book with preconceptions about this.

I do enjoy listening and watching book reviews and recommendations. But I don’t simply read a book because someone online said it was good, or that they enjoyed it. I first do my own research, looking for any content warnings, and reading the description. But I don’t go into spoilers, because spoilers, especially out of context, can ruin a reading experience, or perception of a book.

And, this may just be me, but I also think of the physical abuse of books, particularly that of burning. If you burn or somehow destroy every last copy of a book, you are loosing so, so much potential knowledge, whether it was fiction or non-fiction. Another example of this is leaving a book out in the rain. Both of these could and can prevent people from accessing that knowledge. And who knows? Maybe that book could have changed their life. But because it was abused physically, now they will never pick it up and be transformed by the words within those pages.

My Introduction

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Hello, my name is Caitlyn, and I am a third year majoring in ECL with a minor in History. This is actually my first semester at SDSU, as I recently transferred from Miramar College.

I have loved books and literature from the moment I could read, and particularly have fallen in love with the sci-fi and fantasy genre.

Some of my favorite books include Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang and Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.

I have a second degree black belt in Songham Taekwondo, and have been training for almost a decade. I also received my full instructor certification for Taekwondo this past Saturday, and was the first person in over a decade from my school to receive that honor.

I initially choose this class to fuffill a requirement, not even realizing that it was about Moby Dick until the day before class started. Initially I was reluctant, as I read the book my first year of college and did not enjoy it. However, I have grown a lot over the past 2 years, and want and look forward to giving it another shot!