Author Archives: Jackie Alcaide

Final: Different Interpretations

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Throughout this class, us as students have not only been brushing up on our analyzing skills but ultimately have been pushed to back up our interpretations for the chapters of Moby Dick. Now that this class has ended, I’ve realized that chapter 100 of Moby Dick where we are introduced to  Captain Boomer who also lost a limb from the infamous whale, connects to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s The American Scholar. Emerson pushed on the idea that   student’s individual thoughts and ideas stem from our authentic self not to copy or repeat ideas from others. Thus reaching to a conclusion that our own interpretation of a text while different is respectable. Much like Ahab’s own interpretation of his loss of a limb was a personal attack whereas Captain Boomer’s interpretation was that the bite he endured was from an animal, which is something animals do. This reassures the idea that no text or experience will be interpreted the same by each individual. Two people can go through the same experiences yet the mindset they have will determine how they feel they were affected by that experience or text.  

In this chapter, Melville introduces another captain, Captain Boomer, as a man who also lost a limb from the Moby Dick as well. However for this character, the lost limb is from the upper half of the body. Losing an arm is different from losing a leg, both tragic of course, but yet one of them lost more stability than the other. That is exactly what Ahab lost, stability, not only physically but mentally. During the discussion of the capturing of the sperm whale he asks the captain boomer if he was able to catch him the second time he saw him, to which he responds, “Didn’t want to try to; ain’t one limb enough? What should I do without this other arm?”(481)  Captain Boomer cannot fathom why he would want to try again because he could risk losing another arm and to be without one arm is already bad enough. He emphasizes this to Ahab as if it is something that he can relate to and begins wondering why he should jeopardize himself like that again for he knows that in comparison to the bite of a whale, he simply cannot compete. In Emerson’s The American Scholar, Emerson speaks not the past stating “The next great influence into the spirit of the scholar, is, the mind of the Past,–in whatever form, whether of literature, of art, of institutions, that mind is inscribed. Books are the best type of the influence of the past, and perhaps we shall get at the truth,–learn the amount of this influence more conveniently,–by considering their value alone.” While Emerson is talking about learning from the past from different forms, ultimately to reach the truth. The truth being the “value” that the info outlet had at the time, during what time it was written, etc. All the details that can sometimes be brushed over are important to gain an honest interpretation and perspective of what one might be learning about. Much like this interaction between Captain Boomer and Ahab,  Ahab is learning the details of what happened to Boomer and he is attentive to the value of this information. They are their own books, waiting to be read and understood.  

Captain Boomer continues his discussion with Ahab stating, “And I’m thinking Moby Dick doesn’t bite so much as he swallows.” (481) Boomer believes that the bite form the whale is not within the same context of satisfactory as it might be for other animals and as it is for humans when eating their favorite food. If the whale had wanted to hurt a human with intention it would have gone in for a second bite, it could have easily devoured the human considering the difference in size. With the back up of his crewmate Bunger saying “…it is quite impossible for him to completely digest even a man’s arm? And he knows it too. So that what you take for the White Whale’s malice is only his awkwardness.”(481) Bunger further attests to the belief that the whale’s bites are not ill intended, for his “awkwardness” is just being a whale. It is part of being a whale and should have been taken into consideration when whaling. Apart from adapting to the ocean, whalers are to consider the living beings in their home. The ocean is the home of the whale and the men on the boat are invading their boundary by not only being there but in their attempt to capture them for human benefit. Boomer and Bungers beliefs come from their time dealing with whales. As Emerson takes on wisdom he explains “Of course, he who has put forth his total strength in fit actions, has the richest return of wisdom.” The time spent understanding the whale and knowing that the animal is just doing what an animal does has been beneficial to their whaling journey. As they do not try to continue to poke at the whale and instead just respect it from a distance. 

The difference between these men and Ahab’s beliefs is evident through their conversation and during the end of the conversation Ahab still insists that “But he will still be hunted, for all that. What is best alone, that accursed thing is not always what least allures.”(482) Ahab feels a huge amount of anger towards “thing” and is compelling him like a magnet to find him and punish the whale. For Ahab to say “still be hunted, for all that.” Even after the other captain shared his experience with the whale it shows that the conversation did not have any affect on him. Amplifying his revenge, Ahab decided to add the loss of limb from another captain to the mental list of reasons why is seeking this whale. His anger is so strong that Bunger even points out, “this man’s blood—bring the thermometer!—it’s at the boiling point!—his pulse makes these planks beat!—sir!”(482) During this discussion of the infamous sperm whale, it becomes evident to the other captain and outsiders that Ahab’s anger towards the whale is very irrational and crazed. These men are terrified to even see the anger vibrating off Ahab just from talking about the creature. The captains do not see eye to eye in regard to this situation and while one of them shares compassion for the whale and is at peace with not pursuing the capture of Moby Dick, Ahab is not on the same page. Melville captures the feelings on paper in a way to make the readers understand just how much of a difference the circumstance can be for each individual regardless of a shared experience. Much like Ahab’s mentality in this situation, Emerson states “In this distribution of functions, the scholar is the delegated intellect. In the right state, he is, Man Thinking. In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men’s thinking” Emerson believed to think that the right way of thinking is to think for yourself, or as he puts it “man thinking” doing so you avoid becoming a “mere thinker/parrot of other men’s thinking” Even after Ahab had a discussion with the other captain who had a similar experience to him, he did not change his mind about how he felt. He was still angry and wanted to seek out revenge. Ahab is a perfect example of a man who thinks for himself, as his opinion did not falter and continued the same even after hearing others opinions. 

Closing off, Melville’s choice to write about Ahab and Boomer’s expereince being similar yet have different reactions towards the whale shows that sometimes two people cannot feel the same about the same situation. Much like Emerson’s The American Scholar who pushes the idea of individuality coming from our own interpretation of books, film, etc. Ahab chose to exemplify this in the chapter, he did not change his mind about how he felt despite the wisdom from Boomer. He interpreted the whale attack as a personal attack, thus seeking out revenge whereas Boomer had no ill intention for the whale. 

Works Cited

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Emerson–“The American Scholar”, archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/amscholar.html. Accessed 18 Dec. 2025. 

Melville, Herman. Moby Dick. Penguin Books, 2020. 

Final Thoughts

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Attempting to read Moby Dick, and finish it, was definitely not something that I was expecting to do this year. Before this class, I have definitely heard of the book and have been one of the people that thought it was only about a whale attacking whalers. Not only do I feel a big sense of accomplishment for finishing the book but I also have a lot of appreciation for being surrounded by intelligent students and professor Pressman throughout this whole process. This book was a tough one for me and I would not have made a dent in this book if I was reading it on my own. I most likely would have not finished it and not pick it up again, which means I would have missed out on how great this book was.

During this class, I realized how much I needed to work on my analyzing skills and now at the end of class I feel like I have made an improvement. Even though I am not where I want to be in this aspect, I will continue working on this. Outside of this class, I find myself practicing this with other texts and even movies! I keep asking myself why is this relevant or why are certain scenes a certain way. This makes my learning so much fun as I come up with different interpretations.
I also want to point out how amazing the structure for this class was, from the pre-reading material, the actual book, to the post-reading material. All of it made perfect sense in the order it was scheduled.

Ordinary Readers

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Reading O.W. Rigels, “The Anatomy of Melville’s Fame”, at the end of our reading of Moby Dick was perfect because it gave us more information as to why Moby Dick did not do very well. A part of the article that really stood out to me was Rigels point on “The extent of the interest in Melville among the reading public can never be determined accurately, because the opinions of readers do not find their way into print…”(197) The “ordinary readers” are readers like us students, whose opinions do not reach to the extent of publication. Of course there is a chance that most of the ordinary readers could have actually enjoyed the book and understood what Melville was trying to say but we wouldn’t know of that today. Rigel follows this with a list of Melvilles admirers, his small following, which were of course important to his writing career and popularity. They were the voice of the praise or lack of praise towards Melvilles work so it must have been so important for them to think well of him because he depended on the support of them.

Final

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For my final essay, I’m not 100% sure I will write about this but one thing has been on my mind throughout the semester is the fact that the boat was referred to as a woman and why that matters/ is important. When the story mostly consists of men, the most important “woman” is the boat aka the foundation for them whale men. My thoughts on this are all over the place at the moment and pretty messy so I need to focus on what I’m trying to say about this.

Essay 2

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In chapter 100 of Moby Dick, there is an introduction of another captain who also lost a limb from the whale Moby Dick. In his case however, the limb that he lost was his arm not his leg like Ahab did. During the discussion of the infamous sperm whale, it becomes evident to the other captain and outsiders that Ahab’s anger towards the whale is very irrational and crazed. Melville uses the contradiction of the two captains who share a similar experience but yet have a different reaction towards the whale as a learning lesson. In which two people can go through the same experiences yet the mindset in which they have will be determined from how they feel they were affected but that experience. 

To begin, Melville introduces another captain, Captain Boomer, as a man who also lost a limb from the Moby Dick as well. However for this character, the lost limb is from the upper half of the body. Losing an arm is different from losing a leg, both tragic of course, but imagine being pushed down without a leg? It would be quite difficult to get up without help. Now imagine being pushed down without an arm. It would seem to be a lot easier to get back up because the strength from your other limbs will help in returning back to stability. That is exactly what Ahab lost, stability, not only physically but mentally. During the discussion of the capturing of the sperm whale he asks the captain boomer if he was able to catch him the second time he saw him, to which he responds, “Didn’t want to try to; ain’t one limb enough? What should I do without this other arm?”(481)  Captain Boomer cannot fathom why he would want to try again because he could risk losing another arm and to be without one arm is already bad enough. He emphasizes this to Ahab as is it something that he can relate to and is wondering why he should jeopardize himself like that again for he knows that in comparison to the bite of a whale, he simply cannot compete. 

Captain Boomer continues with, “And I’m thinking Moby Dick doesn’t bite so much as he swallows.” (481) Boomer believes that the bite form the whale is not within the same context of satisfactory as it might be for other animals and as it is for humans when eating their favorite food. If the whale had wanted to hurt a human with intention it would have gone in for a second bite, it could have easily devoured the human considering the difference in size. With the back up of his crewmate Bunger saying “…it is quite impossible for him to completely digest even a man’s arm? And he knows it too. So that what you take for the White Whale’s malice is only his awkwardness.”(481) Bunger further attests to the belief that the whale’s bites are not ill intended, for his “awkwardness” is just being a whale. It is part of being a whale and should have been taken into consideration when whaling. Apart from adapting to the ocean, whalers are to consider the living beings in their home. The ocean is the home of the whale and the men on the boat are invading their boundary by not only being there but in their attempt to capture them for human benefit. 

The difference between these men and Ahab’s beliefs is evident through their conversation and during the end of the conversation Ahab still insists that “But he will still be hunted, for all that. What is best alone, that accursed thing is not always what least allures.”(482) Ahab feels a huge amount of anger towards “thing” and is compelling him like a magnet to find him and punish the whale. For Ahab to say “still be hunted, for all that.” even after the other captain shared his experience with the whale it shows that the conversation did not have any affect on him. He did not get any clarity to stand back on his revenge, if anything it only amplified it for him. Ahab decided to add the loss of limb from another captain to the mental list of reasons why is seeking this whale. His anger is so strong that Bunger even points out, “this man’s blood—bring the thermometer!—it’s at the boiling point!—his pulse makes these planks beat!—sir!”(482) These men are terrified to even see the anger vibrating off Ahab just from talking about the creature. The captains do not see eye to eye in regard to this situation and while one of them shares compassion for the whale and is at peace with not pursuing the capture of Moby Dick, Ahab is not on the same page. Melville captures the feelings on paper in a way to make the readers understand just how much of a difference the circumstance can be for each individual regardless of a shared experience.

 There is an irony of this chapter where humans express pushing the boundaries of the beings that live in water and when they face the consequences such as the bite, a naturality of being a whale, some feel angered while others don’t. Even though the two characters went through similar experiences does not mean that they will react the same to the situation. Especially considering the circumstances for Ahab who lost a leg and cannot stand on his own without the help of someone else or with his ivory leg whereas Boomer can stand on his own even with the loss of his arm. The instability is evident not only in Ahab’s physical but also his mentality. Disability is a very difficult matter to deal with and it can evidently take a toll on one’s mental health, driving them to madness and anger. 

Will To Live

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Queequeg has been my favorite character so far in the book, and not going to lie at the beginning of chapter 110 and the title of it scared me a little. I was definitely preparing myself for the end of Queequeg. Luckily, he was able to push through the fever and continue on. Something that he did that I found quite interesting was the fact that he made the coffin his “sea-chest; and emptying into it his canvas bag of clothes, set them in order there.” Queequeg set up his clothes with purpose in the coffin that was once going to hold his dead body, this was his way of moving past his near death experience and a reflection of his new found purpose—a reawakening. In traumatic events, the steps of acceptance and change is different for everyone but one way people deal with it is through rearrangement of their space. What was once the routine has changed thus implying for a change in the areas around us. 

To seal the deal of leaving behind what once was, Queequeg, “Many spare hours he spent, in carving the lid with all manner of grotesque figures and drawings…copy parts of the twisted tattooing on his body.” He left his mark on the coffin, he would not have had the chance to if he had passed, of course. He was once again taking control of the situation, he took control of his fate by deciding he wanted to live, he took control of what was going to be in the coffin instead of him, and took control of what was going to be on the outside of the coffin as well. He graffitied it, showing that he has lived on but left his mark just like when a person marks a tree “(name) was here.” 

This chapter felt very biblical, reminding me of the chapter in which Lazarus was mentioned—the biblical figure who was resurrected by Jesus. Melvilles choice to use Queequeg as the character who would have a near death experience just to “resurrect” was interesting because it shows that regardless of who the “God” is in your life, everyone has someone or something that they believe in and will hold onto them during moments of difficulties. Humans crave for that comfort that will convince us that things will be okay even if they feel like they aren’t, thus pushing us to want to change or push us to live life with purpose. 

Illumination

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Throughout this book, Melville has made several points using contrasts in the subject that he talking about. In chapter 97, he makes another contrast, using darkness and illumination relating to the emotions as a whaler. Ishmael shares, “To dress in the dark, and eat in the dark, and stumble in the darkness to his pallet, this is his usual lot.”(486) This gloomy line provokes feelings of loneliness, solemnity and sadness. The whalemen, have a difficult job as is when it comes to dealing with whales and the ocean, but what about the emotions that come from the loss of connection with other human beings besides the other whalemen on the boat?

Ishmael continues with, “But the whaleman, as he seeks the food of light, so he lives in light…so that in the pitchiest night the ship’s black hull still houses an illumination.” At night or in darkness, the whaleman is able to indulge in the retrieval of the oil and make use of it with the lamp. While he himself is surrounded by the absence of light, the one thing that is changing that is the lamp in which he had the ability to help create.

Melville has touched base on a lot of different emotions in this book so far, for example, madness, anger, desperation, etc. but in chapter 97 he reflects on the solemness that comes from the job of a whaler. At the end of the day, when you’re done with your job for the day and you come home to your own thoughts, without the support or conversation with your loved ones, it can be hard to evade the emotions that come with that kind of darkness. Even though your job, ironically enough, is to retrieve the oil that will help with the illumination for others.

Teeth

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While Chapter 74 was based off the sperm whale’s head, the part that stood out to me the most was the ending of this chapter, when Ishmael talks about the teeth of the whale. Ishmael states “There are generally forty-two teeth in all; in old whales, much worn down, but undecayed…”(363) Pointing out that naturally the whales teeth wear down just like humans but yet they are still strong enough to not decay. In humans, decay on a tooth can be fixed with a filling which Ishmael critiques “nor filled after our artificial fashion.”(363) Ishmael uses tooth fillings as a critique of humans dependency for artificial attachment. By saying “our artificial fashion” Ishmael makes the reader aware that he is talking about humans and acknowledging the reoccurring obsession that humans have in terms of our form of fixations.

Finishing off his thought, he brings up the contrast of the use of the whales jaw that is cut into slabs “and piled away like joists for building houses.” Strong material is needed to build houses or else they would collapse. Ishmael points out this contrast, stating that even in the whales most natural and unaltered form it is still much stronger than humans with the help of artificial alterations.

Even though this was book was written so long ago, this is relevant today especially with the alterations humans make currently from surface body level such as injections/ supplements to create the desired body, leading up the use of AI. Ishmael critiques the way humans can be stripped away from their natural beings and indulge into the artificial obsession, all while still being at a disadvantage to the natural world.

Week 9

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In Chapter 49, Ishmael is ready to write his will after having a scare from the dangers of whaling. He feels gratitude in being alive saying, “Besides, all the days I should now live would be as good as the days that Lazarus lived after his resurrection.”(249) Ishmael is not taking the rest of his days for granted and will cherish being alive. Also while having no knowledge of who Lazarus is, I googled him and found out that he was resurrected by Jesus four days after his death.

As a Christian man, Ishmael uses the reference of Lazarus to connect himself to something with familiarity thus turning towards God for comfort. His faith will help him gain not only a clear perspective but also tranquility to continue on his voyage, “I looked round me tranquilly and contentedly, like a quiet ghost with a clean conscience sitting inside the bars of a snug family vault.”(249)

This also makes me think about The Chapel chapter, where he was reading the marbles of the dead sailors. In the end of that chapter I remember his clear mind regarding death, he seemed to not worry about death as he knew that his soul will live on forever. I guess in the face of death, your fear of death instinctively can come back and naturally you will try to avoid it from happening.

Essay 1

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In Moby Dick by Herman Melville, there is a contrast between the civilized human beings such as Ishmael and the uncivilized human beings such as Queequeg. Through the book, it is noted that  Moby Dick interacts with the two different groups in settings that can demonstrate the kind of people they are regardless of their culture.   Specifically in chapter 13 of Moby Dick, Melville utilizes Queequeg as a representation of the morality of the uncivilized vs the civilized group on the boat who demonstrate the judgement and presumptions of society. 

Throughout chapter 13, Queequeg is described with terms such as a cannibal, devil, and savage—all terms with a negative connotiation. To describe someone this way is to presume that said person lacks the moral compass and will act in poor judgement and potentially cause harm to another human being. Interestingly enough, Queequeg finds himself being the pit of a joke by a young man who was mimicking him behind his back, not very kind to say the least. In result, the young man is grabbed and tossed up by the devil himself, the captain continues by yelling at Queequeg,  “Look you, I’ll kill-e you, you cannibal, if you try any more of your tricks aboard here; so mind eye.”(67) Melville uses irony in the captains’ statement by his threat to kill Queequeg, a cannibal, who kills and eats humans. While the captain might not be eating a human he is threatening to kill one so if Queequeg is the uncivilized character here, what does that say about the civilized captain? The captain is someone who is supposed to be leading their crew and making decisions that would not jeopardize the boat or themselves in order for everyone to return home safely. The appointed person should not be acting erratically by threatening the uncivilized cannibal  because it could have jeopardized the safety of not only him but the rest of the crew and the boat. 

Right after this altercation, the boom on the boat began to move side to side sweeping a part of the deck including the young man who was making fun of Queequeg. The only person who was able to return the boat back to normal and save the young man was the savage himself. After all his doing, “All hands voted Queequeg a noble trump; the captain begged his pardon.”(68) Disregarding the threat and the name calling he just faced a few minutes before this, Queequeg was now declared a hero by the same people. Melville uses this quick turn around to prove the judgment in character that the people on the boat had against Queequeg. He was most likely the least suspected person to jump in to save the young man, not just because of the altercation he had with him but because he was someone who they viewed as uncivilized. He is described as a wild man—lacking in politeness and good behavior, but yet he was the only one to jump in to save the young man. The measurement of a good person does not only come from the words of a person but also the actions which we can see here in this part of the story. 

Queequeg had no personal gain to save the young man and he definitely did not do it to heighten his ego, he did it as a person who wanted someone out of harm’s way considering, “He did not seem to think that he at all deserved a medal from the Humane and Magnanimous Societies. He only asked for water—fresh water—something to wipe the brine off; he put on dry clothes”(68) What he had done was worth recognition but for Queequeg the favor he had done was nothing more than that. Melville’s repetition of water, particularly fresh water, diverts the presumption of his savage-like description considering savages are  dirty and wild. Queequeg just wanted to be clean and dry, for this state of cleanliness is a reward in itself. 

In a state of reflection after what just occurred, Queequeg says “It’s a mutual, joint stock world, in all meridians. We cannibals must help these Christians.”(68) Using “joint stock world” to describe the kind of world they live in, a joint of different cultures that are interconnected. Pointing out the separation of cannibals and Christian’s, the uncivilized and civilized group, Queequeg believes they are there to help one another, making his morals align with the god obeying men. In reality the mayor separating between the two groups is the kind of culture they are in and what they follow but that does not mean that group that is frowned upon does not have good people as well. 

Considering Moby Dick is narrated by Ishamel who is a Christian, it is important for the readers to gain insight into the type of person Queequeg is beside from his usual description of savage and cannibal because it shows the kind of personalities that will be shared on the boat. It also helps deconstruct the belief that the uncivilized are perhaps bad people who lack the moral compass to help others as the civilized people in the story. Queequeg is used as an example of this as he demonstrates his belief in doing a righteous act for someone regardless of what he could gain, just for the pure fact that he wants to help someone because he is able to. This speaks volume of the kind of person he is and should not be looked over just because he is labeled as a savage.