Author Archives: Zoe Olow

The Importance of Women in Moby Dick

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Zoe Olow  

ECL 522-01  

Prof. Pressman  

19 October 2025

Short Essay #1

Closing out reading chapter 6, one will come across the last paragraph, which stands out reguarding the town where Ishmael’s story begins. Ishmael currently resides in New  Bedford, Massachusetts, as well as many other whalemen and their counterparts who inhabit that native land. As Melville is describing the streets of the town and more as Ishmael and Queequeg walked through New Bedford, he addresses the people who reside there, even the local women.  This happens to be one of the few times women are mentioned within this large book, as  Melville wrote a male-dominated story. One might find this very interesting how women are not prevalent within this story, but they do have an impact on the men of the town of New Bedford and how they live their separate lives. Readers will see how the women can draw their sailor men back into their quaint small town, even after traveling such long distances around the world doing their jobs.  

“And the women of New Bedford, they bloom like their own red roses. But roses only bloom in summer; whereas the fine carnation of their cheeks is perennial as sunlight in their  seventh heavens. Elsewhere match that bloom of theirs, ye cannot, save in Salem, where they tell  me, the young girls breathe such musk, their sailor sweethearts smell them miles offshore, as  though they were drawing nigh the odorous Moluccas instead of the Puritanic sands.” (Melville  Chapter 6, page 38)  

One can picture what Melville was making us imagine with these metaphors and similes and actual places reguarding where the story of Ishmael takes place, New Bedford, and what the people of that land must crave more of in their lives. Melville first describes the women of New  Bedford as red roses, which can be a symbol of beauty and light. “The women of New Bedford,  they bloom like their own red roses,” which can be seen as the women are continuously beautiful,  which can draw in a companion. He references their looks again as he continues to describe them as flowers, carnations, that symbolize how their beauty will stay forever. As women were described as flowers, then the men can be seen as pollinators, as they can continue their lineage with these women of New Bedford. The use of bright and elegant flowers to depict these women can imply that their beauty is bright and vibrant, which draws the men to them.  

As most of the men in this town were part of the whaling industry, their wives would stay back home to take care of their land and even their children for an extensive period of time. The  New Bedford women would want their men to come back from sea, as they were alone for years on end, as the men were aboard large ships traveling through the world’s many oceans. These women and their families for the sailors might have been the only sweet thing to come home to in their dull and dreary hometown in Massachusetts. He describes the women as being sweet like the spices that could be found on the islands that are called Moluccas, “The Spice Islands”, and that was their main motivation to sail back to their native land. The women here were the driving force for their sailor husbands to come back to them.  

Women here can be seen as important because if it weren’t for them, the men would have most likely gone off in search of some other land, which could have been more populated or even have better opportunities for them there. The sailors were gone for years on end, and one could think they might even want to port somewhere and stay in a different country instead of staying on the sailing vessel longer to return home to even receive the sum of money they would get for their hunting travels. The women for these men, in terms of a ship, were that anchor for their men to return to them, to tie them back in to their small town. They grounded them to come home, and they would want to return to them, especially if they had a family back home.  

The people there must have craved a new and more interesting land, as they keep going back to what they are used to in their hometown. The Islands of Moluccas were used to describe their women back home, who were known for colonization, as the land was fruitful for many spices and the variety of animals, and more, which were plentiful there. Many countries fought for control over the land once they realized how abundant a lot of spices and other exports were,  which they could make a living off of. The women who stayed back in their musky, most likely not the most pleasant town, drew their sailor men back to them after their long expedition. Again, the women were important as they drove the men back towards them, as they were the pleasant and beautiful thing to look forward to returning back in their hometown.  

Through this text, one can see how important women can be as they are that drawing light and the sweet flower that reels the men back into their old town where they reside. These women are few in number in the tale which Melville has told, but crucial to drawing their men back to land, as they can increase the population of New Bedford. These women are the driving force for the men to return to the land of Nantucket, as well as continuing the legacy of whaling that is crucial for this small city.

Chapter 44: A Whale and Vengeance Obsessed Man

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As I was reading through chapter 44, I came across this passage, which perfectly encompasses how much Ahab was truly obsessed with the whale he calls Moby Dick. Ahab describes the whale as if he knew the whale personally, and I thought that this bit shows how he has truly made hunting down this whale his entire personality and part of his life.

“That in the broad boundless ocean, one solitary whale, even if encountered, should be thought capable of individual recognition from his hunter, even as a white-bearded Mufti in the thronged thoroughfares of Constantinople? No. For the peculiar snow-white brow of Moby Dick, and his snow-white hump, could not be unmistakable. And have I not tallied the whale, Ahab would mutter to himself, as after poring over his charts till long after midnight he would throw himself back in reveries-tallied him, and shall he escape?” Chapters 44

Amidst the vast ocean, Ahab was in sight of one whale, which caused him to lose a part of himself, which then caused him to want to take vengeance upon the massive creature for the pain that he went through. That piercing whiteness of the whale, he will never forget, and will be part of how he can identify Moby Dick out traversing the seas. He knows the anatomy of this whale whale so well that it has been haunting him ever since. This causes him to even believe that he can spot the menacing white whale even if he is trying to blend in with other sperm whales that could be traveling nearby.

He details the anatomy of the whale, which he could spot from and knows is his nemesis, in the blink of an eye. The vengeance that is built up in him as he has traveled the oceans seeking out Moby Dick, with the marks he has left on him in the past encounters, to identify the creature to hunt him down to kill him. Ahab, with his charts, knows where this whale has gone, and he can still know this whale apart from the rest, and the image of this large ocean creature has not left his mind since that first sighting.

Ahab has shown us that his dedication to seeking out Moby Dick to kill him has the same mentality as when someone says I put my heart and soul into it. He has dedicated his life to hunting down this whale, and now he has encouraged his crew of the Pequod to help him seek out his ocean nemesis.

Chapter 35: A Life Dedicated to the Sea!

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As I was reading through chapter 35, The Mast-Head, Melville begins to describe the sailors on the ship and how they were so dedicated to their life of sailing. I thought that this section was a great description of how the saliors must have been going through on thier ship!

“In one of those southern whaleman, on a long, three or four years voyage, as often happens, the sum of the various hours you spend at the masthead with amount to several entire months. And it is much to be deplored that the place to which you devote so considerable a portion of the whole term of your natural life should be so sadly destitute of anything approaching to a cozy inhabitiveness, or adapted to breed a comfortable localness of feeling, such as pertains to a bed, a hammock, a hearse, a century box, a pulpit, a coach or any other of those small and snug contrivances in which men temporarily isolate themselves,”

I can truly believe that the men on these vessels were extremely exhausted from being out in the ocean for so long. They most likely wanted to go back to their town which was dreary and plain similar to what they are currently experiencing on the ship. Traveling very far distances in a boat for months on end in many different ocean conditions must have been a lot on them. Melville even describes how sad the living quality was on the sailing boats as well. These boats must have been very dreary and not full of much color and felt more like a very plain house which they might have been used to. The fact that he describes the place where many men would spend a lot of their time as “destitute of anything approaching to a cozy inhabitiveness” says a lot of how the Pequod must have also been like. I can imagine that it was not very comfortable either and they might not have had their own personal space due to how many people were abord. These men might have grown depressed being on the ship for that long and being surrounded with something that they had to become comfortable in for so long.

Chapter 13: People Watching Back in the 1860s

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When I was reading the beginning of chapter 13, this line which Ishmael blessed us with made me curious. “As we were going along the people stared; not at Queequeg so much – for they were used to seeing cannibals like him in the street, – but at seeing him and me upon such confidential terms. But we heeded them not, going along, wheeling the barrel by turns,…” pg. 64. What could this mean for both men and how people view them both?

Was it so common in the US, during the 1830s or 40s, to see cannibals roaming the town streets? Were they minding their own business or were they sceaming and wanting to find their next victim to eat. The fact that the towns people were going about their days as normal seeing Queequeg if he was by himself strolling down the street. But then when both Ishmael and Queequeg were walking together down the road they stared and were most likely concerned for why Ishmael was with this cannibal.

Were cannibals known to be sole survivors of themselves and were not typically seen with other people or was it the fact that Ishmael was a normal looking man with this savage creature that was Queequeg. Were the people of the town racially profiling both men or were they just being cautious and wanting to make sure that Ishmael doesn’t end up being the next name in the obituary paper. From the time period which the book takes place I can see how this challeneged the norms of that time, especially seeing two men who are distincively different together like this.

Maybe people of the town had seen them both many times before walking around together or even eating together. The fact that they also shared a room at the inn would be skeptical too but both Ishmael and Queequeg just kept going through the streets of the town not caring what others might have been thinking of them. Their dynamic was not common and how close they had gotten so close, sleeping in the same bed and even Ishmael calling them “married” at one point. They have shared many moments together so far throughout the story and I wonder how thier dyamic will either stay the same or even change while being aboard the Pequod.

Chapter 6: The Dull Puritanic Sands of New Bedford

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As I was closing out reading chapter 6, I came across the last paragraph, which stood out to me reguarding the land where Ishmael currently resides in New Bedford, Massachusetts, as well as those who inhabit the native land. As Melville is describing the streets of the town and more, he then addresses the people who reside there.

“And the women of New Bedford, they bloom like their own red roses. But roses only bloom in summer; whereas the fine carnation of their cheeks is perennial as sunlight in their seventh heavens. Elsewhere match that bloom of theirs, ye cannot, save in Salem, where they tell me, the young girls breathe such musk, their sailor sweethearts smell them miles offshore, as though they were drawing nigh the odorous Moluccas instead of the Puritanic sands.”

Reading this, I picture what Melville was making us imagine with these metaphors and similes and actual places reguarding where the story takes place, New Bedford, and what the people of that land must crave more of. The women who want their men to come back from sea might have been the only sweet thing to come home to in their dull and dreary hometown in Massachusetts. He describes the women as being sweet like the spices that could be found on the islands that are called Moluccas, “The Spice Islands”, and that was their main motivation to sail back to their native land. The people there must crave a new and more interesting land as they keep going back to what they are used to in their hometown. The Islands of Moluccas were known for colonization, as the land was fruitful for many spices and the variety of animals, and more, which were plentiful there. Many countries fought for control over the land once they realized how abundant a lot of spices and other exports were, which they could make a living off of. The women who had to stay back in their musky, most likely not the most pleasant town, drew their sailor men back to them.

Overall, I can see how this can be taken as they crave and would like a sweeter place to live rather than the basic old town where they currently live.

My Thoughts on Passages from Extracts!

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I picked three little exerpts which spoke to me which all fit together as they come from the Bible. “And God created great whales,” from Genesis, “Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah,” from Jonah, and “There go the ships; there is that Leviathan whom thou hast made to play therein,” from Psalms.

“And God created great whales,” from Genesis. Whales have been around since the beginning of time, they were created and have a purpose on this planet as they swim through our vast oceans. Many may believe that whales within Christianity symbolize a prophetic movement as they communicate with song through the oceans; they are like messangers who travel and bring that news with them. Whales are the largest animal in the ocean and they are very majestic creatures which we can also see within Moby Dick. But that whale is a lot more aggressive than what can normally be seen in nature.

With the line, “Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah,” that fish which the Lord made made to swallow Jonah was most likely a very large whale. All devine intervention from God that Jonah end up in that situation and even write about it. Like how Jonah had the experience with the large sea creature, in Moby Dick we see the sailors and Ahab fighting against the whale throughout the story. The situation that Jonah ended up in with the whale made in ponder, reflect and repent as then the creature spits him back out to land. As we will come to read that Ahab deals with the agression of the whale and most likely we will see his thoughts as we read through the book.

“There go the ships; there is that Leviathan whom thou hast made to play therein,” from Psalms. This immediately made me think of how giant Moby Dick is described in the book and how destructive the whale must be. The whale having the whole ocean to play in and the boats and ships being minuscule compared to the size of the whale. The “leviathan” in the Bible is in reference to God’s people’s enemies that will bring destruction and havoc which we can also see within Melville’s classic too. A giant ocean being coming to terrorize the men on the boat.

I can’t wait to dive into the book this week!

Steve Mentz Session Extra Credit Opportunity

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Attending this event was very insitful to hear more about Steve Mentz and what he believes about blue humanities and why he studies and teaches it! I thought it was lovely to hear everyones questions about the subject! I thought the question towards the end of the session about the wind turbines and the deep ocean was an interesting one as it would affect the sea life in that area and the fact they couldn’t build it that far down. All of the ocean animals which would be affected by something like that could be detrimental. I can hope anyone can see or hear that and learn that it might not be the best. I enjoyed hearing what he also had to say about coming up with more ideas as he is ocean swimming and how the roughness or calmness of the waves can determine how he thinks. I believe what he was saying about using different terms to shift our thinking with blue humanities can really be to our benefit in this class as we dive into this book and learn more about the ocean and all of the nature within it.

 My Reponse to Steve Mentz’s “A Poetics of Planetary Water: The Blue Humanities after John Gillis”

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When I first started to read this article by Mentz, I was a bit intimidated by it. But when I came across this line I believe I finally understood what he is trying to tell us about in this article: “We have come to know the sea,” he concludes,“as much through the humanities as through science.” Artistic, poetic, and humanistic knowledge, he insists, define the sea’s centrality to modern Western culture.” (pg. 144). There are so many ways that a vast number of people can learn about our oceans and what is within them and how they can help us as a society. As our oceans are so vast and cover most of the planet it has become a cental part of how we live our lives today.

Basic human knowledge as he says is part of how we know the sea, yes we can see it, touch it, smell it, and swim in it. But many don’t have acess to the ocean because of where they might live and they have heard of what the ocean looks like and might see pictures, a basic idea of the ocean. Those who might even do dives in the ocean and more, a lot of people can enjoy the ocean and what it can provide for us emotionally and even physically. People can also make art depicting the ocean and how others feel reguarding it which I enjoy seeing the most. The art works we looked at in class really spoke to me and I could see the story behind them and manty artists through their art styles can show how calm or even how violent the ocean might be. Reading about the ocean through poems is another way that Metz speaks of later and he does give examples of poems he enjoys which evokes the idea of blue humanities. So many poems have been written about the beach, the ocean and how one might feel regaurding it and this can help people gain a better knowledge of the ocean and what the ocean can mean for us.

As the ocean is so vast and everyone knows of it, it has become a source of where many countries recieve their food sources from and how much we use it, is very important for our modern world today.

Extra Credit Questions For Mentz!

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I can’t wait to ask these questions in class! Maybe these will spark more questions people might have in the room!

  1. What other words/phrases would you say or use to describe blue humanities?
  2. As we see our world changing due to climate change, how can we relate this back to blue humanities and what can we do oursleves to educate people on what is happening in our world?
  3. Is there an art peice or anything that you would show to others to inspire them to learn more on blue humanities?
  4. Are there other poems that you would point to that you also enjoyed that are about the ocean besides Dickinson or Whitman’s?
  5. Where did your love of the ocean stem from to then bring you to study and write on this subject matter?

Maybe Moby Dick is for me? We shall see!

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Reading the article on “What “Moby Dick” Means to Me” made me think of myself and how I hope to portray it now in my life. I remember starting this book in high schol and just not getting it and probably only had read a handful of chapters before my teacher changed what we were reading. All I could remember was that it was boring then and all I knew was that there was a giant whale in the book that did things to the men in the book. I didn’t have such a great view of the book from back then but now that I am in college I hope I can see this book with a new mindset.

Philip Hoare the writer of this article was even put off by the book when he was a kid and he even said that the book was “difficult” which I can agree with as well as many others. And as we grow older, so does our knowledge so we can see things with a new view. Hoare stated that Moby Dick is neither a book or a novel but, “It’s more an act of transference, of ideas and evocations hung around the vast and unknowable shape of the whale, an extended musing on the strange meeting of human history and natural history,” which I can totally agree with. At first when I read that line, I thought I knew what is he talking about but after processing it a bit more, I think Hoare is trying to tell us that the story has a lot of depth of thought and history within which can be complicated to understand. He even says later on when he had picked up the book again, he did not want to put it down and he was fully invested. It must have clicked for him and I can hope it can be like that for me as well.

From what I know so far about this book, I can see Moby Dick as a fictional story which can teach us lessons as we read the 800 page book about man, a whale and nature. I know I might get bored through out the book with descriptions of whaling and sorts, but I am very interested to see how this book plays out to understand why so many people and our professor love this book so much. I am excited to see how this book plays out and to disect the book with everyone.