Chapter Ninety-One

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In Chapter 91, “The Pequod Meets The Rose-Bud”, Melville presents a scene filled with irony, satire, and moral commentary that exposes the ignorance and exploitation inherent in capitalist systems. The Pequod encounters a French whaling ship, which is ironically named Bouton-de-Rose (Rose-Bud), which reeks of decay from two rotting whales tied to its side. The name “Rose-Bud”, which evokes beauty and freshness, stands in stark contrast to the foul stench that accompanies the ship. The ironic contradiction between the name and reality symbolizes how wealth and refinement often conceal decay and corruption. This irony deepens through the presence of ambergris, a substance found in diseased whales, which is used to create luxury perfumes. Through this grotesque transformation of waste into beauty, Melville critiques how capitalist societies turn death, exploitation, and decay into symbols of elegance and value.  Melville highlights this critique through Stubb’s manipulation of the French sailors. The narrator notes, “Sounding him carefully, Stubb further perceived that the Guernsey-man had not the slightest suspicion concerning the ambergris. He therefore held his peace on that head. Otherwise, he was quite frank and confidential with him, so that the two quickly concocted a little plan for both circumventing and satirizing the Captain, without his at all dreaming of distrusting their sincerity.” (Melville 444) Stubb’s selective honesty, his decision to “hold his peace” while pretending to be “frank and confidential”, reveals the hypocrisy and deceit underlying capitalist exchange. His manipulation of the ignorant French captain mirrors a larger pattern of exploitation in which those with knowledge and power profit from those who don’t. Using the words “circumventing” and “satirizing” implies cunning and mockery, showing how Stubb treats exploitation as a game, a form of entertainment instead of a moral wrongdoing. This moment becomes an insight into how profit depends on secrecy and deceit, the same mechanisms that sustain colonial and capitalist hierarchies. The Rose-Bud becomes an emblem of society’s contradictions, a world that celebrates beauty while ignoring the gruesomeness that makes it possible. 

The Breast is Yet to Come (Moby Dick and Breastfeeding)

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As I was reading Professor Pressman’s article, I couldn’t help but notice the multitasking done not by the mother, but by the child suckling at the teat. A child who has no self-consciousness or control over their body or mind somehow puts the mother second to the primary task of the infant’s wondering eye. Obviously, this is not intentional, but given the state of affairs and the political climate, it’s pretty symbolic of the role women play. Even the mother of a newborn, a woman that has carried and given life to a being, cant even garner the attention or manners to embrace the selfless action provided by the life giver lovingly. “and as human infants while suckling will calmly and fixedly gaze away from the breast, as if leading two different lives at the same time…. even so did the young of these whales seem looking up towards us” (p.423) 


“The narrative pauses—taking a moment away from the intricate tales of men, technicalities of whaling, and vast political allegories—to stare into the depths.” (Pressman) Reading this, I envision a car crash on the 805, as onlookers slow down and begin to rubberneck at the tragedy they are willing and eager to see unfold. How many cars? Is anyone hurt? Who’s at fault? Once the crash is in view (meanwhile, while the driver has one eye on the road and the other on the crash), thoughts begin to overcome the brain. If it’s bad, a gasp is let out and empathy ensues; if it’s just a little fender bender, a groan and agitation ensue, with the driver thinking, “all that for traffic to slow!?” Regardless of the outcome, the driver continues, and their narrative resumes. Or put it this way: you’re eating at a restaurant, and out of the corner of your eye, a woman plops her swollen breast, which is an instrument of life, on the dinner table, and you look over and your mind begins to compute what the eye is seeing. A wrinkle in time as your brain pauses and you start to “stare at the depths” of Mother Nature. Some onlookers would turn away in disgust at the audacity of doing something private in a public place, or look in admiration at the sheer beauty that is motherhood. Regardless of the scenario life brings, split-second, unexpected disruptions are part of human nature, and we respond to them—ingesting and pondering. At the same time, your narrative is ongoing, “especially when the world around you threatens the momentary calm.” I’m not sure if anything I said makes sense, but I think you get my drift. 


It is a brutal world we live in, and even more so in the field of Whaling, where this group of sailors on the Pequod have very easily killed these calves and mothers, but just like a farmer, they don’t hate their chickens just because they’re making a meal of them. To have that relationship with the nature of life, consciousness, and morality is a special one because in the whaling world, where you must act to survive and conquer, even a desperate serial killer like men still has a heart. 

Hey Melville, IDGAF

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This is a blog, right? So, therefore, it’s a safe space to vent my frustrations with this novel, especially the consecutive non-narrative chapters (74-80). Simply put, I don’t care. The more I read, the more I want to skip these chapters and continue, hoping I find a small blurb of beauty or fascination in these parts. I’m reading over classmates’ posts about these specific chapters and seeing many stroking Melville’s “erect” ego (COCK) about him being a genius. “But how? Genius in the Sperm Whale? Has the Sperm Whale ever written a book, spoken a speech?” (Chapter 79, p.380) This is very tongue-in-cheek and goes back to Emerson’s “American Scholar,” where man isn’t just a farmer. I’m pretty sure Melville realizes he’s viewed as a genius, especially in the scholarly field and among his critics, but the same genius of a sperm whale, “he thus thinks not” (my attempt at Shakespeare language). Again, I don’t care.

Let’s look up the definition of the word genius, shall we? (I’ll get back to my bitching later) Of course, genius can have different meanings, but according to the Oxford Dictionary, number one means “exceptional intellectual or creative power or other natural ability.” It turns out, the bizarre “face” of a sperm whale fits all the proper criteria for a genius, thanks in part to physiognomy or “race science.” Yeah, this doesn’t age well. For me, I can’t quite tell if in these non-narrative chapters, if it’s actually Ishmael speaking or Melville, using a pseudonym for his own personal beliefs, or can I discern if Melville believes in this “race science” or is mocking it for its ancient and unchristian ways when comparing to a superior/insuperior race. (according to the late 1800s) Or if a genius like that of the anatomy of the whale is the example of a God? “They deified the crocodile of the Nile, because the crocodile is tongueless; and the Sperm Whale has no tongue, or at least it is so exceedingly small as to be incapable of protrusion. If hereafter any highly cultured, poetical nation shall lure back to their birth-right, the merry May-day gods of old; and livingly enthrone them again in the now egotistical sky; in the now unhaunted hill; then be sure, exalted to Jove’s high seat, the great Sperm Whale shall lord it.” Move over, Zeus, there’s a new God/genius in town, and it has Sperm! (p.380) Sounds like this argument can make for an outstanding thesis! (wink wink)

Back to my bitching. “The greatest American novel” interweaves depth perceptions and contrasting views of the whale. This isn’t the first time these rambling and dull ideas have been ill-placed into the narrative, but I reach my limit. It can suck my Moby Dick. Sure, it may add a lot to Ishmael’s character — or lack thereof — because, within the narrative, he is simply dead weight on the Pequod and needs to be thrown overboard as shark bait, allowing the sperm whale a chance to rest for once. Just because I’m bitching doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying the book. This novel has already taught me a lot about reading, writing, and life that I never thought about, so yes, there are some amazing takeaways, but F&#K!!!! (Just like Ishmael, even I’m rambling)

Chapter 79

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In chapter 79, Melville emphasizes the Sperm Whale’s god-like presence by bringing up its strange physical trait and how it elevates the whale’s reputation. He writes, “They deified the crocodile of the Nile, because the crocodile is tongueless; and the Sperm Whale has no tongue, or at least it is so exceedingly small, as to be incapable of protrusion. If hereafter any highly cultured, poetical nation shall lure back to their birth-right, the merry May-day gods of old; and livingly enthrone them again in the now egotistical sky; in the now unhaunted hill; then be sure, exalted to Jove’s high seat, the great Sperm Whale shall lord it” (Melville 380). Melville here highlights the Sperm Whale’s powerful presence and does this by bringing up the deification of the crocodile due to it being tongueless and this shows that people used to worship animals that had strange features– ones that elevated their power and status. And the Sperm Whale can also be worshiped the same because of its odd features. Due to the lack of tongues, means the animals are not speaking up. But this shows that these terrifying animals don’t need to say anything in order to be powerful– their presence is enough. Melville also points out the whale’s powerful presence by the mention of Jove and saying that the whale “shall lord it”. Jove is the Roman god Jupiter, who is the king of the gods. By comparing the Sperm Whale to a king of the gods shows that the whale has got the “it factor”. It possesses the authoritative and dominating abilities, allowing the whale to be seen as a god-like figure rather than just a creature of the sea.

Sweet suffocation

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In chapter 78, Tashtego suffers an accident while harvesting from the whale’s head. He falls inside it and almost drowns as the head drops into the sea. Our (or should I say Ishmael’s, for he has claimed him as his own) Queequeg bravely jumps in the water and “delivers” Tashtego, both like in birth and from death. At the end of the chapter, Melville explains what would have happened were it not for these heroics. He says, “Had Tashtego perished in that head, it had been a very precious perishing; smothered in the very whitest and daintiest of fragrant spermaceti; coffined, hearsed, and tombed in the secret inner chamber and sanctum sanctorum of the whale” (377). In this passage, Melville is offering a critique of the American view that, sometimes, death and suffering can be seen as necessary and even sacred, mostly when it involves minorities. Death is the end all be all of human existence, the destiny we will all reach. But Melville uses language like “precious” and “sanctum sanctorum” which glorifies this specific type of death. It is also not coincidental that Tashtego, the only Native American out of the harpooneers, was the one who almost died “smothered in the very whitest and daintiest of fragrant spermaceti.” These details are meant to represent Native American suffering at the hands of imperialist white Americans and how this imperialism that leads to death is represented as sweet and even holy. Expansionism and Manifest Destiny where prominent at the time and anything horrific committed in the name of these beliefs was thought to be good and even guided by God. People who suffered from it should have considered themselves lucky to play a part in this great fulfillment of God’s will, even if their part only consisted of pain and death. The reality was that Native Americans, like many minorities, were considered to be sub-human so their lives never mattered enough to be protected. A parallel could also be drawn to war propaganda, as in America it has long been considered heroic to die for your country, when it is true that many times people do not really have a choice. White American society prided itself in its morality but they failed to recognize that they would also accept human suffering and literal death so long as it was the right kind of it, and they would do this by dehumanizing whatever group stood between them and their greed. Further, in this case, Tashtego’s death by suffocation in the spermaceti would have been the right kind of death for white Americans, because society had decided that a man’s life is worth less than the money that they would make with this prized substance. Finally, as Melville does in the last sentence of the chapter, we should ask ourselves how many people in our time have “likewise fallen into Plato’s honey head, and sweetly perished there?” And how many of these deaths are we currently benefitting from? And why are we okay with that?

Gods, Heroes, and Demi-gods (Chapter 82)

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In Chapter 82, Ishmael starts to defend whaling profession in a passionately way and argues on how it deserves a great honor and respect. He starts to compare whalers to noble heroes, gods, demi-gods, and legendary figures like: Perseus, St. George, and Hercules who in their own stories fought monsters and other creatures. Ishmael also mentions that kings and noblemen have been connected to whaling throughout history demonstrating how it’s not a lowly job, but an act of courage and importance to society, hence being the source of the economy: oil, lamps, etc. Melville wants us to recognizes and defends whaling as an honorable glorifying job. In the quote,” The more I dive into this matter of whaling, and push my researches up to the very spring-head of it, so much the more am I impressed with its great honorableness and antiquity; and especially when I find so many great demi-gods and heroes, prophets of all sorts, who one way or other have shed distinction upon it, I am transported with the reflection that I myself belong, though but subordinately, to so emblazoned a fraternity.”(195), Melville uses this tone of admiration, he not only challenges class hierarchies that look down on manual labor, but he also changed the meaning of heroism by placing whalers next to divine heroes! This passage transforms whaling as a symbol of heroism, adventure, discovery and belonging.

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.

A Blog For Week Ten (Chapter (73) P. 356

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“Do you see that mainmast there?” pointing to the ship; “well, that’s the figure one; now take all the hoops in the Pequod’s hold, and string ’em along in a row with that mast, for ought, do you see; well, that wouldn’t begin to be Fedallah’s age. Nor all the coopers in creation couldn’t show hoops enough to make oughts enough”(P.356). In this quote from Moby-Dick Stub uses a humorous metaphor comparing the ship’s mainmast and countless barrel hoops to describe Fedallah’s mysterious, seemingly ancient age. Melville uses exaggerated imagery and mockery, portraying the superstitious awe the crew feels toward Fedallah. The piling of “hoops” and “oughts” creates a sense of endless repetition, suggesting something beyond human comprehension. This passage shows how the sailors struggle to understand Fedallah’s eerie presence, symbolizing their confrontation with the unknown forces that guide the Pequod. It also underscores Melville’s theme of human limitation no amount of measurement or logic can grasp the depths of fate and mystery embodied by Fedallah.

Chapter 78: Queequeg the Midwife; or breech v. breach

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This chapter was a welcome one, helping to liven Ishmael’s last few detailed chapters, where he pondered the sperm and right whales contrasted views. Here we regain some action, and are faced with the consequences of human clumsiness which leads Tashtego to fall in to the whales Tun. I was very fond of Ishmael’s description of Queequeg coming to the rescue, of a scene that quickly spiraled out of control: “The next, a loud splash announced that my brave Queequeg had dived to the rescue (375).”

Like the rest on board of the Pequod, I read on with bated breath, hoping this was not the end of Queequeg’s journey. Luckily he emerged with Tashtego in hand, and subsequently, through Ishmael, we were able to read of the nature of this rescue. 

Much like we have discussed in class, this story is famously absent, but not completely devoid  of women and their presence. For this reason, I bring attention to the fact that Queequeg, of all characters, who is symbolic of the defiance of all presuppositions of the intelligence, bravery and capability of non-westerners (non-Europeans), is the one to perform this act of assisted birth. Not only is he special for the connection he forms with Ishmael, or of his selfless act’s of bravery, but he is also a midwife; assisting in Tashtego’s watery rebirth from the Tun:

“He averred, that upon first thrusting in for him, a leg was presented; but well knowing that that was not as it ought to be, and might occasion great trouble;—he had thrust back the leg, and by a dexterous heave and toss, had wrought a somerset upon the Indian; so that with the next trial, he came forth in the good old way—head foremost. As for the great head itself, that was doing as well as could be expected (p.376).”

I’d like to note, that in terms of giving birth, the way that Tashtego was first positioned at the entrance of the Tun/womb, feet first, Is called a breech position, in which the baby is usually in danger of injury or death by suffocation. Even in modern medicine this is considered a difficult birthing position for the fetus and mother, often resulting in the injury of the mother and tearing of the cervix. A skilled midwife, or obstetrician, is capable of either carefully following through with this birth position, or helping to turn the baby. In other words, Queequegs delivery of Tashtego was a feat of obstetrics even for what is possible on land (and with human babies). 

Ishmael, seems knowledgable of the naming of this breech position in medical terminology, and it’s contrasted meaning of the homophone breach, which means to break or split open, and which is commonly associated with describing whales breaking the surface of the water as they come up for air. Ironically, he notes, the great head of the dead whale is sinking, rather than coming up for air. 

I bring back to attention Queequeg, and the fact that he is the one that conducts this emergency delivery. I think it say’s something of Queequeg’s knowledge that he was able to convey this delivery from the difficult position which he and Tashtego were placed in, both sinking (as the knowledge of gynecology we now know to be expanded upon the experiments on enslaved Black women in the United States).

However, it also says something about the limitations of man, and how their plunder of natural resources comes at the expense of the death and endangerment of Mother Nature, as childbirth is a consequence of the ability to give life, and which endangers the lives of the mother. There is more to be said about the connotations of the honeyed substance of spermacetti, which Ishmaels likens Tashtego’s close call with death, as a ‘very precious perishing’. For now, I leave it on the discussions of childbirth, and the dangers of giving birth, which the men of the Pequod are faced with, with the perils of harvesting whales, in a way most men never are with women’s bodies.

Chapter 78

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Through reading the chapters for this week, I found myself constantly coming back to chapter 78, when Tashtego falls head first into the whale and is saved by Queequeg. This chapter was exciting after a few chapters that did not hold my attention, however, it still felt confusing and I could not figure out why it felt as if it had a deep importance. The passage that held my attention was “diving after the slowly descending head, Queequeg with his keen sword had made side lunges near its bottom…first thrusting in for him,a leg was presented: but well knowing that that was not as it ought to be and might occasion great trouble” (Melville 376). Melville writes an entire passage surrounding not just Queequeg saving Tashtego, but he focuses on how he does it, and he leans deep into this relating to a birth. After reading this passage and truthfully even now this felt strange and out of place to me. However, as I try to dissect what Melville could be doing here, it makes me think of him using the passage to show that rebirth can come even from the dark moments. The men on the Pequod are constantly surrounded by the danger of the sea, uncertainty of their captain, and threat of their own deaths. But this passage and its suggestions of a birth, may be representing second chances and new begins. It shows the level of humanity that is still present on the Pequod. Queequeg did not have to risk his own life to save Tashtego, however he did not haste to jump in after him. This moment feels as though even in the dark moments, there can always be a possibility of a rebirth or second chance. Overall, reading through this week’s chapters started off pretty slow, but was then extremely enjoyable for me. I am excited to hear everyone’s thoughts on these chapters. Specifically on chapter 78 and what you all have made of this passage because my brain has still not been able to fully wrap around why I keep coming back to it.