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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Melville’s novel is peppered with chapters dedicated to illustrating the history of the various places that we inhabit throughout the book. I am focusing this essay on chapter 14 Nantucket; Particularly the exposition of the history of Nantucket. In the quote, Melville demonstrates an ongoing refusal to contribute to the erasure of the Native Americans of the land and how their contributions have been elemental in the construction of America. This passage struck me as important because Melville makes us, the readers, consider how the story of America is constructed and what is lost when truths are omitted.

The passage goes as follows: “Look now at the wondrous traditional story of how this island was settled by the red-men… in the olden times an eagle swooped down upon the New England coast, and carried off an infant Indian in his talons. With loud lament the parents saw their child borne out of sight over the wide waters. They resolved to follow in the same direction. Setting out in their canoes, after a perilous passage they discovered the island, and there they found an empty ivory casket, —the poor little Indian’s skeleton. What wonder, then, that these Nantucketers, born on the beach, should take to the sea for a livelihood! First they caught crabs and quohogs in the sand; grown bolder, they waded out with nets for more mackerel; more experienced, they pushed off in boats and captured cod; and at last, launching a navy of great ships on the sea, explored this watery world; put an incessant belt of circumnavigations round it…and in all seasons and all oceans declared everlasting war with the mightiest animated mass that has survived the flood; most monstrous and most mountainous! That Himmalehan, salt-sea mastodon,” (Melville 69-70)

The first point that I want to draw attention to is Melville’s command to the reader, “look now”. He uses it often throughout the novel when he wants the reader to pay particular mind to what he is about to say. It is the way that he emphasizes the importance of the picture he wishes to paint. With this in mind he immediately draws our attention to the next claim he makes. The story does not start with western settlement. The story begins with the settlement of the Native American on the island. In using the word ‘traditional’ to begin this story, he also does something very insteresting; he makes it clear to the reader that this is an old story that was passed down lines of generations. This claim denies the assumption that history begins when the western settlers arrive and commit the story into writing or any kind of physical permanence. He gives attributes the importance of oral tradition in creating history. I find this fascinating because the common myth that goes into creating American exceptionalism is that of a virgin and uninhabited land. That the western settlers arrived and set the land to work and produce for the building of their country. This idea would have us believe that the amount of natives present in the continent at the time of settler arrivals to be of little note. A number of so little significance as to be neglected. Within the first line, Melville dismantles this idea and posits the story of the stolen baby as a sort of origin story for all the inhabitants of nantucket, regardless of race.

I now turn my attention to the next point of interest in the excerpt. “In the olden times and eagle swooped down upon the new ngland coast and carried off an infant indian in its talons…”. He starts with the telling of a myth rather than any factual information. I think Melville understands that a history is not just built on facts but also on the mythologizing aspect. If his aim is to show the reader what a unique an powerful nation America has become then it also needs to have this mythologized history. Just like that of the founding of Rome or the founding of the Aztec empire. While he is using the modern day whalers to create this American mythology around, he is also including the founding story to create grandiosity through antiquity. In short, He claims that like other empires, America—though a young country— cannot be said to have no long history as a land. The story of Nantucket then, is a story borne out of search; much like the story of the settler search for a land of possibilities and opportunity that we have grown up with.

Short essay: Close reading #1

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When it comes to isolating yourself from others and being in the most strenuous environment, we humans tend to seek out ways to tap into our unconscious ( incomoda) state and be able to feel that sense of dopamine and pursue that freedom, which allows us to step outside ourselves and feel alive. Alone at the top of the ship’s mast surrounded by nothing, but sea and sky, Ishmael ascends himself into a dream-like trance. Herman Melville’s, “Moby Dick”, this accurate moment transforms a simple task of whale-watching into an intense reflection of the human mind. As Melville describes in this quote on Chapter 35, “ “but lulled into such such an opium-like listlessness of vacant, unconscious reverie is this absent-minded youth by the blending cadence of waves with thought, that at last he loses his identity; takes the mystic ocean at his feet for the visible image of that deep, blue, bottomless soul, pervading mankind and nature….” (172) Melville demonstrates the beauty and rhythm of the ocean can disintegrate the boundaries of thought and reality. Melville uses philosophical imagery and hypnotic language in this quote to explore the meaning of isolation and nature can be blurred by the line of self-awareness and self-loss. The passage becomes more about daydreaming, it slowly becomes a meditation form to Ishmael and how easy it is the dangers of transcending and the fragile nature of the human identity.

We describe the ocean as a marvelous one of a kind part of our existence as human beings and planet earth. We try to connect ourselves with the sea in the phrase, “..blending cadence of waves”(172), Melville starts to incorporate the language tone with rhythm and imagery in the passage mirrors of the sea; it makes you feel like you’re in a hypnotic state. He merges the sound and the mind together and creates this melodic tone of repetition and softness, just like the waves of the ocean. It makes both the reader and Ishmael be in a trance-like state. The sea’s rhythm becomes like a lullaby, almost like a natural feeling of comfort and safety, imagine like a rocking chair where your mother would carry and sing to you to fall asleep, it soothes you and forget about everything around you. Through this sensory and mental imagery, Melville uses these effects because he suggests that the power of nature can weaken the human consciousness, which I find credible, hence why some people tend to connect more and live in areas surrounded by trees and nature. We can see in the chapter how Ishmael is starting to slowly dissociate himself from everything around him and his mind starts to synchronize with something bigger and dangerous, the ocean. The more he surrounded himself  with the ocean itself, the more he started to lose himself mentally wise.

One of my preferred parts of the phrase in the chapter, “ opium-like listlessness” (172) Melville reveals both the pleasure and the danger of losing oneself in their own thoughts. The word “opium”, which defines an actual narcotic, is like an escape and intoxication and having freedom from the pain and reality. I think for Ishamel the ocean became a drug for him, and starts to seduce him into a state of numbness and forgetfulness, obviously being under the influence of a drug, which is why he uses the imagery of the word, “ opium”. Melville demonstrates to us in this scene of the chapter, that transcendency is not a part of an understanding, but more of an erasure. He demonstrates to us how Ishamel starts to lose his identity and experiences both the pleasure and terror. The sea is giving Ishamel the freedom he wanted from the beginning, but it will also consume him entirely spiritually and mentally.

The most philosophical part of the chapter to me was Ishamel being on the mast-head of the ship. The mast-head represents a place between heaven and earth, Ishamel is among the sky and sea. The higher he rises, the more he isolates himself from reality. Melville uses this metaphor for the mast-head as a separation from reality due to the fact he is up in the mast-head, which disconnects Ishamel from bottom, obviously the human world (earth). The scene reflects the balance between self-knowledge and self-loss through the unlimited whether is nature or knowledge or even faith. We see Ishmael’s identity start to fade due to the immenses of existence he confronts which makes the human thought be diminished.

Herman Melville portrays the conflict of human consciousness with a perception of wanting to transcend to a sense of freedom, even if it costs us into disappearing into a state of the unknown. Just has how Ishmael’s trance in the mast-head becomes more of a distraction for him from reality, we as humans tend to seek the same way to escape the reality of existence. It’s what makes us feel human at one point in our lives, even if it make us feel has if we are losing and have that feeling of discomfort with ourselves, it makes us be who we are.

The curse of overthinking

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Chapter 44, “The Chart,” gives us some insight on Ahab’s plan to find Moby Dick. He is obssessively charting a course for the Pequod that may guarantee them an encounter with the whale, but there are too many variables. We also get insight into Ahab’s fixation and how it shapes his every waking (and dreaming) moment. His thoughts are about Moby Dick alone and he is slowly consumed by them. In page 220, Melville writes, “God help thee, old man, thy thoughts have created a creature in thee; and he whose intense thinking thus makes him a Prometheus; a vulture feeds upon that heart for ever; that vulture the very creature he creates.” The mention of Prometheus is an interesting one because it highlights the consuming quality of fire, something that is evidently going on in Ahab’s mind. However, recalling the story of Prometheus, he was punished for defying the gods and giving fire to humanity, which caused him to be tortured for eternity. This chapter is presumably in Ishmael’s point of view, which means that choosing this reference purposefully paints Ahab in a heroic and tortured light, although Ahab is clearly helping no one in madly chasing the whale. Ishmael has started idolizing Ahab, specifically starting from the moment he agreed to the crazed chase for the whale, and now sees him as a type of mad intellectual, tragically cursed for thinking too much. Additionally, in the story, an eagle would eat Prometheus’ liver every night, which is parallel to the passage above, only for Ahab it’s “a vulture that feeds upon that heart forever,” and the vulture is a creature of his own making. This part is evidence that Ishmael does recognize Ahab’s part in his own suffering, and he pities him, but the tone in which he describes this still paints Ahab in a poetic light and as a kind of victim. As Ahab becomes increasingly fixated on catching the whale, Ishmael observes in wonder and admiration.

Essay 1: Authority, Self-Awareness, and Obsession

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In the 19th century, authority at sea was absolute. The captains had the say in everything, and this unchecked power was a matter of life or death. Being able to lead means understanding your people’s capabilities, and in a whaling ship, the boat’s life are the shipmates, like organs in a body. As the brain, Ahab from Moby-Dick knows this, but instead, he uses his position to satisfy his vengeance and obsession. When Starbuck questioned Ahab’s pursuit, Ahab saw it as a motivation. He calls himself “demoniac” and “madness maddened,” revealing his self-awareness as part of his insanity rather than a barrier. Ahab turns his madness into justification for his actions as captain.

Ahab’s self-awareness enables his rationality to make obsessive decisions, turning his authority as captain into an outlet for vengeance. In chapter 37, Sunset, Ahab was sitting alone in his cabin, staring out the windows, when he pondered, “They think me mad—Starbuck does; but I’m demoniac, I am madness maddened! That wild madness that’s only calm to comprehend itself!” (Melville, p. 183). The sentence “They think me mad—Starbuck does…” shows Ahab acknowledging how people see his craziness, but instead of denying it, he redefines it. By saying, “I’m demoniac, I am madness maddened!” he is claiming a higher, almost supernatural-like, form of madness. Melville’s choice of using repetition and the word “demoniac” shows how Ahab consciously justifies his abuse of authority with madness. He portrays how someone under emotional obsession can be dangerous regardless of clarity. In the phrase, ”That wild madness that’s only calm to comprehend itself,” that calmness is not sanity but a moment of control inside insanity. Ahab acknowledges the chaos he controls rather than resists. He understands he became the embodiment of absurdity, insanity, vengeance, and obsession, and he lets it all define him. Such madness isn’t blinding Ahab; it sharpens his vision. He clearly sees what he’s doing and he still chooses destruction.

What does that have to do with life or death? Simple: if madness himself is the brain, the rest of the body is obliged to follow it. You are reading this essay because you want to understand my insight, and just now you may have been wondering what authority, obsession, and self-awareness have to do with anything, or maybe you just came here to find something to talk about in the reply section. Whatever your reason for being here, you wouldn’t have been able to if your fingers, blood, and/or nervous system refused to obey. The same goes with captains: their team, or in the context of Moby Dick, their crew would not be able to do anything without a voice to follow. However, there would be a little voice in the mind that goes against their wishes. For Ahab, that little voice of reason is Starbuck. When Ahab thought, “They think me mad–Starbuck does,” he isn’t rejecting the warning. This is the first domino to fall before the ship’s fate: as the more these two bicker, the higher chance the ship would split before Moby Dick the whale is back in the action. This reveals how obsession overrides reason and sets the crew to an inevitable downfall. The type of captain matters far more than being charismatic, and much like the captains, leadership in the historical and modern context are just as vulnerable to emotions.

During that time, royalty and those that could taste that similar power were often indulging in said power. Melville’s warning still resonates today: a leader driven by obsession leads their followers to ruin. Our politics, our social circles, our families, our social media circles like influencers, there is a reason why there are followers. For Captain Ahab, his followers are the crew of the Pequod, and with one incentive, he managed to convert regular sailors and whalehunters into soldiers to do his bidding. This is what Melville criticizes about authority: awareness without restraint, paired with obsession, is just another form of power that can destroy the very people meant to be protected.

Chapter 44.

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Through reading this week’s chapters, I found myself being excited to pick the book up again. Once they got onto the Pequod I found myself getting a little bored in the reading compared to the chapters earlier that revolved around Ishmael and Queequeg. However, after chapters 41 and 42 I have become excited to read more and honestly shocked with how much I have been enjoying the book. From this week’s chapters the one that I kept coming back to was chapter 44, where Ahab is in his cabin going over the ways that he might be able to predict where Moby-Dick might be and when. The quote that stood out to me was at the end of the chapter, when Ahab rushes out of the room, “ God help thee, old man, thy thoughts have created a creature in thee; and he whose intense thinking thus makes him a Prometheus; a vulture feeds upon that heart for ever; that vulture the very creature he creates” (Melville 220). This passage shows how self destructive Ahab’s obsession with this whale has become for him. Melville using the word creature here is something that stood out to me because it separates Ahab from this “creature” full of vengeance within him. The mental struggle Ahab has dealt with since losing his leg to Moby-Dick is something that has taken over his every thought, making his decisions completely irrational and quite frankly ridiculous. But this is a creature, as Melville says, that he created. The whale was acting out of pure instinct yet Ahab has turned this into a personal attack, Melville does a wonderful job at making this quest for Moby-Dick not just a physical adventurer, but also a projection of Ahab’s inner torment. This also makes the blind commitment from most of the crew on the Pequod even more terrifying. That with just one speech from their captain they are ready to take out his revenge on something that is innocent. Ahab has created this creature within himself that is full of hate and revenge, and as he fixates on that he also forces it onto his crew making whatever he says correct without argument. This reminds me a lot about what is happening today, and the more we read this book the more I am able to see the connections. 

Short Essay: Close Reading 1

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Throughout the adventure of reading Moby-Dick by Herman Meliville readers are introduced to characters that come from all different backgrounds and belief systems. The development of friendship between Ishmael and Queequeq is extremely notable, as the growth and understanding between these two characters seems rather abrupt, however, it is refreshing to witness two people from opposite backgrounds begin to bond and respect each other. Throughout chapter three of the novel, we see Ishmael do anything in his power to remove himself from Queequeg path before he ever even meets him. However, once the two meet this feeling of understanding begins and their relationship transforms. In chapter ten of the novel title “A Bosom Friend”, Ishmael sees Queequeg sitting alone at the Inn and watches him out of pure interest. As Ishmael’s curiosity grows he begins to talk with Queequeg, they look over a book together, he invites Queequeg for a smoke, and they agree that once more they will be bed mates. Their relationship grows quickly with the claim of being bosom friends, which means that, “he would gladly die for me if need should be” (Melville 57). Through this passage, Melvillie is showing more than just two men forming a bond, he is exploring how people from different backgrounds can care for each other if they allow themselves to open their minds. 

Ishmael’s willingness to open his mind towards Queequeg is fascinating when considering the ways it challenges what would have been acceptable in American Society during this time, with Christianity being the “true” religion. The two men are drastically different, but that did not deter Ishmael, it rather made him more curious, “I began to feel myself mysteriously drawn towards him. And those same things that would have repelled most others, they were the very magnets that thus drew me” (Melville 57). Within society, it has become far too common for people to judge someone immediately based solely on having differences in race, culture, or religion. However, this is Melville’s way of inviting readers to be curious and learn about others before joining in on the close minded ways of thinking. The fear of the unknown is something that is always being talked about and often the thing that is unknown becomes the object of hate and distrust. This is the same in the situation between these characters, Ishmael explains that many others would be “repelled” by Queequeg and his way of living. Whereas, he is drawn to Queequeg and wants to learn more about him almost as if he was being drawn to him. Melville is using these lines to tell readers to let your curiosity drive you, do not let the fear of the unknown create a close minded space for yourself or else you may miss out on the beautiful things in life. 

With their friendship growing through this passage, Ishmael demonstrates another key example in how opening your mind can draw people closer together. Ishmael is shown trying to understand and respect Queequeg’s culture, even though as he points out, it is extremely different from his own, “he pressed his forehead against mine, clasped me round the waist, and said that henceforth we were married; meaning, in his country’s phrase, that we were bosom friends; he would gladly die for me if need should be. In a countryman, this sudden flame of friendship would have seemed far too premature, a thing to be much distrusted” (Melville 57). As the men press their foreheads onto one another and hold each other with the declaration of becoming bosom friends, Ishmael is far out of his comfort zone. The progression of their friendship is something that would be too premature for a countryman, which Ishmael points out, however, he completely allows Queequeg to guide this interaction. Melville uses this small interaction between them to demonstrate that building a relationship between two people of completely different cultures and religion does not have to be difficult as long as you are able to show respect and understanding for one another. The text tells us that this interaction is something that would be distrusted by most people around them, however, Ishmael decides to allow Queequeg in and not judge him for the differences that they clearly have. Melville beautifully inputs the line “meaning, in his country’s phrase”. This line may seem small when first reading over, however it is Melville’s way of showing that Ishmael did not only listen to Queequeg, but that he also tries to understand and respect the parts of his culture that differ from his own. 

This passage feels as though Melville is calling out society, both then and now, about their ideas of savage vs civil. It feels that many people are quick to judge others once they realize that they will not conform to what they believe to be “right”. Yet the hypocrisy of this is strong because they then completely ignore the violence and wrongdoings of those that are like minded to them. Ishmael even calls out the lack of sincerity that he at times feels around his own religion, “I’ll try a pagan friend, thought I, since Christian kindness has proved but hollow courtesy” (Melville 57). Around a time that Chrisitanity was viewed widely as the one true religion, Melville opens the door for people to explore what other cultures look like and find relationships that may fulfill you in a way that you have not experienced before. When being constantly told that Christianity is the right way of living it is easy to fall into a comfortability of something that may lack genuine sincerity. Melville provides Ishmael with the strength to push out of that box and look past the culture, religion, or race and focus solely on the connection and friendship that is possible, demonstrating again that curiosity can be the beautiful thing that pulls people together. 

Herman Melville uses the evolving friendship between Ishmael and Queequeg to emphasize that wonderful relationships can be created between people, even with differences in race, culture, and religion. Something that begins with fear and hesitation transforms into a genuine bond that is rooted deeply in a mutual respect for one another. Instead of letting society and his own fears define their connection, Ishmael opens his mind and finds a meaningful relationship that pushes against the boundaries he had found himself in. Melville’s message within this passage remains powerful today, understanding and connection are possible when people allow their fears of the unknown to drive their curiosity into a positive place.

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.

A Measured, Mad Mind: The Cartography of Obsession

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In “The Chart,” Melville reveals Ahab’s obsession not through outbursts or violence but through precision. Alone in his cabin, Ahab bends over sea charts, tracing the imagined paths of whales with “slow but steady pencil” strokes. The scene reads like an act of devotion rather than navigation. Melville writes, “it almost seemed that while he himself was marking out lines and courses on the wrinkled charts, some invisible pencil was also tracing lines and courses upon the deeply marked chart of his forehead” (p. 215). The image is eerie; his intellect turns inward, and his mind becomes as mapped and wrinkled as the parchment before him. Ahab’s search for Moby Dick is not just physical; it is carved into him.

What fascinates me about this passage is how Melville fuses rationality and madness. Ahab’s tools, charts, logbooks, and calculations are supposed to represent knowledge and control. Yet here they become symbols of fixation. His disciplined method is indistinguishable from mania, and his careful plotting mirrors the very entrapment he seeks to escape. The “invisible pencil” suggests that obsession itself leaves marks, both mental and physical. The act of mapping the ocean transforms into a self-inscription, as if Ahab’s need for order has consumed his identity entirely.

By showing Ahab in stillness rather than frenzy, Melville captures the quiet terror of obsession. The charts promise mastery over the unknown, but they only deepen Ahab’s confinement. The vastness of the sea, which should humble him, instead becomes an extension of his will. This inversion, where reason turns into ritual and knowledge into obsession, makes the scene unsettling. It is not the storm that threatens Ahab, but his own steady hand. In his attempt to draw order out of chaos, he ends up redrawing himself. Melville’s image of the “charted” forehead lingers as a warning that the more we try to map the world, the more we risk becoming the map itself.

Within context of whaling and the Pequod

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From reading chapters 42-57, it is clear that Ishmael shapes his worldview and takes hostile identities from the unidentified and unknown, labeling it as supernatural, in order to adhere to his romantic feelings on whaling. In chapter 50, Ishmael talks about the castaway saved at sea, Fedallah, speculating, “Whence he came in a mannerly world like this…so far as to have some sort of half-hinted influence…” Ishmael here is a bit frustrated, trying to piece together into his worldview why Fedellah was so integral into the force of the Pequod if not uncivilized? He sees Fedellah as an independent, yet vulnerable force onto the ship because he is educated and intellegent. This brings into question the origin and formation of dominating narratives into society that see people as blank canvases to write heroism and transgression when there was none in the first place. This is dangerous as Ishmael sees the Pequod’s mercy decision as righteous, instead of seeing the rescue of castaways as human decency. He sees Fedellah as a “half-hinted influence” brought supernaturally from heaven, expected to influence the narrative of the whaler’s autonomy; but this only means that Fedellah is nothing short of an instrumental pawn in a game, rather than seeing the man as a person with his own agency and role in the world. He also states the nautical life as distinctly separate from the land when he says Fedellah unexpectedly happened to be in a mannerly world like this. Here, not only does he dehumanize Fedellah, but he contextually imprisons him into a person with no origin. This gives Ishmael reason to call his worldview the only right concept apart from others, emphasizing the nautical life as mannerly, compared to back home in New Bedford.