I really enjoyed reading this section of chapters. I think now that we are getting towards the end, the action and story are starting to ramp up so I am definitely gaining a newfound interest in the novel. Within this section, chapter 123 really stuck out to me. I think Starbuck is such a fascinating character and is honestly such a reflection of people in our society today.

The quote that I think stuck out to me the most was at the end of the chapter, “The yet levelled musket shook like a drunkard’s arm against the panel; Starbuck seemed wrestling with an angel; but turning from the door, he placed the death-tube in its rack and left the place.” Starbuck, since the beginning of this voyage, has been having a battle with both himself and Ahab and this battle truly comes to ahead in this chapter. In this chapter, Starbuck goes down to tell Ahab something and in the process finds the perfect opportunity to kill him and truly start a mutiny on the boat knowing that this journey, if not stopped, is going to lead to the demise of every single person on the boat. I think the internal battle Starbuck has in this chapter is just fascinating because of the true moral dilemma it presents. Murder is wrong, as Starbuck notes, but which is truly morally worse, killing one person or remaining complicit when you know that that person and their ambition will result in the deaths of so many more.

I think this is a true reflection of our society here in America. So many people hate the way in which the government is run and want it to change and know that if it continues to be run the way it is so many people’s lives will be ruined, but they refuse to do anything about it. It is written into our constitution that if the people deem the way in which the country is governed to be destructive, we hold the right to alter and abolish it. Yet, this is something that never happens because people hate discomfort more than they hate injustice. People may dislike the way in which the country is run, but they are comfortable with it and morally believe that somehow changing it could be worse than all of the lives that are being ruined at the present moment. I think this is so representative of the fight Starbuck is having. He knows making this change and taking control will be what saves them, but he doesn’t want that responsibility or that action on his conscious and he decides in the end to risk everyone else in exchange for his morals to remain somewhat intact.

Historically, complicity is what truly allows for things to go out of control and situations to escalate as much as they do and I think Melville putting themes of complicity and sitting back and watching when you know what is happening is wrong in the novel is so interesting because it truly shows just how common of a thing it is. Complicit behavior is not something that is singular or rare, it is something that is present everywhere and it being present on the Pequod is one of the most accurate depictions of society within the novel.