Tag Archives: Chapter 7

Reminders of Those the Sea Took

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Ishmael’s first encounter with the Whaleman’s Chapel reveals that whaling is not only about adventure on the ocean, but about the memory of those it has already claimed. Each is dedicated to a sailor who has been lost overboard, yet they collectively represent something more than separate offerings. Melville employs them to indicate the ways in which death at sea becomes part of the shared identity among the whalers, transforming personal grief into community memory. The chapel is as much a cultural archive as a religious site, where remembering becomes a means of uniting people.

Ishmael discloses the impact of these tablets as he describes, “What bitter blanks in those black-bordered marbles which cover no ashes! What despair in those immovable inscriptions!” (Melville, Moby-Dick, 41) The line evidences that the plaques are as much about filling an emptiness as they are about outlining a grave. Since there are no bodies to be entombed, the plaques act as stand-ins, keeping a memorial where the sea has taken the deceased. The “black borders” employ the rhetoric of mourning, yet Ishmael’s lament over the “bitter blanks” reveals that the community mourns the absence itself.

Melville also points to how public markers help define communal experience. Ishmael observes women in the congregation whose grief is clearly ongoing, their grief refreshed each time they see the tablets. That way, the plaques do not allow grief to subside into quiet; they remind families and neighbors continuously of what the sea has claimed. The death of a sailor is written into a wider story of loss that the entire community shares.

What makes this moment strong is that Ishmael hasn’t even set sail on the Pequod, yet he already experiences the burden of what is to come. Pequod plaques prefigure the destinies of future expeditions while demonstrating how whaling culture embraces death as an inevitable component of existence on the high seas. By placing this scene even before the adventure begins, Melville ensures that the book is grounded in memory. The sea holds the possibility of adventure, yet the price it demands is forever chiseled into stone, influencing how communities coexist with both the peril it poses and the heritage it bequeaths.

Why include the gravestones?

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From the intimate relationships developments to the religious context of Jonah and the Whale, what stood out like a sore thumb was the mention of the chapel’s cemetery, “…there these silent islands of men and women sat steadfastly eyeing several marble tablets, with black borders, masoned into the wall on either side the pulpit.” (pp. 40-41) I wondered why Ishmael even read the content engraved on the stones. This early in the story and it’s already foreshadowing one of the worst possible fates… and so far we only have two characters. It’s not difficult to wonder what their future holds, but there’s always a tinge of hope that they wouldn’t. The narrator even included, “Yes, Ishmael, the same fate may be thine,” (page 42) which doesn’t help with the “hope” part.

Overall, I can see Ishmael, Queepeg, or both dying in some way, shape, or form, just because of the mention of the graves and Ishmael’s morbid curiosity. It would be a surprise if neither of them died, though I’d expect some shipmates’ deaths.

Chapter 7

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In this chapter, Ishmael arrives at the chapel where he is faced with the reality of the dangers from whaling, he is reminded that the end of the trip is not the same for everyone and there is one outcome that can never be overruled as they sail away-death. Melville starts off the chapter with a change of scenery, the once clear and sunny sky changed to driving sleet and mist pushing the readers beneath the dark cloud alongside the sorrowful widows, sailors and their wives as they scan over the marble tablets replacing the presence of the once mortal sailors.

While taking in what is in front of him Ishmael becomes aware of his own possible death stating “Yes, Ishmael, the same fate may be thine. But somehow I grew merry again…Methinks my body is but the lees of my better being. In fact take my body who will, take it I say, it is not me.” (P. 42) Ishmael repeats, almost daringly, for death to take his body for his body is a use of passage for his soul to move freely. In acceptance, Ishmael is not afraid of death as he as his true self will live on much longer, suggesting a separation of soul and body.

Knowing that he just viewed what life was like for the living after the death of a sailor, I think this was a changing point for Ishmael. If there was any doubt or fear that he might have been considering, eliminating the fear of death is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, gain. Humans naturally fight to survive in near death experiences and having an already eased mindset in case of death will most likely push Ishmael into unforgiving circumstances.

Chapter 7 – The Chapel (And Death.)

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Ishmael finds himself entering a Whaleman’s chapel within this chapter, talking about his observations and feelings towards the idea of death. Part of me feels similarly towards his feelings about plaques, and while it is easy to imagine the countenance on the people he sees in the middle of mourning, I think this chapter puts into perspective on how people are supposed to understand and tackle the idea of a loved one dying. (Or anyone dying in general for that matter.) Ishmael himself doesn’t seem entirely bothered by the idea of death as we’ve seen, but he reflects this specific idea. “…yet lies antique Adam who died sixty round centuries ago; how it is that we still refuse to be comforted for those who we nevertheless maintain are dwelling in unspeakable bliss; why all the living so strive to hush all the dead…” (42) Ishmael seems baffled by the idea of people grieving loss at the idea of (Christian) heaven being a better place.

Additionally, he also makes a point about how those who embark for specific work or journeys are paid while others are not. There’s merit in how a man’s life is held. Going back to the plaques, I believe Melville’s intention of putting them in this chapter preface’s the idea that we are not necessarily supposed to feel anything at all. From Ishmael’s standpoint, there isn’t any sense of grief or personal connection. Why should these plaques take up a whole/half a page? Is there any true significance other than the idea that the whaling journey he is about to embark on might have him turn into nothing but a plaque as well? Is someone going to grieve him? Melville makes the chapter foreboding, and it changes the tone from the previous chapters before.