For Halloween I had dressed up as Stubb. I had worn a white button up to signify I was a whaler/sailor, I had brought a pipe, and I had a paper sailor hat. Melville describes Stubb as a man that has “impious good humor” and is always smoking on his pipe- “For, like his nose, his short, black little pipe was one of the regular features of his face” (129). Stubb was for sure one of my favorite characters in the novel as I really liked his outspokenness and just thought he was cool.
This is definitely a long overdue post but here it partially is, the whale made from a five dollar box from Target (which is a rip off in and of its own if you ask me but I had a vision.) I didn’t initially know what I wanted going into this, whether it’d just be some dead whale or Moby Dick itself, but I think that was part of the point now that I’m reflecting on it. In creating this thing, I’ve come to realize that the analysis of the brow/skeleton/head/cetology can apply to whatever whale came across that boat, dead or not. The scientific capabilities of the past really seem interesting, but it also shows how misguided and judgemental science could have been when understanding these animals. This was a passion project of a water bottle, lots of glue, screws and bolts, stained marker hands, and silly references. I hadn’t even actually known that sperm whales don’t have any top teeth, a mistake I almost made after having to rip off the row of top teeth I cut out for it. There’s a good chance this will end up as my final project, and in all honesty, I do feel a little attached to the thing as it sits on the floor of my bedroom. I wouldn’t say I’m as obsessed with it as Ahab is though.
For Halloween (sorry posting a bit late!), I dressed up as a whale that has been harpooned. I wore grey shorts and a grey shirt, with red accents (shoes, hair tie, red on the shirt) and I cut out a harpoon from cardboard. Although it may have been a bit of a ‘graphic’ costume, I think it represents a part of the book that has really stood out to me–how the whales are dying in these chapters. Their deaths are gory, violent, painful, helpless, which I find to be a sharp contrast to how human deaths are portrayed. This is also a representation of an industry (whaling) that is not well known or often talked about in the scope of history. There was a period of time in history where whales were hunted as they are in this book, and killed solely for their monetary value, and this costume is a reflection of the extents people were willing to go to for money, for the “American dream”.
For my costume on Thursday, I elected to dress as Ishmael wrapped in the counterpane. This chapter, while early in the novel, was so immensely important for Ishmael’s development and even for his ability to board the Pequod at all. This marked the true beginning of Queequeg and Ishmael’s relationship – at whatever capacity that you see it in – and it is the catalyst for his embarkment on the Pequod. Without Ishmael, Queequeg would have struggled to board the ship. Without Queequeg, Ishmael would have likely boarded a different vessel altogether.
For the costume itself, I had an ivory colored cotton shirt with ties, a laced up brown suede vest, simple black pants, and black laced boots. I took care to avoid straps and buttons, as Ishmael was no “bumpkin dandy” (37)! He knew “how bitterly those straps would burst in the first howling gale, when thou art driven, straps, buttons, and all, down the throat of the tempest” (37). I elected to leave off his monkey jacket, partially due to the weather and partially because he would not have had his outer clothes fully on when in bed with Queequeg. My earrings I had mostly left in tact, though I did wear a hoop laden with three chains to represent the ties that would come to bind Ishmael – the ocean, Queequeg, and Ahab.
While I do not have a picture, I do think it was a happy coincidence that Rayne and I were standing side by side in the front of the classroom – as Rayne had dressed as Queequeg in his Beaver Hat. Had I thought more on it, I should have switched the shoulder my counterpane was on so that it was the shoulder closest to Rayne, but I missed out.
Edit: I kidnapped this image from the slides for Lesson 19!
