Tag Archives: mobydick

Thanksgiving Week

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What do you need to do/learn for your final project?

For my final project, I am thinking about close reading the bay/boat when I go to my next sailing class, and writing something about that. Whenever I am at that class, I always think about Moby Dick because of how boring it is. We are using the wind to sail as they did back then, and I swear it is the most boring thing ever. We rig the boat, and then sail around Mission Bay for like an hour, and all I think is that everyone on that boat in Moby Dick must’ve been on the border of insanity and I can understand why Ahab lost it. Because staring at the water going by, the sunlight reflecting off of it, and literally nothing happening except just trying to catch wind and steer somewhere, is horribly boring. I think I want to observe this boredom in parallel to the chapters in Moby Dick that are, also, dreadfully boring, dragging on, slowly floating through page after page of nothingness.

I think sailing also gave me a lot of context for this novel. Even though it was just on the bay, it did allow me to imagine how it would be if the water just stretched on and on for miles, as well as how fluid of a state the water is in. I can always reach down and touch it, but it never stays in one place.

Ebb and Flow

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In Chapter 111 on page 525, Melville wrote “The waves should rise and fall, and ebb and flow unceasingly…” It was part of a sentence, but what caught my eye is the word “should.” Why “should”? Why not “will” or “can”? But as I read further, I realized that this explains the inevitability of life itself. It is the only part of the full sentence that sounds rhythmic, like how waves themselves move. The word “unceasingly” simply means “eternal.” In other words, the waves move eternally. Adding the implication, Melville presenting the sea as a symbol of constant motion also becomes how life is in constant motion.

“The waves should rise and fall” suggests the ups and downs of life. It’s basically not normal for an entire lifespan to be completely calm and serene. It’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to be happy. We have emotions so we can experience life like a rollercoaster, or rather a storm in a voyage. Mistakes are made to teach. Failures and setbacks show flaws. You can strive for the calm and serene, but the journey to get there will never be.

“Ebb and flow” suggests a cycle of experiences. Many things can restart, many things can be relived. The most vivid example is the damning fact Moby Dick teaches you how to read after already knowing how to read. The phrase “ebb and flow” shows how life teaches: even with everything you have learned, there’s still thousands more to know.

Why Melville consciously chose “should” and nothing else is because life “should” rise and fall, ebb and flow, as you grow as a person.

Ahab’s Challenge

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In chapter 36, “The Quarter-Deck,” Melville almost literalizes the phrase “speak of the devil.” After Ahab said that he would reward the sailor who saw a white whale matching Moby Dick’s description, Ahab commanded, “Skin your eyes for him, men; look sharp for white water; if ye see but a bubble, sing out.” Shortly thereafter, the harpooners Tashtego, Daggoo, and Queequeg spotted the white whale Ahab had described. Ahab’s phrasing also felt as if he were summoning the whale itself, like he knew it was there. The sequence of events mirrors the phrase “speak of the devil” because almost immediately after Ahab described it, Moby Dick appeared. In other words, Melville turned a familiar phrase into a narrative device.

Week 8: Vengeance

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What stuck with me from this week’s reading was a quote from Starbuck in The Quarter Deck. During Ahab’s obsessive rampage about Moby Dick, Starbuck says: “‘Vengeance on a dumb brute!… that simply smote these from blindest instinct! Madness! To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab, seems blasphemous’” (p. 178). This idea has been mentioned before in the book and in our class, but it is touched upon again. The innocence of nature, and to what extent these beings are innocent. 

I always find this debate to be particularly interesting because it calls into question what level of consciousness animals possess when juxtaposed to us, humans. What level of moral compass do we expect from these beings, and can we judge them the same way we judge humans? This quote by Starbucks says we can’t, that animals like whales are simply acting upon instinct and not from a place of bad intention or harm. While I can’t speak on whales, I would like to bring up the idea of dolphins. Seemingly harmless and playful, anyone who has done some research on them knows their intentions and interactions with others in the ocean are often harmful and malicious, ranging from getting high off other animals and purposeful assault. 

Another way I want to analyze this quote is from the idea of vengeance, regardless of the “dumb thing” being the source of harm. This calls into question the idea of revenge, and whether that is even something one should take, whether the one who harmed did it on purpose or not. Is that not stooping to that low level, especially one of physical harm? Ahab is the captain of this boat, and should one want to be led by one who engages in petty vengeance? Who might hold a grudge on the ship for a small transgression? 

Week 5: Chapter 3

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What I found most interesting from the reading this week was the contents of chapter three. Ishmael’s borderline obsession with this ‘roommate’ seems to elude the rest of the contents of the novel. I haven’t read Moby Dick before, but the idea of obsession seems to be a common theme from what I’ve heard. Take, for instance, this line: “I was all eagerness to see his face, but he kept it averted for sometime” (p.23). Ishmael’s curiosity shines through on this page (or perhaps Melville’s), as the page takes on a run-on about this new character. His mind runs amuck, making assumptions about this new character and wanting to discover who he is. This type of mind-running is fairly normal, but this feels obsessive in the way it takes up a whole chapter, consuming Ishmael’s mind. What is he hoping for?

Another thing on my mind while reading this chapter was the letters from Melville to Hawthorne. That was good context to have before reading this. Many lines from this chapter felt very… suggestive. Ishmael’s fear of sharing a bed with this strange man could be interpreted as projection, or simply the social context of sharing a bed with a man. From page 23 as well, Melville writes “It’s only his outside; a man can be honest in any sort of skin.” Although this appears to be about honesty, I have my doubts. This seems to refer more to who someone is, as opposed to how they look, and put in the context of these men sharing a bed… just reminded me of the letters. This does go into what we talked about in class, as Moby Dick is often seen as the great American novel, masculine, man’s quest, etc but this beginning chapter seems to already delve into a psychological battle on many levels – obsession, sexuality, trust.