“…in which case you will take great interest in thinking how this mightly monster is actually a diademed king of the sea, whose green crown has been put together for him in this marvellous manner.” (Chapter 75, page 365).

It’s important to connect back to the historical context of this period of whaling and mankind’s ventures into the ocean. The sea, with all its mysteries, was considered a new frontier to be conquered and mastered, primarily through whaling and ocean fishing. It’s through these practices that people of the 19th century could not only establish themselves in the vast realm of the ocean, but wholly master it. Melville’s, or Ishmael’s, description of the whale as “a diademed king of the sea” with a “green crown” of slimy kelp and the rough edges of caked barnacles touches on this point. If whales are to be the kings of the sea, what does that say about the men who conquer and skin them on their boats? Or of Ahab, the crazed assassin of the sea who lives and breathes with Moby Dick staining the backs of his eyelids?

If we consider the ocean as both a thing to be conquered and a vast expanse capable of great destruction, whalers are prized assets to American imperialism in the 19th century. Yet, whalers are not always welcomed back to land with cheers and thanks, but disdain and disgust. Melville touches on this several times throughout our reading of the novel thus far, pointing out the bubbling hypocrisy of landsmen who beg for whale oil to light their reading rooms yet cover their ears at whaling stories.

Based on the quote above, to slay a king means either of two things, based on the broader context: the victory over a great leader who is said to own, whether literally or figuratively, an expanse of wealth or geography, or treason. Considering the first, this makes whalers who successfully kill and harvest all the whale’s assets victors over the ocean. However, the sea is a vast, violent thing full of various kings to be slain, pointing to a more profound message by Melville: man’s inability ever to understand or conquer the complexities of the ocean, despite all our efforts.