Tag Archives: Whale

Final Project Proposal

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For my project, I would like to focus on the how this Whale, this object of Ahab’s desire, can be read in a similar way to that of the whale described to Ishmael in the chapter containing the sermon. This tale of Jonah and the whale, to me, feels like larger statement within the novel, especially as the Whale is not a main player, if you will, despite being the driving force for this journey that the novel details. This essay would be the lengthy one, at six to eight pages, rather than a mixed medium with a creative project and a show essay attached. In these pages, I hope to explore and explain this connection to the best of my abilities.

Or The Whale.

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There’s much to be done before the final, researching and planning for the massive essay, one that honours the novel and perhaps even makes a reader rethink and recontextualise the novel’s events! Or so I hope. The bit that has me in its grips, that just continues to swim about my mind fluid, is how the titular Whale is not this evil creature filled with hate—no, of course not, that would be Ahab—but rather this being filled with kindness. Could it be that this creature is one of kindness, as seen with the warnings that are given before they engage with the Whale at the end of the novel? Might this creature be biblical in that from the first sin came hate and violence (Ahab)? I am completely unable to get the idea out of my head that perhaps, just maybe, the Whale can be seen as a messenger from God, much like an archangel or have a similar use in the novel as Adam does in the bible? How much of the Whale do we see reflected in the sermon whale? And the other way about? I find this Whale endlessly fascinating and I am beyond excited to work this into an actual idea worth presenting!

Food for thought: articles to feed your mind

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Hey Everyone,

So, I know that we are all deep in the trenches of trying to figure out what we want to do our final project on — I certainly am. I’ve found some really fascinating articles that I think might benefit more than just me, so I’m going to share a link to the Google Drive Folder so that others might benefit from my searching.

There’s a few that are articles about racism, about Melville’s intentions with his black characters, about how Melville plays with our perceptions to make us racially assign Ishmael as white, one that gives really interesting interpretations about the truth behind what Moby-Dick actually was, and a few more. They’re free to use, I just hope they help! I’ll keep updating the folder as I find more, let me know if you have any issues loading the link.

See you tomorrow!

-Kit Jackson

But what do I know?

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In Chapter 100 ‘Leg and Arm’, a juxtaposition is made between Ahab’s whale versus another ship’s version, “So what you take for the White Whale’s malice is only his awkwardness.” Ahab’s knowledge of the whale is isolated, purposefully, so that no other explanation can penetrate his mind about the creature. In posing the whale as a being without a grand plan, Melville rewrites this entire story in just a sentence, the whale becoming a victim of circumstance rather than a violent perpetrator. Melville also uses Ahab’s intentional ignorance to emphasize the multifaceted nature of knowledge, exemplifying his failure to understand the whale as a complicated creature instead of a monster. 

When the whale’s ‘malice’ is exchanged for ‘awkwardness’, this prompts images of innocence and inexperience. The whale is not by nature violent, but when attacked it is forced to defend itself by means outside of its nature, its violence is unnatural and awkward. In rewriting the whale as a docile being, biting Ahab’s leg to save its own life, the whale is able to exist as multiple things, violent and awkward. Ahab does not want to actually know the whale, he has already written his narrative and has his perfect ending for it. Knowledge requires the will to be proven wrong, something Ahab refuses to do, resulting in his struggle against a villain that doesn’t exist. This struggle puts not only himself, but also those around him in danger for a vain pursuit. In just a sentence, Melville offers much on the way we see the world, and the choice we have in this perspective, its consequences affecting more than our own selves. 

Chapter 93- What is More Valuable: The Child or The Whale?

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As I was reading through chapter 93, I found more of Stubb’s character and drive for his hunt for these whales as he was dealing with the adolescent young Pip. This might have been what a sailor might do in the persuit of hunting a whale but it really shows how Stubb values money over a human life. What is more valuable to a sailor, one of their shipmates lives or the profit they can recieve for their hunting of these ocean beasts?

” “Stick to the boat, Pip, or by the Lord, I won’t pick you up if you jump; mind that. We can’t afford to lose whales by the likes of you; a whale would sell for 30 times what you would, Pip, in Alabama. Bear that in mind, and don’t jump anymore.” hereby, perhaps Stubb indirectly hinted, that though man loves his fellow, yet man is a money-making animal, which propensity too often interferes with his benevolence.”

These whales are the motives for these sailors as they are in hot persuit of them across the oceans. They want to catch as many as they can so their profit can be large. This means they can’t afford to go back for anything, even a human who was aboard their ship. Pip had fallen overboard after getting tangled in the line which the whale was pulling which was cut so he could be let free so he wouldn’t drown. That act showed that Stubb does have some ounce of care in his heart but him saying that “I won’t pick you up if you jump” then comparing the price of him to the whale was a very interesting comparison. Stubb saying what he does shows his true colors as he is money driven to hunt the whales. He is alluding to selling Pip into slavery as he mentioned Alabama which was a slave state at the time of Melville writing this book. “We can’t afford to lose whales by the likes of you,” shows that Stubb values the money a whale could get him even if his shipmates that he loves lives or dies.

Stubb’s philosphy is to always continue the hunt no matter what which shows how hyperfixated he is on this persuit of hunting down and killing these whales for the profit he can gain. Pip wouldn’t have survived if Stubb did not stop his persuit of the whale and pull him back aboard the boat saving his life.

Teeth

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While Chapter 74 was based off the sperm whale’s head, the part that stood out to me the most was the ending of this chapter, when Ishmael talks about the teeth of the whale. Ishmael states “There are generally forty-two teeth in all; in old whales, much worn down, but undecayed…”(363) Pointing out that naturally the whales teeth wear down just like humans but yet they are still strong enough to not decay. In humans, decay on a tooth can be fixed with a filling which Ishmael critiques “nor filled after our artificial fashion.”(363) Ishmael uses tooth fillings as a critique of humans dependency for artificial attachment. By saying “our artificial fashion” Ishmael makes the reader aware that he is talking about humans and acknowledging the reoccurring obsession that humans have in terms of our form of fixations.

Finishing off his thought, he brings up the contrast of the use of the whales jaw that is cut into slabs “and piled away like joists for building houses.” Strong material is needed to build houses or else they would collapse. Ishmael points out this contrast, stating that even in the whales most natural and unaltered form it is still much stronger than humans with the help of artificial alterations.

Even though this was book was written so long ago, this is relevant today especially with the alterations humans make currently from surface body level such as injections/ supplements to create the desired body, leading up the use of AI. Ishmael critiques the way humans can be stripped away from their natural beings and indulge into the artificial obsession, all while still being at a disadvantage to the natural world.