I really enjoyed reading a brief intro of how the etymology and extracts became a part of the book through librarian research. In this perspective, rather than another notable figure or author, it gives the book a whole new meaning of what whaling was for the common people and the nation itself. Two separate quotes from the etymology and extracts that I found interesting was the intro to etymology and one of the extracted quotes. It is interesting to see how we as humans give importance to literary or figurative symbols in society. We inevitably interact with the symbols around us and maintain that with responsibility and care throughout time. The intro states that, “He loved to dust his old grammars; it somehow reminded him of his mortality.(Melville)” This quote illustrates how symbols have such an imprinted impact into our minds that we are reminded of our humanity, which I think the whole book argues is our greatest strength to acknowledge. To add to that, an extract quote states that, “…they saw many whales sporting in the ocean, and in the wantonness fuzzing up the water through their pipes and vents, which nature has placed on their shoulders.(Melville 43)” This emphasizes to the earlier statement so much more because, in our realization of how small we are, our humanity still plays a role in advancing and reflecting on the significance of whales as these intelligent yet dangerous beings that are marveled from terrestrial view. The quote’s word choice and usage is also an important aspect to look into, indirectly describing these whales as an essential mode in the seas. Our capitalization and use of these whales then in turn magnify the nation as an infrastructure that cleverly invests rather than fully dominate the whales or subject them to merely animals. When seeing the animals in this sort of light, the state has recognition for the responsibility to use the whale’s responsibility for good– whatever good meant or benefitted at that time. On the contrary, the last part of the sentence sounded as if it was social propaganda to spark the generative progression of revitalized working class people at that time. The vivid imagery of machinery being on the responsibility of the people to manage the nature around them paints the picture of human labor as “natural”. In that case, humanity is our strength, but can be manipulated for weakness and submission.