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?
Hi Sophia,
I really like how you connected Starbuck’s quote to the idea of moral consciousness in animals. His reaction to Ahab’s rage reminds us that nature doesn’t ever act out of malice and that Ahab’s obsession is what gives the whale a human kind of evil. Your example about dolphins is a great way to show how our ideas of “innocence” in nature can be complicated. I also agree with your point about vengeance because Ahab’s desire for revenge feels more dangerous than the whale itself. Starbuck’s words remind us that the real threat isn’t the “dumb brute,” but the human that needs to assign blame and control to what cannot be controlled.
Great point: ‘This calls into question the idea of revenge, and whether that is even something one should take.” This certainly could be one of the reigning questions of this novel: what is the role in purpose of revenge?