erinc09’s Blog

I never thought the day would come where we would finally encounter Moby Dick, but today was the day. After over a hundred chapters we have finally come to the end, and Melville really saved all the action for the last few chapters. When I finally saw the words “..there she blows! A hump like a snow-hill! It is Moby Dick!” (408) I could not believe it. After that scene everything pretty much went down hill. Moby Dick was just as ferocious as I had expected, and he charged at the Pequod with full force. It was not a huge surprise to me that everyone died but Ishmael since we had been informed of this in an article we read earlier this year, however, it was still suspenseful to read. After waiting so long for this scene I couldn’t help but read it without putting it down for a minute. In the epilogue we read an excerpt from Ishmael explaining how he is the only survivor. He seeked refuge in the coffin life-buoy and was rescued by the Rachel. I liked the very last line of the book when he said, “It was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan.” (427). At this point Ishmael was so helpless that his reference to being an orphan fit perfectly. He always seemed a little lost anyways, so the name fit especially well.

One of my favorite lines from this book came in chapter 134. On page 415 Melville wrote, “Even so, all the individualities of the crew, this man’s valor, that man’s fear; guilt and guiltlessness, all varieites were welded into oneness, and were all directed to that fatal goal which Ahab their one lord and keel did point to.” The crew of the Pequod had been living together for years at this point, and the fact that they were all sharing the same bad fate that Ahab was putting upon them made them even more unified. They were all going through the same ordeals but contributing their own little gestures. I really think this line summed up who they all were.

I felt that in these chapters there were so many signs of the tragedy that is to come at the end of the book. One of the first major ones I noticed was a quote by the Carpenter. After he was told to convert Queequeg’s coffin into a life-buoy he was commenting on the job and he said, “..there’ll be thirty lively fellows all fighting for one coffin.” (395). The fact that a coffin is now a life-buoy makes it seem like an even bigger sign, because it symbolizes the death that we know will happen to almost every crew member. Another major sign was at the very end of chapter 130. Ahab decides that he wants to be the one who is on the lookout for Moby Dick because he is not sure he trusts his crew. While up on the lookout a bird swoops down and takes Ahab’s hat. Melville goes on to write that just moments later they could see the hat falling from the sky into the sea. Ahab’s captain hat is a symbol of his authority, and the fact that the bird dropped it into the sea just shows that bad things are going to happen in the future. The crew of the Pequod, and Ahab, all seem to be very superstitious and I think I mentioned that in a previous blog. After all of these signs/symbols I’m sure the crew is very on edge and noticing all of the frightening signs. It is probably the reason why they were described as acting like machines, because at this point they know that their fate is in the hands of a crazed Captain, and the White Whale seems to be getting very close.

In the beginning of this section Queequeg seemed as if he was going to die, and I couldn’t have been more disappointed with Melville. He had played it off in the beginning that Queequeg was going to be such a prominent character, but once he and Ishmael were on the Pequod Melville did not include him in the story as much. Then suddenly he’s back in the story but we believe he’s going to die; it seemed so inconsistent to me. Luckily though he regained his strength like I knew he could and came back better than ever. Although it was a little unrealistic I was still relieved that he did not die. I actually liked it though that Queequeg requested that he be placed in a canoe and sent out to sea instead of being buried. It seemed like something that was very much like his culture and reflected who he was as a person.

On page 377 Captain Ahab exclaims, “I am immortal then, on land and on sea, Immortal on land and on sea!” However, right after he says that the crew brought the dead whale to the ship. I couldn’t help but think that there was some correlation between when he said he was immortal and then when the dead whale was brought to him. It seems to give us a hint that he will in fact NOT be immortal, and that he will actually have to succumb to death.

Because this book was written about 150 years ago, some of the statements made by Melville seem so dated. Compared to our world today they were so behind on views that we now have. For example, when Pip was FINALLY introduced he was describing him and said, “..for even blackness has its brilliancy” (319). It is interesting to read this point of view because today we already know for sure that both blacks and whites have the potential to be brilliant and bright. In fact, every race does. The way Melville stated this point made it seem so surprising that African Americans have the ability to do smart things. Sometimes I forget how different our views on race used to be until I read something like this.

Although there are dated statements, Melville also gives out ideas that are still present in our world today. He describes man as being “a money-making animal” (321), and I very much believe that this statement still holds true. Though it may not be good, humans all over the world, and especially in the United States, are so obsessed with being wealthy. They will literally do anything to succeed, even going on ridiculous reality shows and embarrassing themselves just for a little fame and cash. Some things really never change, and this character trait for humans is clearly one of those things.

In the beginning of chapter 73 Melville writes about Stubb and Flask killing a right whale, which once again seems like such a waste to me. With a sperm whale they actually make some use out of it by getting the oil, but the hunt for the right whale seemed purely based on superstitions. The Captain basically told them to kill it so that they could hang it on the other side of the ship because it is said that it will keep the boat from capsizing. Maybe it’s from taking marine bio last year, but I can’t help but get angry at this book when Melville will go on and on about how they kill the whales. Especially when the murder of the whale is based on something ridiculous like a superstition.

While on the boat Stubb and Flask also discuss Fedallah and compare him to the devil. Stubb goes on to say that if he had the chance he would knock Fedallah over the side of the boat or do something to put him in his place. They don’t seem very fond of him, but I thought it was a little funny how much Stubb was boasting about what he would do to him. Clearly if Fedallah was the devil (who can live through anything) Stubb wouldn’t be as brave as he says he would be.

Finally after chapters of just describing the anatomy of the sperm/right whales a little plot went on. It was a pretty big relief to come across chapter 78 and actually see some action. Tashtego falls in the water while getting oil from the whale’s head. I really enjoyed when Queequeg jumped into the water after him and was actually able to save him. He seems to come in handy a lot and I like how he acts like it is no big deal that he can do these things. No one else was willing to jump in the water after Tashtego but Queequeg didn’t even think twice about it.

I would have to say that this set of chapters was pretty difficult to read and stay focused. Once again I pretty much assumed that Moby Dick would not be introduced yet, but Melville didn’t really attempt to entertain in these chapters. They were mostly about how people eat the whale and the process of beheading it or skinning it. You can probably tell why these topics would not interest me or make me enjoy the book anymore, but they seemed like pretty typical Melville chapters.

When Stubb caught the whale Captain Ahab did not even appear to be very happy about it. You would think that the captain of a whaling ship would be ecstatic every time they caught a whale, becasue that meant more success and money for them. However he seemed disappointed, which leads me to believe that he doesn’t even care anymore about money or catching whales. His only focus is Moby Dick, but does that mean that Stubb killed the whale for nothing? Did that whale really need to go through all of that suffering? It doesn’t even seem like he is appreciating it so it seems so pointless now.

The only valuable part of the whale seems to be the oil that they get, but otherwise the rest of the whale isn’t really needed. However, they try to make use of its resources so they cut the whale up for food. Although it was difficult to read about the process of cutting up the whale I guess it is good that if they are going to kill an animal they should at least take advantage of what it is providing instead of putting it all to waste. If they only got the oil and then threw the whale back in the ocean that would make its death seem even sadder.