Moby Dick reflection #2

Ana Luiza Bueno

Moby Dick Journal 2

Melville’s style of writing is extraordinarily complex, making the careful and detailed use of intricate words and phrases with the intention of describing simple situations in the most refined manner. One example is found on page 248, which is entirely reserved to define one word; gam. Melville spends 90% of the page simply stating what thoughts come to mind when he thinks of the word, and only the last four lines are set aside to define it! This can also be found in several other instances in which, found in page 204, the uncomplicated statement that captain Ahab had been going over charts and maps on his free-time had been expanded to a whole chapter. Personally, I would consider this characteristic one that most heavily constitutes Melville’s unique writing style. This is what formulates the challenging aspects of this read but, most importantly, establishes its uniqueness.

In addition to his intricate vocabulary, the use of varying subgenres and writing styles are found along Moby Dick. Incorporated in the novel are narratives, poems, plays, and informative writing. Moby Dick is, above all, a romance, which is what it is known for. The novel is about a passionate and purposeful man who goes on a journey in search of a whale but ends up getting caught in a vengeful chase. Apart from that, Herman Melville writes chapters and chapters focused on solely describing whales and the seas, which proves to be exhausting yet fascinating. Furthermore, several poems, chants, and ballads are uncovered throughout, and demonstrates another talent expressed by Melville. One found in page 175 contains a poem sung by the men aboard the ship during their first night-watch. An unexpected change was found in chapter 40, where the author decided to write a play-like chapter! The chapter was structured with the names of each character and their speech below it. His writing in general gives Melville the freedom to explore several types of writing style while still fitting in the mold of romance, which is remarkable.

Associations, besides serving as practical bridges between the author and the reader in a relatable manner, also provides explanations Melville uses to justify Ishmael’s reflections. I felt this very strongly on page 194. Here, Melville attempts to convince the reader of sharing the same bizarre thought as Ishmael, of regarding the color white as very scary and intimidating. In fact, he claimed that the scariest part of the sperm whale was its whiteness! The author was persistent and set apart one of the longest chapters of the book to build a firm wall of reasoning and facts to support his claim. He presented several examples of thins or people who wore white and what white represents in a few occasions. Using that to support his claim, I believe he convinced several readers that white represents, and thus should really be, something to fear. This is the power that literature has on people and it is truly astounding!

Another literary device adopted throughout the novel is foreshadow. The first section of the book consisted of one branch of foreshadowing, namely, “prophecy”, while the most prominent types of foreshadow used in this second section is Chekov’s gun or flashback. Chekov’s gun, which is a direct form of indication of a future event, is seen in a few parts of the section. It was stated that every ship that encountered a whale lost a least one of its members and I can’t help but relate that to Ishmael’s own voyage (page 212). No detail in a book is included for no reason. In addition, Ishmael recounts a flashback of a time when he a story was told to him about another voyage in which the crew declared mutiny. I believe that there might be some sort of quarrel between the ship mates and Captain Ahab. Apart from these, there are still several other instances in which the author makes the use of foreshadowing. It is a useful way of making the reader think ahead, which captivates them even more.