Reflection #5

Ana Luiza Bueno

Reflection #5

A lot of useless information is included serving no purpose. This thought was the exact one that crossed my mind more often than I would like to admit, but with more contemplation, I was convinced otherwise. I was a believer that every information presented in a book served a clear purpose, such as simple story-telling, foreshadowing, or clarification. I was missing a very important feature of literature, however. Symbolism, despite being very implicit in the text, plays a major role in the greatest sories. So it is with Moby-Dick. This literary device is one that, several times, especially after the author has passed, is regarded as mere speculation ignorantly mad ep by its readers. I do think a proper mindfulness should be expected when dealing with this subject, but it gives the story more depth and I beive it to be an important aspect of literature. I only came to recall the existence of symbols, unfortunately, when speaking of Queequeg’s near-death experience. “Why would this situation be icluded if it served absolutely no purpose but take up space?” thought I, ignorantly. Although it was, in fact, a good “scare” to be included in the novel, there was much more depth to it. This story, found the for the first time in chapter 110, was a big and profound symbol. The coffin, at first, represented nothing more than death; it was obvious that a beloved character was to pass right in the coffin. subsequently, the coffin became a stronger symbolism for life! not only did Queequeg not take his last breath in that coffin, but it also was the only way Ishmael was able to survive the Pequod’s shipwreck found in the epilogue! I have kept an open eye for future symbols and I have already figure some out, but the coffin was the one that personally most stood out. It is a new aspect of the novel that makes it more enjoyable by adding more brainstorming into the experience.

Taking advantage of the fact that this is the last section, I would like to present a question I had and constantly thought about when reading; In what point of view is the novel written? When reading the first sentence of the book, the first thing that crossed my mind was, the book is written in first person! This thought became more uncertain the more I read. As referred to previously, there are certain parts that are written in play style, as a script. This, however, culd be easily explained by claiming it is still Ishmael speaking, but citing dialogue as accurately as possible. Nonetheless, the chapters I simply cannot wrap my mind around are those in which Ishmael is not in. One illustration of this is found in chapter 123, the Musket, in which Starbuck is alone in Ahab’s cabin while he sleeps. One could say that Ishmael is secretly watching the situation. This could be true, but is easily refutable considering the fact that Starbuck’s thoughts are explicitly included in that chapter. This is a constant pattern throughout the book. Honestly, I would say that this confuses me and makes the novel inconsistent, although some would say that it adds to the experience. Another point I would like to refer to is the sometimes imperceptible difference between Ishmael and Melville. Some chapters that clarify terms have no allusion to the story and could easily be the author writing, as himself, and not as a character in the story. This makes the difference between character and author indistinguishable at times. I do not mind that there are some things I will simply not know, but it is interesting to wonder.

Finally, I feel like the unexpected turn of events should be alluded to in this final paragraph. First and foremost, I would like to mention once more Queequeg’s near-death incident. I sincerely expected nothing more than his death by the end of the chapter, but it simply did not happen! Not only that, but it didn’t happen because he solely decided not die because he didn’t fee l like it. Additionally, I would not have expected Ahab to be murdered by Starbuck. However, Melville made me believe that it was going to happen, even making me anticipate the murder! Lo and behold, nothing happened and Ahab only passed on the last couple pages. Starbuck walked out of the room and Starbuck was not the one to cause Captain Ahab’s death. The book is so long that surprising events have almost no other choice but to turn up eventually. Many more situations like this have been found throughout the book. They are undoubtedly one of my favorite aspects of both books and movies, being one of the many things I look forward to when beginning a new story.