Journal #4

Yuna Lee

June 10-July 16 (Chapter 81-107)

It is the penultimate section of the book and Pequod is still in its voyage to catch the so-called Moby Dick. The main force behind this insane and dangerous quest is Ahab’s madness. In a certain moment of the voyage, when everything seems peaceful, Ishmael says, “I forgot all about our horrible oath; in that inexpressible sperm, I washed my hands and my heart of it.” (chapter 94, pg. 633) As we see in this quote, Ishmael can easily forget about the quest, whereas Ahab cannot. Ahab is totally out of mind to catch Moby dick that he even forgets how to enjoy nature itself or how to find pleasure in his normal life. This shows that Ahab maddened even more during the voyage because at the beginning of the book (section 1-2), simple things such as weather could change Ahab’s moods or feelings. However, as the book heads the end, Ahab is now just a monomaniac captain. His madness is emphasized again when he meets Samuel Enderby (who lost his arm to Moby dick). Samuel says, “There would be great glory in killing him, I know that; and there is a ship-load of precious sperm in him, but, hark ye, he’s best let alone” (chapter 100, pg. 669). Although the two went through a similar tragical event, they show completely different reactions. Unlike Ahab, Samuel knows how to let things go, acknowledging the glory but also the danger of the quest.

Secondly, there are several cycles of life or routine described in this section. The sailors have a certain routine, “the ghost is spouted up, and away we sail to fight some other world, and go through young life’s old routine again” (chapter 98, pg. 651). The sailors’ routine is sailing as they look for the whales, catching the whales, cleaning the ship and then repeating. Another cycle observed is between the whale and the men – the death and decay of sea creatures provide life for those aboard ship and on land. “… he must die and death and be murdered, in order to light the gay bridals and other merry-makings of men” (chapter 81, pg. 545). The whales’ death is what sustains the sailors’ lives and their family’s lives. Not only the death of the whales but what the whales can provide including oil, ambergris, etc. As the sailors butcher the whales to extract their needs they say that the whales are “sown in dishonor, but raised in glory.” (chapter 92, pg. 623) In my opinion, the fact that the death of a creature provides life to another creature seems like an irony.

Lastly, Melville compares the whales, especially Moby Dick, to God, which allows us to seek Melville’s opinion towards religion. When explaining the whales, the narrator says, “I am horror-struck at this ante mosaic, unsourced existence of the unspeakable terrors of the whale, which, having before all-time must needs exist after all human ages are over.” (chapter 104, pg. 692). The description of the whales sounds like describing God, who is omnipresent, ubiquitous and eternal. Considering that Melville uses the whales to represent God, I think that Melville views God as a distant figure. I believe that to Melville, God is someone who is difficult to approach and see. Also in chapter 99, when the characters interpret the doubloon, I think that it might be Melville showing how the men interpret God’s words. Just as the characters of the book, we all feel different things and understand His words differently, even though we are reading the same Bible.