Journal #3 – Luca Nakata

The writing style in this book is quite weird at times. At one section, it became a play and then it just continued as a normal narrative as if nothing happened. I don’t quite understand the point of it but I’m fine with that. Another is when I found a dictionary type of definition in the middle of the story. It was the definition of “gam” (p.199). I searched it up and actually found a similar definition on google and the timeline of the usage of the word. It showed that it was used a lot during the 1800s, so I found that pretty cool.

            In chapter 54, we get a huge story about the Town-Ho and the people on it. It’s another great example about how Melville puts in these “random” stories or information for us to have a better understanding of the story. If you’ve ever watched Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, it’s kind of like that. When a new character showed up, the movie cut to a back story in order for us to know the character a little more. It was also a very exciting story to read, and Melville uses a lot of details to keep the reader engaged.             One thing I did find quite odd is the first whale they were able to hunt down and kill. I thought there would be maybe a bit more about it since it’s a pretty big deal for Ishmael since he’s never actually done this before. He does explain all the aspects of it pretty well and how it all works, like with the lines and the harpoons and positioning (p. 236-238), but I don’t know. I feel like it’s missing something. Maybe extend the chase a bit longer or Ishmael’s reactions and thoughts to the first whale killing he’s been a part of.