Ana Luiza Bueno

July 24	27 pages
July 25	27 pages
July 26	27 pages
July 27	27 pages

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.

Ana Luiza Bueno

July 19	24 pages
July 20	24 pages
July 21	24 pages
July 22	24 pages
July 23	24 pages

                                                                     Reflection #4

Moby Dick is reputedly a humorless book; Ishmael’s heavy remarks and generally monotonous tone is a familiar aspect of the novel that builds its essence. Not much humor is found throughout the book, with exception of a few comical features which, due to the complexity of the writing, are hard to be understood by the general public. Several dialogues, which as previously noted in another section, are set apart from the usual vocabulary used by Ishmael. Within these dialogues, lies an abundance of effortless jokes presented by the smart and witty crew. The character who stood out the most in the use of humor in speech is none other than Stubb. Chapter 81 presents an abundance of comical remarks, namely brought forward by Stubb. When referring to the whale’s stomach pain, he cries, “Lord, think of having half an acre of stomach ache!” In being realistic, the humorous aspect of it is still clear! Similarly, found in page 363, during an intense competition between two other ships, one of them being German, Stubb exclaims, “Its against my religion to get mad; but I’d like to eat the villainous Yarman”. “Yarman” means “German”, which gives the statement its comical aspect. Many other jokes are seen coming from other members of the crew, but it is certainly more difficult to find one coming directly from Ishmael. As a matter of fact, directly following these intense and somewhat funny moments, come Ishmael’s informational texts, loaded with facts. This provides the book with a big contrast, which is also another feature of Melville’s writing. I would personally enjoy more humor, but I do prefer quality over quantity, so I still am able to appreciate the book and its characteristics.

Another majorly effective approach to keeping readers engaged and immersed in the story is by getting them to think. What better way is there to make people think than making several rhetorical questions like this one? One may realize that Melville’s use of rhetorical questions can occupy up to half a page! These questions come up consecutively, one after the other. Inquiries are a way of allowing the reader to make their own decisions and think for themselves in a way that they may agree with the author. Additionally, it is a way of following Melville’s train of thought which was used to reach his conclusions. This is seen particularly in chapters loaded with information, not those focused on the voyage. In fact, chapter 89, regarding Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish contains an entire page replete with questions! One example is “What are the Rights of Man and Liberties of the World but Loose-Fish?” Although the ordinary inexperienced reader would not be able to answer this, curiosity would cause them to immediately think ahead and proceed the read. It certainly improves the read and optimizes the “interest rate” of the one reading.

Further, a somewhat distinctive trait found within the book is the unusual length of his sentences. Although most sentences are of normal length, and others are remarkably short, as in “Call me Ishmael”, awfully long sentences are particularly common. The audacious use of commas and semicolons make for an excessively big sentence. I would like to express my greatest amazement regarding the magnitude of some of these stated above. In doing so, I will present and quote an entire sentence (pg. 464) that, I doubt not, could take up most of my paragraph; “According to a careful calculation I have made, and which I partly base upon Captain Scoresby’s estimate, of seventy tons for the largest sized Greenland whale of sixty feet in length; according to my careful calculation, I say, a sperm-whale of the largest magnitude, between eighty-five and ninety feet in length, and something less than forty feet in its fullest circumference, such a whale will weigh at least ninety tons; so that, reckoning thirteen men to a ton, he would considerably outweigh the combined population of a whole village of one thousand one hundred inhabitants.” Above that, even larger and more complex ones are located in the book. These are clearly compact with information that could serve importance to the story but that, due to its overwhelming amount of information between only two punctuations, can be ignored by any readers. Although I find it important to read every page, it is unquestionably a tiring feat.

Ana Luiza Bueno

July 14	18 pages
July 15	18 pages
July 16	18 pages
July 17	14 pages

Moby Dick Journal #3

A big emphasis is brought upon the importance of definitions. Not only was it noticed that approximately 30 pages were used to define unfamiliar words or terms at the end of the book, but entire chapters were dedicated to the clarification of whaling expressions. Page 296, as well as page 298 and many others were used to not only define, but to present an extensive collection of examples and stories behind each unfamiliar term used in the previous chapter. Whenever there isn’t an entire chapter dedicated to definitions, there are always footers that are used to provide a thorough explanation of terms like in page 301, where the words fluke and tail are clarified. I consider this extensive and detailed cautiousness Melville has for the better understanding of the reader an admirable trait. Although the glossary placed at the end was potentially not included in the original copy, the chapters and foot-notes were placed by the author and make the novel an even better experience.

Another notable attribute is Melville’s way of manipulating dialogues as to characterize people’s background by presenting their drawl or accent. Some characters, as seen in page 321, “That lively cry upon this deadly calm might almost convert a better man” spoken by Captain Ahab, is considerably similar to Melville’s style of writing as narration in the novel. Nonetheless, in other instances, when there is a large difference in spoken pronunciation, it is made known to the reader by altering letters in words just enough to change its diction. An example of this is found in page 304, where a man of color, Cook, is shown to have a much inferior education and, in turn, a poor vocabulary. In using phrases such as “dat is natur” instead of “that is nature” and “neighbor’s mout” rather than “neighbor’s mouth” not only adds a depth of reality, but also provides us with a stronger connection to the story in itself. Giving a dialogue its accuracy is much like giving depth and texture to a painting. The more realistic a painting is, the better and more appreciable it is. The same applies to speech in a book; the feeling of being merged in can only be obtained when the reader can relate to what or how something is being said. This, I admit, is very effective, but I do wish that it could be used more often in Moby Dick.

In addition to these things, calmness followed by chaos is an aspect of Melville’s writing that is seen throughout the novel, mainly when getting closer to finding a whale. Ere the capture of the second whale, there was an “intense copper calm” and, one page later, “sail ho!” and they had their second encounter (page 320_. This was a constant theme found as I read. The same occurred when they caught sight of the sperm whale in a previous section. In page 221, a “dreaminess reigned all over the ship and all over the sea”. As before, in the same chapter, they found Moby Dick, which is, in essence, the heart of the novel. Now this “calmness” generates a subconscious alertness and curiosity to future critical circumstances in the novel. This pattern of calmness then climax is engraved in the readers’ minds and forms a type of anticipation that, although some sections might be somewhat dull, what is to come is worth reading.

Finally, the author’s consistency in portraying captains as insane is a noteworthy and interesting characteristic of his writing. As most readers must’ve thought following through the couple few descriptions of Ahab near the beginning of the book, he was somewhat mysterious and, in ways, reminded us of a lunatic. His backstory was a complete mystery and all we knew of him was his greatness, yet harshness. He isolated himself for an extremely long time and, seeing that he was not physically ill, it could’ve only been something going on inside his mind. In addition, his burning revenge was way beyond measure and probably led him to insanity. Similarly, the captain from the Jeroboam was definitely not ordinary. Page 324 characterizes him as a crazy man that suggested he was Angel Gabriel. All of the ship’s members were fearful of him and not unreasonably. This is a pattern I found in the book and consider it quite interesting, although I’m not sure if they were purposeful or not.

Ana Luiza Bueno

Moby Dick Journal 2

June 6	28 pages
June 7	28 pages
June 8	28 pages
June 9	28 pages
July 10	28 pages

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.

Ana Luiza Bueno

June 17	25 pages
June 18	25 pages
June 19	25 pages
June 20	25 pages
July 3	25 pages
July 4	2 paragraphs
July 5	2 paragraphs/ submit

Melville gives improbable and conflicting attributes to people and objects to show a break in stereotype. For one, a so-said “monster”, attributed as a horrifying cannibal and savage, was proven to be an exceptional man. The intimidating Queequeg, described in page 21, made Ishmael “so afraid of him” that he was not game enough just then to address him. Nonetheless, this purple monster was nothing less than a kind man who knew no better than to restrict himself to the boundaries of his culture.  “He really did this in not only a civil but a really kind and charitable way” pg. 23. Queequeg , despite sticking to traditions of his despised culture, cultivated decent and correct intentions, different from what others around would expect. In a like manner, the boat Ishmael chooses to adopt for the voyage does not possess the expected characteristics of one set apart for the sole purpose of whaling. Page 72 describes the ship as “old school, rather small if anything; with an old-fashioned  claw-footed look about her.” The Pequod was later found to be property of one of the best acclaimed and successful sailors around. It is to suppose, as Melville hints throughout the book, that his pattern of breaks in stereotype will continue to be found in the novel in a form of, what I consider, a critique.

The theme of whales and seamen is found in a wide range, if not most, of the descriptions regarding Ishmael’s surrounding. Even the sermon cited on page 43 could not help but focus on the subject of whales! Melville decided to include in the novel the only story concerning whales found in the Scriptures, and I refuse to believe it to be coincidence. I assume he does so to remind the reader of where the story is heading as a whole. With an abundance of descriptions, it is difficult to focus on the main point of the book. Melville even dared include on page 69 that the milk tasted of fish! As a very smart and skillful author, Melville makes sure as to not deviate the reader’s attention away, while still maintaining his label of profound and abundant descriptions. Every time sceneries and people are described, the author does so by linking the traits to the sea. I believe this will be a common pattern found throughout the book.

The use of philosophical thoughts, however minor, might be used further on as a minor theme or something to be looked for throughout the journey. I was amazed by the first section of the book and its profound thoughts and philosophies. Melville’s distinguished comprehension of the world cannot go unnoticed. One of the wonders of “Moby Dick” is the profoundness of the story. It is not merely the story or Melville’s wondrous writing, but also the questions and thoughts it puts out. For this matter, I and many others consider this book a masterpiece. Page 77 states, “For all men tragically great are made so through a certain morbidness”. Pages 63 and 64 are used to present the great loyalty Queequeg expresses to his idol and religion as a whole. Melville concludes the chapter by quoting Queequeg, “We cannibals must help these Christians”. Through Ishmael, the author expresses in page 56, “(…) yet see how elastic our stiff prejudices grow when once love comes to bend them.” It is not of my use to explain these claims, but to present and acknowledge them. I hope these “themes” may become clearer the further I get in the book.

Melville’s expressive language accomplishes his ends, which are namely to engrave the scenery and thoughts expressed by Ishmael into the reader’s mind, so as to build a greater sympathy and understanding toward the characters. Page 72 provides a thorough description of the Pequod, as “old school, rather small if anything; with an old-fashioned  claw-footed look about her(…) her masts stood stiffly up like the spines of the three old kings of Cologne. Her ancient decks were worn and wrinkled, (…) but to all these her old antiquities, were added knew and marvelous features ” Comparisons Melville makes, helps discern and understand exactly what each description means. His characterization of people are just as well thought out. Chapter 25 focuses on describing the men in charge of the ship and the author uses broad and detailed depictions of people in order to fixate their shapes and characteristics in the reader’s minds. Small particulars such as “suspended from his ears were two golden hoops” were described. These small details make the novel so much more enjoyable and understandable for readers, through relatable comparisons and vivid descriptions.