“Part 2” of our reading is interspersed with some of the densest chapters or detours in the book. There are various moments where the author interrupts the plot to give us detours into the narrator’s musings about the story and what he believes is necessary background information to the reader. Ishmael (or Melville as Ish) employs large scale and “small” scale rhetorical tools through these chapters. In chapter 32 “Cetology”, Ishmael uses a rhetorical style called “Division-classification” in which he organizes and categorizes different kinds of whales so that the reader will appreciate how unique and grand the sperm whale is in comparison to other types of whales.  This tool also provides background information that helps us see the purposes of hunting different whales in this time period. You might also apply the rhetorical tool of “definition” as Ishmael defines what a whale is in general before getting into specifics. (Yeah, I know this was hardly the most thrilling chapter.) Chapters 37-39 use the rhetorical style of a script or play and does this as a means to more dramatically capture the visceral reactions to the captain’s obsession with killing the white whale. Chapter 45 “The Affidavit” uses the rhetorical skill of “argumentation” to further a point about how plausible (or believable) it is that big bad whales exist out there, that they are recognizable, and that one could actually hope to stumble across the same whale more than once in the ocean. He addresses objections of someone who hasn’t been much on the sea and compares them with real stories he’s heard at sea. There are several other “large scale” rhetorical tools used through the reading that we will analyze more fully when we get to class.

The small-scale rhetorical tools that I recognized through the reading of chapters 28-51 were the frequent use of analogy. An analogy according to merriam-webster is a comparison (also correspondence) made between two unlikely things ‘based on resemblance to one particular aspect.’ Analogies are like “metaphors” in this respect, but often are more extensive than metaphors and can be used within making an argument. When Ishmael describes life on the mast head, he compares the person on lookout standing on the mast head with the relationship between soul and body. The person on watch is the soul, while the mast head is the body or frail encasement of the soul (Ch. 35, p. 160 Collins). The extended comparison highlights how precarious (or unstable) the situation is for someone who is on the look out for whales.  There are various other analogies used (feel free to explore these in your journal for part 2) including “The Mat Maker” in Chapter 47 where the act of making a mat is compared to the idea of predestination and free-will or Chapter 41’s description of Ahab as a disgraced king. Plenty more analogies abound! (Elsewhere he describes his own book as an unfinished building or first draft and describes the five stowaways as trip-hammers/mechanisms as well as describing Starbuck’s candle on an oar rescue attempt to a person’s despair in life.)   Consider what Ishmael’s goal is in using this analogy. What is he trying to say through them?

Lastly, I love recognizing an abundance of allusions within this section. I recognized a few literary allusions here. The narrator describes a whale as “Mephistophelian” a reference to a devil in the play “Doctor Faustus” by Christopher Marlowe who convinces Faustus to sell his soul to the devil for power and pleasure (Chapter 32 145).  He alludes to Lord Byron’s (an English romantic poet) character “Childe Harold” when Ishmael describes the moody, introspective sailors who like to take to whaling ships (Chapter 35, “The Mast-Head” p. 163).  (Apparently, Childe Harold is a prime example of this reality.)  He also makes a subtle reference to Macbeth by Shakespeare in saying “and can hardly suspect them for mere sounds, full of Leviathanism, but signifying nothing” (Chapter 33, p. 148) which is a riff off of Macbeth’s description of the futility of life as “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” He is describing how other people’s classifications/or inclusions of certain kinds of whales don’t really deserve to be part of his description or definition of different whales.  Biblical allusions abound including Lazarus, Solomon, Saul, Cain (consider God’s mark on Cain…). In your journal you could include what Ishmael (/Melville) is communicating through each specific allusion or reference to these characters.               

Lots of doom. Lots of description. Lots and lots of description. Many meditations on what life is like for a “savage” as compared to a “civilized Christian” as well as mediations on very “different kinds of “Christians” like Peleg (a Christian in word only) and Bildad (a Christian who lives like a Pharisee) (“His Mark” 90-93). Lots of run-on sentences; separated by semi-colons; and sometimes made up of lists; several lists like “beds, saucepans, knives and forks, shovels and tongs, napkins, nut-crackers, and what not”(98) or “grocers, costermongers, doctors, bakers and bankers”(98).

There is so much to take in from Melville’s Moby Dick that it feels like you are drinking from a firehose or, even better—a whale’s spout! A few specific observations I’ve made about the beginning of the book is that there are recurring allusions to Biblical stories or to other “well-known” events in the world. When Ishmael arrives at Spouter’s Inn, the setup of the bar is within the open jaw/mouth bones of a whale and the name of the barman is Jonah (“The Spouter Inn” 13). Another allusion seen is in New Bedford for the sermon that Ishmael hears. The preacher’s pulpit is within a boat, and the preacher recounts the story of Jonah and the need for all people to repent and for prophets to tell the ‘truth to the face of Falsehood’ no matter the cost (“The Sermon” 49). The Jonah story clearly ties into a story that is largely about hunting whales, but other Biblical allusions are made to also scratch our heads a bit about the themes of the book. 

Why is the narrator’s name “Ishmael”? Is he the result of sinful choice and someone who has no “proper” place in the family of God? What might be hidden about the character in that name? What about the name Ahab?  At this point in our reading, we are just about to get introduced to the captain, and we know that Ishmael has also made the connection between Captain Ahab and King Ahab of the Bible. Ishmael is reprimanded for making a connection between the two by the owners of the Pequod (“The Ship” 82).  Another allusion that isn’t Biblical is that of the name of the ship itself the “Pequod.” The narrator tells us that it is the name of an Indian tribe that was killed off (“The Ship” 72). My understanding is that Melville uses allusions to characters of the Bible (and to other historical events) to give us clues as to what his characters and what the story will be about.  In many of these stories there is a certain sense of doom or sin that is punished. What sin will be punished? What doom is going to come in the next few chapters?     

Ideas for your own reflection:

One of the ideas that you might explore in your own reflection over our first division of the reading is that of “impending doom” or “fate.” What else besides these allusions I’ve highlighted create a dark and fateful mood? What specific descriptions point to this feeling of “doom” and “dread”?  An idea not explored here, that you could also write about relates to Queequeg and the other shipmates: How is Melville trying to challenge presuppositions about Indians? How is Melville also ironically critiquing his own lived out Christianity or other Christians?  A few more ideas to write about:  You could outline the preacher’s sermon, and tell us what the main argument is of his sermon, and how he tries to persuade the audience through it (this includes his words AND his actions).  You could also outline Ishmael’s argument about why whaling is a worthwhile business! What are his main arguments and what’s his evidence to back up each argument (“The Advocate” + “The Postscript”)?

            I am looking forward to seeing what you end up writing! Try to pace yourself. I gave you the goal of the end of this week to write 3-4 well-pondered paragraphs on YOUR reflections and annotations on the language and ideas of the book.

Moby Dick was written by Herman Melville in the Romantic period of American literature. Some of the elements of Romanticism that we see within his work involve the heavy use of symbolism, preoccupation with nature, and the celebration of emotion over/against reason. In this book, the author is preoccupied with questions related to God and the truth! The backdrop of some of these questions come from a time of uncertainty, when discoveries and theories in geology and biology began to challenge the largely accepted Christian worldview of the day. As we read this book, we can place ourselves in the author’s shoes as empathetic readers. What questions can we bring to our reading of Moby Dick? How do the questions of a Christian in the 21st century relate to Melville’s various questions in 1851? How does a Christian interact with the truth, and how can they relate that truth in times of uncertainty?

Here are some of the reasons I want us to read Moby Dick:

1. It’s a novel. There is an interesting story here despite the length.
2. It’s LOW on PLOT and HIGH on WORDS. This book will help us learn to pay attention to language. Melville’s descriptions, attentiveness to detail, and use of language is noteworthy (and that’s really what AP Lang is about: LANGUAGE)!
3. This book is difficult and from 150+ years ago. The reading we do this year will be difficult and some of it will be especially difficult as it is +150 years old. I hope we can learn resilience through reading a sometimes difficult and boring novel.
4. This book is not as difficult as what you will read this year. A lot of what we read will represent modern and contemporary authors, some of whom will be so easy to you after reading Moby Dick.
5. Melville’s book treads into the waters of non-fiction. Some have described Moby Dick as a fictionalized travel journal, and there are several chapters that deal with non-fiction topics, such as various used of whale-blubber and the functions/duties of a shipmate. Our AP Lang course will deal with non-fiction, and this reading will be a touchstone (something to come back to) as we go through the semester.
6. Your reading of this novel (and a strong reading of it) will pay dividends when it comes to taking AP Literature your senior year. Your knowledge of Moby Dick will aid you in writing essays and interpreting literature your senior year as well!

I appreciate that you are in this class and taking on a new challenge. Don’t hesitate to email me if you have any questions.

-Mr. Davis

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton