Yuna Lee

June 17-July 26 (Chapter 108-Epilogue)

            The last section of the book was definitely more dramatic than any other sections. In my opinion, it was the most interesting section to read and was full with emotions. Also, the story matches with all the foreshadowing and background information that Melville provided to his readers in the previous chapters. For instance, Ahab says, “There is one God that is Lord over the earth, and one Captain that is lord over the Pequod – on deck!” (chapter 109, pg. 716). In this phrase, Ahab is setting himself in opposition to God, abusing or overexpressing his authority as the captain. Such arrogance leads him up to a tragic ending, which was expected by Father Mapple. His sermon was about the story of Jonah and he said that obeying God might be extremely difficult because in some cases, to obey God, you will have to disobey yourself. As the previous chapters hinted us, Ahab decides to follow his ideas and instincts instead of following God’s plans.

            I now realize that the soliloquies of Starbuck and Stubb, which revealed their characteristics, fit into this last section perfectly. Starbuck is a religious man who is conscious of his responsibilities and he is against Ahab’s quest. Such personality is shown again when Pequod meets a Typhoon, “Avast, Stubb, cried Starbuck. Let the Typhoon sing…” (chapter 119, pg. 755). It seems like Starbuck is stressed to deal with a moment of crisis. On the other hand, Stubb is a character who believes that everything happens by its fate. Stubb once said, “I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I’ll go to it laughing.” (chapter 19, pg. 268) Therefore, Stubb is always jolly, even in the crisis, “but as for me, all the start I have to meet it, is just across the deck here. But never mind; it’s all in fun: so the old song says” (chapter 119, pg. 754). The clear contrast between the two bring more emotions and enthusiasm to the book. In this section, Starbuck stands out against Ahab frequently to stop Ahab from his dangerous quest. Starbuck believes that catching Moby dick is against God, “Great God! But for one single instant show thyself, cried Starbuck; never, never wilt thou capture him, old man – In Jesus’ name no more of this, that’s worse than devil’s madness” (chapter 134, pg. 840). He even attempts to murder Ahab. However, he fails to convince Ahab and the ship, which carries about thirty men, gets completely destroyed by the whale. Even in the moment of death Stubb is tranquil and jolly – “Cherries! Cherries! Cherries! Oh, Flask, for one red cherry ere we die!” (chapter 135, pg. 856). I think that the contrast between these two may represent different beliefs or philosophies as well.

            The ending of the book was slight different than what I expected. I imagined Ahab’s death but not the entire ship’s destruction. This strikes me because it seems like an individual’s madness, desire, greed or disobedience to God can kill everyone around. Ahab did not only kill all his shipmates except Ishmael but killed himself as well, “…but the flying turn caught him round the neck, and voicelessly as Turkish mutes bowstring their victim, he was shot out of the boat, ere the crew knew he was gone” (chapter 135, pg. 857). I believe that Melville is trying to teach a lesson through this ending. Overall, I wouldn’t say that the book is entertaining to read but it is surely full of linguistic techniques that builds up the whole story. I felt like I was a part of the voyage when I was reading and was fascinated by how Melville included various themes (religion, philosophy, nature, men, etc.) in such deepness.

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.

Yuna Lee

June 3-July 9 (Chapter 52-80)

Before reading this section, I thought that the whole story’s focus would be on catching the Moby Dick. However, in certain parts of the book, I realized that there are other aspects that Melville wants his readers to realize. One of them is the interaction between nature and men. It is noticeable when saying, “Swim away from me, do ye? murmured Ahab… the tone conveyed more of deep helpless sadness” (chapter 52, pg. 368). This quote shows Ahab’s reaction when he sees the fishes swimming away from him. Although it might mean nothing in nature, Ahab interprets it in his way – it hurts him and he takes it as a bad omen. It is also shown that Ishmael prioritizes the interaction between men and nature than nature itself. When Ishmael was describing how ridiculous the ancient drawings of the whales are, he says that the ‘best’ is the one that has “…one picture of whaling scenes” (chapter 56, pg. 412). He says, although “serious fault might be found with the anatomical details of this whale, but let that pass; since, for the life of me, I could not draw so good a one.” (chapter 56, pg. 413). Based on this quote, Ishmael believes that the vivid and active interaction between the whales and the men is more valuable than scientific accuracy itself.

Secondly, Melville uses irony to mock and to add some sense of humor to the book. When the pirates say, “… they are infernal villains on both sides, and don’t like to see overmuch of each other’s villainous likenesses.” (chapter 53, pg. 372), it’s funny that they do the same job but think that each other is cruel. Melville mentions that it is ironic how the English whalemen think they are superior when “the Yankees in one day, collectively, kill more whales than all the English, collectively, in ten years.” (chapter 53, pg. 371) Additionally, when he describes the early drawings of the whales, he says, “… and look now at a great Christian painter’s portrait of this fish; for he succeeds no better than the antediluvian Hindoo” (chapter 55, pg. 405). He mocks that both of them focus on what is visually pleasing than the actual anatomy of the whales. I think that by the word “great” Melville wants to show that it is ironic that even the “great” people can’t succeed.

Lastly, many symbols are implying some messages in the book. Both Ahab and the sperm whale, in general, are frequently referred to as pyramids. For instance, “these are hieroglyphical… pyramids hieroglyphics, then that is the proper word of use in the present connection” (chapter 68, pg. 470). When the narrator reads, “… to sketching the profile of a pyramid”, he refers to the whales as a mysterious grand puzzle to solve. Another possible interpretation of the symbolization of pyramids is that it is used as a reference to the discourses of slavery. The top part of the pyramid can represent the small percentage of people who are in control or who have the power. The rest of the pyramid, which is the majority, represent the sailors who follow the captain or the slaves. It is easy to think that the most important part is the top part, in other words, Captain Ahab. However, when the sailors leave Ahab, the pyramid will fall to pieces. The base is needed to sustain the top part of the pyramid. This is noticeable when the sailors desert the ship. The narrator says, “… the captain was forced to enlist some of the more civilized Tahitians, who had been somewhat used to the sea.” (chapter 54, pg. 414) For a pyramid to be well-established, it is not only the ‘top’ that matters.

Yuna Lee

June 28-July 2 (Chapter 28-51)

I could observe that the story resembles a style of a play in several chapters of this section. There are various stage directions such as “(Enter Ahab: then, all)” (chapter 36, pg. 253), “(Waving his hand, he moves from the window)” (chapter 37, pg. 265). Another feature of a play shown in the book is soliloquy. Chapters 37, 38 and 39 are soliloquies from Ahab, Starbuck, and Stubb respectively. It is also noticeable that Ishmael slowly loses his voice and perspective as a narrator. Especially in section 2, it seems like it is Melville himself telling the story because the book provides information or opinions that Ishmael might not be aware of, such as soliloquies of the other characters and some profound knowledge related to whaling. Despite all these alterations in the style of writing, Melville still uses figurative language. One of them is simile – “They dined like lords; they filled their bellies like Indian ships all day loading with spices” (chapter 34, pg. 240). When providing background information about the whales, he uses division-classification as the narrator says, “I divided the whales into three primary books, sub divisible into chapters…” (chapter 32, 217). To express Ahab’s personality, Melville uses hyperbole, “I’d strike the sun if it insulted me” (chapter 36, pg. 259). In this phrase, he successfully conveys the idea of what kind of man Ahab is.

Among all the literary techniques used in this section, allusion and analogy are definitely the most powerful tools used by Melville. An example of an allusion is, “This was strangely heightened at times by the ragged Elijah’s diabolical incoherence uninvitedly recurring to me, with a subtle energy I could not have before conceived of.” (chapter 28, pg. 196) In the Bible, Ahab is pictured as an evil King who was countered by the prophet Elijah. In the book, a character named Elijah, the same as the prophet, gives prophecies that make Ishmael feel suspicious about Ahab. This biblical allusion can foreshadow the conflicts between the captain and other sailors. Melville also alludes to the “Iron Crown of Lombardy” saying, “Is, then, the crown too heavy that I wear?” (chapter 37, pg. 264) He alludes to Shakespeare saying, “and can hardly suspect them for mere sounds, full of Leviathanism, but signifying nothing” (chapter 33, pg. 238) This phrase is a reference to a play called ‘Macbeth ‘– “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”. I think that he used allusions to stimulate ideas and to connect the story to other information that might be more familiar to us. Besides allusions, he uses analogies saying, “… great glory to be slapped by a queen” (chapter 31, pg. 211) He compares being kicked by Ahab and being slapped by a queen as both honorable things. Another analogy is when Ahab says, “… then mine own electric thing, that had perhaps expired from out me.” (chapter 36, pg. 262) Both electricity and Ahab’s anger are powerful. They also pass along easily; just as Ahab’s desire for revenge against Moby Dick spread out to everyone in Pequod.

Lastly, the main topic of section 2 is interesting for me. The fact that people interpret nature and God differently based on their own perspective strikes me. Also, I think that Melville shows the different types of interpretations effectively by writing them in the form of a dialogue. Starbuck says, “Vengeance on a dumb brute! cried Starbuck, that simply smote thee from blindest instinct! Madness! To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab, seems blasphemous.” (chapter 36, pg. 258) I could realize that Starbuck believes that things just happen and that nature is just there. Therefore, Ahab losing his leg was a tragedy but there was nothing behind it. Moby Dick did not attack Ahab out of malice so to Starbuck, attempting a revenge sounds ‘dumb’ and ‘mad’. On the other side, Ahab says, “But in each event – in the living act, the undoubted deed – there, some unknown but still reasoning things puts forth the moldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask.” (chapter 36, pg. 258-259) Ahab believes that nature is a representation of something and that his desire for revenge is reasonable – he even dreams about it. By expressing two different opinions as a dialogue helped me to understand both sides.

Yuna Lee

June 19-27 (Chapter 1-27)

In chapters 1-27, the narrator, Ishmael, strongly believes that all decisions are made by our fate. This is noticeable when he suggests that the “invisible police officer of the Fates” (‘Loomings”, pg. 27) is the reason why he became a sailor. To emphasize the dark and fateful mood of the book, Melville uses various foreshadowing. For instance, when Ishmael decides to stay in an inn, the name of the inn hints his future. “… faintly representing a tall straight jet of misty spray, and these words underneath – ‘The Spouter Inn’: – Peter Coffin” (‘The Carpet-beg’, pg. 32). The fact that ‘coffin’ is a box in which corpses are buried indicates a tragic future awaiting Ishmael. Besides foreshadowing, Melville uses allusion to the Bible to build a fateful mood. Father Mapple says during his sermon, “Shipmates, I do not place Jonah before you to be copied for his sin but I do place him before you as a model for repentance. Sin not; but if you do, take heed to repent of it like Jonah” (‘The Sermon’, pg. 87). The story of Jonah emphasizes the importance of true repentance and sets Jonah as a model for the characters to follow along with the story. Also, there are several biblical names in the book, such as Ahab, which indicate a connection to religious fate.

Through the language, Melville slowly develops the character and Christianity of Ishmael. Relatively at the beginning of the book, Ishmael is portrayed as someone with strong prejudices. For example, “Oh no, said he, looking a sort of diabolically funny, ‘the harpooner is a dark-complexioned chap” (‘The Spouter-inn’ pg. 39). Just because Queequeg is described as ‘dark-complexioned’, Ishmael gets suspicious and doubts on Queequeg’s suitability as a person to share a bed. However, Ishmael shows changes in his behavior and thoughts, “thought I to myself – the man’s a human being just as I am: he has just as much reason to fear me” (‘The Spouter-inn’, pg. 54). This phrase suggests that Ishmael is viewing Queequeg as an equal human being and later the two become companions. In this process, Ishmael falls to idolatry and tries to justify his actions, “Consequently, I must then unite with him in his; ergo, I must turn idolater” (‘A Bosom Friend’, pg. 96). This shows that his Christian life is very limited – when in contact with other people, he easily loses his principles as a Christian. His companion Queequeg also has a limited view of Christianity due to his background, “Struck by his desperate dauntlessness, and his wild desire to visit Chris – tendon” (‘Biographical’, pg. 101).

Lastly, I could observe many figurative languages, unique syntax, and diction used by the author. There are lots of similes such as “… like a snow hill in the air” (‘Loomings’, pg. 28), “lives like a Czar in an ice palace…” (‘The Carpet-beg’, pg. 31), etc. There is imagery, “the blackness of darkness … at last came to a dim sort of light” (‘The Carpet-beg’, pg. 31). The contrast in the atmosphere of two different settings is well represented through the contrast between the colors. Melville also uses personification, “the stubborn storm” (‘The Chapel’, pg. 69) and irony, “no suicides permitted here, and no smoking in the parlor” (‘The Ramadan’, pg. 142) – the ‘no suicide’ panel won’t actually prevent any suicides. A combination of long and short sentences is observed as well – it helped me to maintain the focus on the book – “Strange! Nothing will content them but the extremist limit of the land; loitering under the shady lee of yonder warehouses will not suffice. No. They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in” (‘Loomings’, pg. 22). Other figurative languages/literary devices used include onomatopoeia, “pooh, pooh!” (‘The Carpet-beg’, pg. 33) and asyndeton, “A boggy, soggy, squitchy picture truly…” (‘The Spouter-inn’, pg. 35). All of these figurative languages together enrich the quality of the text.