Moby Dick: Fin

Well we finally completed the American epic Moby-Dick.  Many questions were answered, but some still linger.  Particularly, in my case, what would have happened if Ahab lived?  Sure, there was the prophecy, he was not the most likeable character in the book, and if there is anyone on the ship who could be considered a villain and should die it needed to be him, but could he live after he did what he planned on doing?  Would he know what to do with his life?  Did he see no way out of this prophecy he felt compelled to fulfill? If he didn’t do it, he would die of shame, if he died doing it was a noble death and it was going to happen anyway.  His obsession with vanquishing the white whale never saw past actually killing him.  He never talks about what he plans to do afterwards, and it is drawn out later in the novel that he really did not have much to go home to.  Sure he had a wife and kid, but he hasn’t been on land for the majority of the last 40 years of his life.  Does he have any life goals or aspirations other than the cold-blooded murder of Moby-Dick?  He doesn’t care about money or people, or any other minor hobbies like scrapbooking.  The whale is his life, and without the whale, does he have a life?  Does he have any other purpose?  His revenge has consumed him, and he has found himself to be the monster he so diligently tries to extinguish.  Thoughts?

Post Four: Moby Dick

Ishmael as a character is starting to confuse me a bit.  In the first part of the story he is obviously in every chapter and does something in every chapter.  Now it seems he has morphed into a silent observer and lecturer about the inner workings of the whaling industry and whales in general.  He has become a character that reminds me of Zampano in the book House of Leaves.  Zampano is a character who has a deep, researched based (even though it isn't real, read the book to understand what I am talking about) way of looking at everything, and justifies his ideas with footnotes upon footnotes upon references, which it seems Ishmael is becoming.  But even though they have all this "research" to support their ideas, they are still as far as you know, embellishing and possibly lying.  I just found this an interesting way for the writers to convince you that this is all real and possibly happening.

Post Three: Moby Dick

One thing that because more and more apparent to me as the novel progressed was that Melville definitely read a bunch of Shakespeare before writing this novel. 

              In the chapter, “Sunset,” Ahab has a stirring soliloquy.  It first starts out with stage directions that establish the setting like in a play.  Then it is essentially a beautiful poem.  No one in the story so far speaks like this and there is no way that Ishmael could have heard this so this exit from reality is an interesting twist in the narrative.  But it also does a great job strengthening Ahab’s character.  Revealing in even greater detail his dedication and obsession to, “dismember my dismemberer.(143)”  If I was to ponder a reason for Melville doing this, it would be because it lifts Ahab onto a plateau beyond a normal character.  It simultaneously digs deeper into his character, but also allows him to speak and think on this much higher level of ability.

            It maybe not exactly a soliloquy, but the speech that Stubb gives after they hit the water to go after the first whale of the voyage made me think only of Shakespeare.  He takes no breaks in what he says, and neither does the writing shift its focus on anything else other than when he pulls his knife out and threatens to place it in their mouth like a horses bridle.  It is just him talking and inspiring the men on his boat.  And it is inspiring indeed.  The language he uses and the way he uses it brings the Bard of Avon to mind.  “Ragamuffin rapscallions,(182)” was a particular phrase that stuck out to me.  And the before mentioned threat of shoving a knife in the rowers mouth is very creative.  But his focus on the pulling and the biting throughout is fantastically raw and captivating while maintaining this beauty of how it is spoke, something that I always have attributed to Shakespeare.

Post Two: Moby Dick

For the record, I love this novel so far, and I understand why it is a classic of American literature.  Now that the praise is out of the way I can discuss some of the aspects that I find incredibly enjoyable.

            There is much experimentation in this novel.  From the real beginning of the novel, laying out all sorts of allusions and glimpses of stories that mention whales, broadening your understanding of the mythos of whales, simultaneously narrowing your focus on the danger and majesty of these epic creatures of the sea.  To the opening that everybody already knows, “Call me Ishmael,” the reason for doing this is as ambiguous as it is ambitious.

            Daring experimentation is apparent throughout the novel.  With chapter titles like, “Enter Ahab; to him, Stubb,” you could assume it was stage directions.   The chapters “Cetology” and “The Advocate” are there to expand the knowledge of the reader about the whales of the ocean and whaling in general, making both topics easily digestible and tangible.  While there are chapters that lay out characters and who they are in little tastes, there are chapters as well that are pure characterization, and these happen to be my favorite.  And the references to the Bible and Shakespeare are fantastic.  Speaking of the Bible, Ishmael becomes a beacon of understanding and acceptance early in the novel.  While he was afraid of Queequeg at first, his patience pays off and they look past their differences in ideology and race, and just get along.  This is the product of a mind who has gotten past the easy way of looking at the world by assuming and judging everyone around them instead of making an effort to get to know them.  And realizing that race and ideology are superficial ways to choose whom you want to be around.  All signs of a very forward thinker in his time.

            I’m excited and afraid of what happens in the rest of this book.  I sense a looming threat of tragedy, and I don’t want to see any of these human characters die (especially Queequeg).

Post One: Blithedale Romance

This novel really threw me for a loop.  First impressions were of a novel simple in nature, and straightforward in its storytelling.  No lies, no deception, no crazy existential scenes towards the end which make you question not just the authors perspective, but if anything he refers to happens at all.  On top of that, more and more interesting ideas and concepts are tackled and showcased.  With a lot of focus on contrasting ideas (Light/dark, feminism/misogyny, etc.) I found it difficult to narrow down what I would like to dissect on my own.  As time went by I found that the dynamics between the voyeurism of Coverdale, and the hands on approach that Hollingsworth has on everything. 

            Coverdale is notorious for keeping to himself.  When asked to do a deep by Old Moodie in the beginning of the story he declines.  He even finds himself a hermitage in a tree so he can have some privacy and partake in his favorite pass-time of snooping on people.  He also does a considerable amount of snooping in his hotel back in the city.  All of this leads to confrontations and problems, but he never really takes much action.  He is a casual observer and not a whole lot else.

            Hollingsworth on the other hand is very action oriented.  He spends his time doing philanthropic things and tries to spread his ideology in Blithedale.  This internal need to spread his way of thinking is much different than Coverdale, who has his disagreements, but is not as oppressive with spreading his ideals as Hollingsworth is.  Plus, Hollingsworth is the one who is mostly responsible for getting the plot going.  He is the one who brings in Priscilla, he was the one that was going to build a cabin with Zenobia, and the love triangle includes him and the sisters, not Coverdale. 

            Weather any of this is significant is still an enigma to me, so you’re your thoughts and comments below.