Reading the Chunksters discussion
Moby Dick
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Moby Dick - Chapters 41-54
Chapter 42 - The Whiteness of the Whale BORING CHAPTER ALERT - This chapter is entirely about the color white, the good, the bad, the meaning of the good, the bad, or even white as the absence of color.
To me this was a philosophical chapter, in which we learn about the contexts in which white is good or superior, and the contexts in which white can be supernatural or appalling. Ishmael notes of the color white that "no man can deny that in its profoundest idealized significance it calls up a peculiar apparition to the soul." He provides specific examples of how whiteness can magnify the terror of something.
There is some beautiful language in this section, such as:
Is it that by its indefiniteness it shadows forth the heartless voids and immensities of the universe, and thus stabs us from behind with the thought of annihilation, when beholding the white depths of the milky way? Or is it, that as in essence whiteness is not so much a color as the visible absence of color, and at the same time the concrete of all colors; is it for these reasons that there is such a dumb blankness, full of meaning, in a wide landscape of snows - a colorless, all- color of atheism from which we shrink? And when we consider that other theory of the natural philosophers, that all other earthly hues - every stately or lovely emblazoning - the sweet tinges of sunset skies and woods; yea, and the gilded velvets of butterflies, and the butterfly cheeks of young girls; all these are but subtile deceits, not actually inherent in substances, but only laid on from without; so that all deified Nature absolutely paints like the harlot, whose allurements cover nothing but the charnel-house within; and when we proceed further, and consider that the mystical cosmetic which produces every one of her hues, the great principle of light, for ever remains white or colorless in itself, and if operating without medium upon matter, would touch all objects, even tulips and roses, with its own blank tinge - pondering all this, the palsied universe lies before us a leper; and like wilful travellers in Lapland, who refuse to wear colored and coloring glasses upon their eyes, so the wretched infidel gazes himself blind at the monumental white shroud that wraps all the prospect around him.
Chapters 43-44 - Chapter 43 - Hark!
A scuttle-butt which contained water on ship for daily use.
This chapter is basically a bit of foreshadowing as two sailors fill the scuttle-butt and hear coughing where .... no one should be.....
Chapter 44 - The Chart
Ahab thinks somehow he can figure out where Moby DIck is. Ahab's heart is being picked away like the vultures picked away at Prometheus.
From wiki:
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, culture hero, and trickster figure who is credited with the creation of man from clay, and who defies the gods by stealing fire and giving it to humanity, an act that enabled progress and civilization. Prometheus is known for his intelligence and as a champion of mankind.
The punishment of Prometheus as a consequence of the theft is a major theme of his mythology, and is a popular subject of both ancient and modern art. Zeus, king of the Olympian gods, sentenced the Titan to eternal torment for his transgression. The immortal Prometheus was bound to a rock, where each day an eagle, the emblem of Zeus, was sent to feed on his liver, which would then grow back to be eaten again the next day. (In ancient Greece, the liver was thought to be the seat of human emotions. In some stories, Prometheus is freed at last by the hero Heracles (Hercules).
Chapter 45 - The Affidavit This chapter was interesting to me. First of all, it is called the 'Affidavit'. As if Ishmael is in a court of law and has to prove something. Which may have something to do with his own credibility and may have something to do with the implausibility of the whole story of this book. So on he goes to talk about how whales can indeed escape repeatedly, and how a single whale can be recognizable by all, and how hunters have been successful in hunting a particular whale in the past, and how whales can capsize ships. Wait a second.... the fact that whales can capsize ships is relevant because???
Chapters 46-47Chapter 46 - Surmises
He we learn that Ahab has at least in the back of the mind the notion of whaling in general besides just his hell-bent intent to kill Moby Dick. He was aware that his crew could usurp his power and so he 'checks' his own insanity so that they will continue to follow him, and he knows he must "force himself to evince all his well known passionate interest in the general pursuit of his profession."
Chapter 47 - The Mat-Maker
A sword-mat:
Ishmael and Queequeg are weaving a sword-mat (used as chafing gear on a ship), and Ishmael relates the activity to the way in which fate, free will and chance interrelate - the warp is fixed, the sword is chance and the shuttle is free will. Tashtego yells that he sees a school of sperm whales, and suddenly five men appear near Ahab that Ishmael has never seen before.
Chapter 48 - The First Lowering
Four boats are lowered in pursuit of the sperm whale, Ahab with his mystery men and Starbuck, Flask and Stubb in their own boats. A whale surfaces near Starbuck's boat and floods it with water, and, without success, the boats eventually reunite with the Pequod.
Why do you think Ahab brought his own crew?
Chapter 49 - The Hyena I just adored this passage, so I quote it here (emphasis mine):
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own. However, nothing dispirits, and nothing seems worth while disputing. He bolts down all events, all creeds, and beliefs, and persuasions, all hard things visible and invisible, never mind how knobby; as an ostrich of potent digestion gobbles down bullets and gun flints. And as for small difficulties and worryings, prospects of sudden disaster, peril of life and limb; all these, and death itself, seem to him only sly, good-natured hits, and jolly punches in the side bestowed by the unseen and unaccountable old joker. That odd sort of wayward mood I am speaking of, comes over a man only in some time of extreme tribulation; it comes in the very midst of his earnestness, so that what just before might have seemed to him a thing most momentous, now seems but a part of the general joke. There is nothing like the perils of whaling to breed this free and easy sort of genial, desperado philosophy; and with it I now regarded this whole voyage of the Pequod, and the great White Whale its object.
Isn't that remarkable? Nothing dispirits, and nothing seems worth while disputing. Wouldn't that be a wonderful way to live every day?
But I digress. In this chapter Ishmael inquires if it is common for whales to capsize boats in whale hunting and learns that it can be. Ishmael decides to finalize his will. He compares himself to Lazarus, as if he was dead and being brought back to life.
From wiki:
The raising of Lazarus or the resurrection of Lazarus, recounted only in the Gospel of John (John 11:1–44), is a miracle of Jesus in which Jesus brings Lazarus of Bethany back to life four days after his burial. In John, this is the last of the miracles that Jesus performs before the Passion and his own resurrection.
Chapters 50-51Chapter 50 - Ahab's Boat and Crew - Fedallah
Stubb and Flask talk about how it is strange that Ahab has his own crew -a reclusive crew at that. Also, our narrator remarks that it is questionable whether the captain of the ship should risk his life in the actual pursuit of a whale. Why is the crew called the 'tiger crew'?
Chapter 51 - The Spirit Spout
It seems Fedallah is as obsessed as Ahab with the whale, searching for it in the middle of the night and scaring the dickens out of the crew with his sporadic cries of "There she blows!" Ahab holds fast in his gaze outward for the whale, regardless of storm or sleet or snow, and almost seems calm in the midst of the tempest.
Chapters 52-53Chapter 52 - The Albatross
The Pequod comes across another ship, the Albatross, and has a conversation, or 'gam' with it. Unfortunately due to high winds the captains do not hear each other.
Chapter 53 - The Gam
In this chapter Ishmael discusses gamming, in which two ships come near each other and the two captains meet on one ship and the two first mates on another. There, the captains and mates exchange stories of the sea, information about whales, and letters, if one is going into port and one coming out.
Chapter 54 - The Town-Ho In this chapter Ishmael tells the story of the Town-Ho as he later told it to a group of Peruvians in Lima. In it he discusses the ship the Town-Ho, which develops a leak which is being pumped as the ship travels towards shore. On the ship Radney and Steelkilt get into a conflict and Radney threatens Steelkilt with a hammer. When the hammer touches him, Steelkilt rams Radney's jaw. Later, the ship sees Moby Dick and Radney gets swallowed by Moby Dick, who escapes. The shipmates end up deserting the Town Ho, and the whereabouts of Steelkilt remain a mystery.
Dianne wrote: "Chapters 43-44 - Chapter 43 - Hark!
A scuttle-butt which contained water on ship for daily use.
This chapter is basically a bit of foreshadowing as two sailors fill the scuttle-butt and hea..."
'he whose intense thinking thus makes him a Prometheus; a vulture feeds upon that heart forever; that vulture the very creature he creates.'
This quote struck me. I have just finished reading Doctor Glas and in that I felt the author was saying that we should not become obsessed by things because what one spends most time obsessing over, one becomes. Melville would have never read that book but a similar idea seems to be what Melville had in mind. That the monster that devours us, we create ourselves.
Dianne wrote: "Chapter 48 - The First LoweringFour boats are lowered in pursuit of the sperm whale, Ahab with his mystery men and Starbuck, Flask and Stubb in their own boats. A whale surfaces near Starbuck's b..."
I loved this sentence. Again Melville is poetical in his thoughts.
'the sign and symbol of a man without faith, hopelessly holding up hope in the midst of despair.'
Tracey wrote: "Dianne wrote: "Chapter 48 - The First LoweringFour boats are lowered in pursuit of the sperm whale, Ahab with his mystery men and Starbuck, Flask and Stubb in their own boats. A whale surfaces ne..."
another example of alliteration too!
Tracey wrote: "Dianne wrote: "Chapters 43-44 - Chapter 43 - Hark!
A scuttle-butt which contained water on ship for daily use.
This chapter is basically a bit of foreshadowing as two sailors fill the scutt..."
I agree, I think there is a lot of spiritual guidance that Melville imparts in this book, and I have found I agree with all of it so far!
Chapter 41 Moby Dick"Small reason was there to doubt, then, that ever since that almost fateful encounter, Ahab had cherished a wild vindictiveness against the whale, all the more fell for that in his frantic morbidness he at last came to identify with him, not only all his bodily woes, but all his intellectual and spiritual exasperations." (160)
I love his choice of words and the way he constructs his sentences.
The most striking for me is the lovely oxymoron: cherished a wild vindictiveness: cherished being such a warm and friendly word: paired with vindictiveness: so mean, and old world, and the exaggeration added with the adjective wild.
I also like the word pair frantic morbidness, again an almost oxymoron: frantic implying a sense of motion and morbidness meaning almost the opposite.
There is also the well placed archaic word fell; along with woes and exasperations.
And finally, the slight air of ambiguity surround the pronoun him: of course we know the narrator means Moby Dick, but we need stop and think just a moment to be sure.
I wonder if the author ever thought of saying her?
Mark wrote: "Chapter 41 Moby Dick"Small reason was there to doubt, then, that ever since that almost fateful encounter, Ahab had cherished a wild vindictiveness against the whale, all the more fell for that i..."
What an almost hypnotic chapter, where Melville delves into and explores the psychological themes of madness, obsession, rage, and mental pain...and what a deadly stew can be concocted from these ingredients. The prose is so vivid. Melville takes us into the effects of those months when Ahab lay confined to his hammock; the dreariness of the weather in mid-winter and the howling winds further contributing to his slow slide into an inner hell.
"...then it was, that his torn body and gashed soul bled into one another; and so interfusing, made him mad."
"...he swung to the mad rockings of the gales."
But this is my favorite passage from Chapter 41. It is quietly chilling.
"Human madness is oftentimes a cunning and most feline thing."
And the madness of Ahab is most cunning indeed, which I think we've only begun to see.
Paula wrote: "Mark wrote: "Chapter 41 Moby Dick"Small reason was there to doubt, then, that ever since that almost fateful encounter, Ahab had cherished a wild vindictiveness against the whale, all the more fe..."
I noticed and liked your last quoted line also. I decided to forgo it only because of the word feline. Since I live with 8 cats. - )
I have 3 cats. I am their happy and willing slave 😻.
Paula wrote: "And the madness of Ahab is most cunning indeed..."Yes, he is so cunning that he manages to convince everyone that he is fit to go whaling again and hides "the mad secret of his unabated rage" .
There is the sense of the demonic in Ahab's quest here - references to "fiendish man", "supernatural revenge", "evil magic".
I agree, Pamela. There seems to be a very complex mixture of different beliefs and superstitions at work here. - )
Chapter 41 Moby Dick"He was intent on an audacious, immitigable, and supernatural revenge." (162)
One thing I have noted is that Melville has a lot of Biblical references but they are Old Testament rather than New Testament. The God of the Old Testament comes across as more wrathful and vengeful; an eye for an eye and all that. There is little of the New Testament approach of forgiveness and mercy.
Tracey wrote: "One thing I have noted is that Melville has a lot of Biblical references but they are Old Testament rather than New Testament. The God of the Old Testament comes across as more wrathful and vengefu..."I agree. It seems very Old Testament.
Chapter 42 The Whiteness Of The Whale"A WHITE BEAR! Very well. Have I ever seen one? Might I ever have seen one? Am I ever to see one? Ought I ever to have seen one? Or can I ever see one?
Would I had seen a white bear! (for how can I imagine it?)
If I should see a white bear, what should I say? If I should never see a white bear, what then?
If I never have, can, must or shall see a white bear alive; have I seen the skin of one? Did I ever see one painted?--described? Have I never dreamed of one?
Did my father, mother, uncle, aunt, brothers or sisters, ever see a white bear? What would they give? How would they behave? How would the white bear have behaved? Is it wild? Tame? Terrible? Rough? Smooth?
--Is the white bear worth seeing?--
--Is there no sin in it?--
Is it better than a BLACK ONE?
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy
Volume V, Chapter 42.
Laurence Sterne
I apologize for the non-relevance here. - )
Tracey wrote: "One thing I have noted is that Melville has a lot of Biblical references but they are Old Testament rather than New Testament. The God of the Old Testament comes across as more wrathful and vengefu..."Makes sense. MD is a book with central themes of wrath and vengeance; whereas the overriding message of the New Testament is forgiveness.
Mark wrote: "Chapter 42 The Whiteness Of The Whale"A WHITE BEAR! Very well. Have I ever seen one? Might I ever have seen one? Am I ever to see one? Ought I ever to have seen one? Or can I ever see one?
Would ..."
I feel there is a lot of relevance here.
Paula wrote: "Mark wrote: "Chapter 42 The Whiteness Of The Whale"A WHITE BEAR! Very well. Have I ever seen one? Might I ever have seen one? Am I ever to see one? Ought I ever to have seen one? Or can I ever se..."
- )
Dianne wrote: "Chapter 42 - The Whiteness of the Whale BORING CHAPTER ALERT - This chapter is entirely about the color white, the good, the bad, the meaning of the good, the bad, or even white as the absence of..."
Yes, very beautiful prose in this chapter. I just think Melville spent a lot of time building a case that just didn't hold water (sorry, couldn't resist). I was never convinced that a white whale or a polar bear were any more frightening than one of any other color. I do not want to bump into a bear of any color in the wild thank you very much. And an angry whale? Same.
Perhaps if Melville's intent was to portray Moby Dick as some sort of supernatural entity, or as a creature of such terrible purity that all other creatures (including man) were inferior to it, I could understand Ishmael's dread, but I don't get that impression.
Dianne wrote: "Chapters 43-44 - Chapter 43 - Hark!
A scuttle-butt which contained water on ship for daily use.
This chapter is basically a bit of foreshadowing as two sailors fill the scuttle-butt and hea..."
I was on instant alert with "Hark". Unexplained creepy sounds coming from the Hold? Yay! And then, the subject is dropped.
Sigh.
Dianne wrote: "Chapter 45 - The Affidavit This chapter was interesting to me. First of all, it is called the 'Affidavit'. As if Ishmael is in a court of law and has to prove something. Which may have something ..."
I found this chapter very interesting as well. I enjoyed the stories about various close encounters of an unsettling kind between sperm whale and sea vessels. I looked up some of them, which I always enjoy doing.
Also, this chapter contains one of my favorite passages so far. It follows the story of a Commodore whose vessel is "stopped on the way by a portly sperm whale, that begged a few moments' confidential business with him."
"I tell you, the sperm whale will stand no nonsense."
A understated bit of humor followed by what is certainly an understatement, as we learn more about the great white whale.
The other thing I found interesting was how I was jolted out of the story when I read Ishmael's recollection of meeting up with a particular whale 3 years apart. I thought "wait a minute, I thought this was his first voyage, right?" Of course, he, Ishmael, could be writing this years later, but why insert it into the narrative as he did? It just seemed odd.
We've talked before about when Melville was mainly getting his thoughts across using Ishmael as his voice, but this felt different. I felt Ishmael had disappeared entirely, and it was just Melville talking to us.
When a reference was made to a Captain D'Wolf as being "Ishmael's" uncle, I decided to find out if this captain was a real person. And he was. He was Melville's uncle.
I thought this was fascinating. I'm wondering if there will be other times in the book where Melville drops his narrator, and decides to live in the book as himself.
I liked Chapter 45 too, but I felt there was an element in it of 'fishermen's tales', exaggerated and a bit tongue in cheek. One of the examples being an earthquake, which appears to have been documented, but Ishmael 'should not much wonder' if it was caused by a whale. And Procopius, who was trustworthy 'except in one or two particulars'. Sorry Ishmael, I'm a bit sceptical here :)
There's a very interesting allusion to Othello in chapter 41 which helps to solidify Ahab's obsession:When describing Ahab's first encounter with the whale which bites off his leg:
'No turbaned Turk, no hired Venetian or Malay, could have smote him with more seeming malice' (Ch.41)
Compare with:
'In Aleppo once | where a malignant and a turbaned Turk | beat a Venetian and traduced the state, | I took by th'throat the circumcised dog | and smote him thus.' [He stabs himself]
Othello, 5.2.361-6.
Given that Othello is both the 'turbaned Turk' and the 'Venetian', this seems to suggest a kind of psychic division in both characters, and shows us an Ahab who projects his inner malice onto the whale. Melville spells it out further:
'The white whale swam before him as the monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious agencies which some deep men feel eating them' (ch.41).
So the battle between Ahab and the whale can also be read as a struggle within Ahab's own spirit or soul. And with one of his legs being made of a whale's jaw, he's already part 'whale' himself.
I like: he's already part whale himself. - )
Roman Clodia wrote: "There's a very interesting allusion to Othello in chapter 41 which helps to solidify Ahab's obsession:When describing Ahab's first encounter with the whale which bites off his leg:
'No turbaned..."
Great post! I love finding the Shakespearean connections (such as the play). I found other similarities between Stubb's Dream (right after Ahab called him a donkey, an ass, a mule) with Bottom's Dream in a Midsummer Night's Dream. Queen Mab was also referenced as the consort of Oberon in some early English lit. And Oberon is the Fairy King who directs that Bottom be changed into an ass (I posted it in last week's thread).
Mark wrote: "I like: he's already part whale himself. - )"I love this too.
Paula wrote: "I found other similarities between Stubb's Dream (right after Ahab called him a donkey, an ass, a mule) with Bottom's Dream in a Midsummer Night's Dream."Yes! And Bottom's dream is called something like 'a most rare vision' in the play that reveals something important - that's one of the reasons why I was puzzled by the content of Stubb's dream - the kicking - because I didn't understand the significance of it but felt there should be one. Any ideas?
Roman Clodia wrote: "Paula wrote: "I found other similarities between Stubb's Dream (right after Ahab called him a donkey, an ass, a mule) with Bottom's Dream in a Midsummer Night's Dream."Yes! And Bottom's dream is ..."
Because mules, asses and donkeys kick. It's what they are known for. I'm thinking that Ahab calling Stubb a donkey/ass/mule, became a part of Stubb's dream, and that's where the kicking came in.
In this case though, I it was Ahab doing the kicking...Kicking the ass (Stubb) instead of the other way around.
Which is what really happened to Bottom. He was changed into an ass, an ass that was being used and kicked around by Oberon. I think Melville enjoyed making such analogies 😄.
Ah, thanks - I was over-thinking it in search of significance. Your reading makes sense, with Ahab manipulating the ship's crew.
Roman Clodia wrote: "Ah, thanks - I was over-thinking it in search of significance. Your reading makes sense, with Ahab manipulating the ship's crew."It's just my take. I'd like to hear other theories 🙃
Mark wrote: "Chapter 41 Moby Dick"Small reason was there to doubt, then, that ever since that almost fateful encounter, Ahab had cherished a wild vindictiveness against the whale, all the more fell for that i..."
I also loved this passage, thanks for pointing it out. My favorite part was the sharing of spiritual and intellectual eexasperations of the whale. You can imagine those of Moby Dick’s - being relentlessly pursued around the globe! As to a ‘her’ reference - I doubt it!
Paula wrote: "Mark wrote: "Chapter 41 Moby Dick"Small reason was there to doubt, then, that ever since that almost fateful encounter, Ahab had cherished a wild vindictiveness against the whale, all the more fe..."
I think the description of madness is very apt, often those with mental illness can seem unaffected by it for some time, only to have episodic outbursts. I think a goal of many medications is to reduce the likelihood of these instances, but often has unintended side effects of flattening one’s affect. Ahab is shrewd in managing his own madness.
Paula wrote: "I have 3 cats. I am their happy and willing slave 😻."Why are cat people so obsessed?? Lol
Pamela wrote: "Paula wrote: "And the madness of Ahab is most cunning indeed..."Yes, he is so cunning that he manages to convince everyone that he is fit to go whaling again and hides "the mad secret of his una..."
Do you think Peleg and bildad really understood how crazy he was?
Mark wrote: "Chapter 42 The Whiteness Of The WhaleDid I miss something? It took me three days to read this chapter"
I spotted this book today, just published, which is a meditation on the colour white and the memories associated with it: The White Book - by the author of The Vegetarian.
Mark wrote: "Tracey wrote: "One thing I have noted is that Melville has a lot of Biblical references but they are Old Testament rather than New Testament. The God of the Old Testament comes across as more wrath..."I can’t recall if the Old Testament leaning carries until the end of the book. We shall see!
Paula wrote: "Mark wrote: "Chapter 42 The Whiteness Of The Whale"A WHITE BEAR! Very well. Have I ever seen one? Might I ever have seen one? Am I ever to see one? Ought I ever to have seen one? Or can I ever se..."
Agree thanks for sharing Mark!
Paula wrote: "Dianne wrote: "Chapter 42 - The Whiteness of the Whale BORING CHAPTER ALERT - This chapter is entirely about the color white, the good, the bad, the meaning of the good, the bad, or even white as..."
I bet the story is more believable to modern readers than readers of Melville’s day more familiar with whaling.
Paula wrote: "Dianne wrote: "Chapters 43-44 - Chapter 43 - Hark!
A scuttle-butt which contained water on ship for daily use.
This chapter is basically a bit of foreshadowing as two sailors fill the scutt..."
True! They never investigate!
Paula wrote: "Dianne wrote: "Chapter 45 - The Affidavit This chapter was interesting to me. First of all, it is called the 'Affidavit'. As if Ishmael is in a court of law and has to prove something. Which may ..."
Ah very fascinating Paula! It also underscores the ‘Melville’s voice’ theory we have been discussing.
Dianne wrote: "Paula wrote: "Mark wrote: "Chapter 42 The Whiteness Of The Whale"A WHITE BEAR! Very well. Have I ever seen one? Might I ever have seen one? Am I ever to see one? Ought I ever to have seen one? Or..."
- )
Reading the Chunksters
Books mentioned in this topic
Prometheus Unbound (other topics)Metamorphoses (other topics)
Bottom's Dream (other topics)
The White Book (other topics)
The Vegetarian (other topics)
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Ahhhh here we learn about Moby Dick!
I think that the difficulty of communication on the open seas, the enhancement of whale stories upon each retelling, the embellishment with which Ishmael himself probably retells the story, all combine to compound the mystery about Moby Dick. He is everywhere and yet nowhere, easily pierced and yet immortal. The image of Ahab with his tiny six inch blade attacking Moby Dick, only to have him move his lower jaw and slice off his leg as "a blade of grass in the field" is powerful - and you can see how Ahab developed his monomania to pursue him. The forces that caused his crew to follow him - that is another story, however, and its explanation "would be to dive deeper than Ishmael can go."