Uncanny y Moby Dick

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Uncanny Narration in Moby-DickAuthor(s): Samuel KimballSource: American Literature, Vol. 59, No. 4 (Dec., 1987), pp. 528-547Published by: Duke University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2926610 .

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UncannyarrationnMoby-DickSAMUEL KIMBALLUniversityfFlorida

THE word "strange" ppears n nearly very hapter f Moby-Dick.Why? To what effects?s therepetitionf "strange"itself trange?Three argumentsdeveloped from Freud's essay,"The Un-canny,"will orient hefollowing iscussion.i) The structure fthe uncanny s the structure f repression. henomenologically,the uncannyis experiencedas a certain frightful eeling: it"belongsto all that s terrible," reud says, "to all thatarousesdread and . . . creeping horror."' This uncanny emotionality,however,functionswithinan economyof knowledge.On theone hand, "the 'uncanny' s that class of the terrifyinghich

leads back to somethingong known to us, once veryfamiliar"but now forgotten. n the other hand,"everythings uncannythatoughtto have remainedhidden and secret, nd yet comesto light."2 The uncanny ignals return fsomething epressed.This is Freud's interest:not the affective opography f theuncannybut its signifyingharacter, he something hatwasknownnd willbe known gain.(2) Freud identifies his"something" s "the dread ofcastra-tion" and, in hisanalysis fHoffman's The Sand Man," locatesit in the child's castration omplex.However,if one were tounderstand hecutting ff f a partof thebodyin castration sa particularnstance f a larger ategory fseverings,nd ifonewere to understand ertainof the infant's arly experiencesofseparations rom he mother s experiences f beingcutoff, henone would be able to conceptualizetheuncanny n preoedipalas well as oedipal terms.1 SigmundFreud, "The Uncanny," rans.Alix Strachey.n Studies nParapsychology,ed. Philip Reiff New York:Collier, 963), p. 19.2 Freud, "The Uncanny," p. 20 and 28.

American iterature, olume 59, Number4, December I987. Copyright? I987 by theDuke University ress. CCC 0002-983I/87/$I.50.

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Narrationn Moby-Dick 529(3) In either ase, theconsequentpsychicwounding s familialand of the home. Thus, it is overdetermined-and"uncanny"?

-that Freud shoulddesignate heuncanny ytheGermanun-heimlich, he "unhomely," nd that he should determinetheunheimlich s "in somewayor other sub-species fheimlich."3The questionoftheuncanny,hen, s thequestionof thehome,of the unhomeness fthe home.Throughout Moby-Dick, Ishmael tries to economize thestrangehome,that s, to domesticatehestrange o as tomake anarrative omeofhomelessness.I

Ishmael introducesthe themeof the uncannyearly in thenovel when he recalls his boyhood counterpanedream. "Mysensationswere strange,"shmael says. "Let me tryto explainthem" (p. 32).4 Thereupon he tellshow his stepmother,who,somehow or other,was all the time whippingme, or sendingme to bed supperless," ad caughthim "tryingo crawl up thechimney" p. 32). She punisheshim by sendinghim to bed inmidafternoon.ventuallyhe falls nto "a troublednightmare fa doze." When he awakens, halfsteeped n dreams,"thebeforeunlit oomwas nowwrappednouter arkness.nstantlyI felt a shockrunninghroughll myframe;nothingwas to beseen, ndnothingwas to be heard;but a supernaturalandseemedplaced nmine.Myarmhung ver he ounterpane,nd thenameless,unimaginable,ilent orm rphantom,owhich he handbelonged,seemedclosely eatedby mybed-side. or whatseemed gespiledon ages, laythere rozenwith hemost wfulfears, otdaring odrag awaymyhand; yet ver hinkinghat f couldbut stir tonesingle nch, he horrid pellwouldbe broken. knewnot how thisconsciousness t lastglided awayfromme.... (p. 33)From his sense of fright the nightmare leep, the shock, thefears, heimmobility)o his sense ofthesupernaturalthehand,the "nameless formor phantom," he spell), shmael recallshis

3 Freud, "The Uncanny," . 30.4 Subsequent references o Moby-Dick, d. Harrison Hayford and Hershel Parker(New York: Norton, 967) will appear nparenthesesnthe text.Unlessotherwise oted,all emphases are mine.



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530 Americaniteratureconfoundingxperiencen terms f the uncanny. f the ter-rifyingequence shmaelremarks hat whethert was realityor dream, couldnever ntirelyettle"p. 32). This ambiguityitself oubles he ambiguityf thehandwhich s at once bothat hand, iterally,ndyet, ecausehecannot ecognizet,out ofimaginativeeach.The hand s too familiar,oo intimate;ndyet tbelongs o a "phantom."shmael trainsogivename ndform o the specter, ut it remains orhimnameless, ilent,and unimaginable.What s this ncannyand nd shmael's read f t?Perhapsitis the ambivalentandof a stepmotherho,having aisedhandagainst erstepson, owseeks o hold handswithhim?Perhaps heuncannyand s a cannyne after ll.Perhaps,oo, t s a masturbatoryand.LeslieFiedler ll butdeclaresshmael's ttemptto crawlup his mother'shimney"a metaphoricalnactmentfoedipaldesire.5hus,thecounter-pane episodemightworkby reaction-formationo transformmasturbatoryct or wish withrespect o thestepmother-heis frozenstiff?)-into punishingenseof shock,vulnerabil-ity, nddread.Later, f course,shmaelwill be able to stirhishand-and no longerwithpetrifyingorror ut withdreamy,masturbatoryelights he squeezeswhale perm ndexpostu-lates: Come; etussqueezehands llaround; ay,etussqueezeourselves nto each other" p. 349). He seemsto have returnedfrom heuncanny, rom he unhomely,o a realm of "attainablefelicity"whichhe will seemingly annilyocate"in the wife, heheart,the bed, the table,the saddle,thefire-side,he country"(p. 349)-in the home.Exceptthatthehome,theheimlich,s preciselyhe site of theunheimlich, o that to returnhomemaynotbe to return romtheuncannybut to return o it and yet nother ncounterwithterror nd dread.Immediately fterrecalling he counterpane xperience, sh-mael returns ohispresent eelings fstrangenesspon awaken-ingto thecounterpanedrm ofQueequeg: "Now, takeawaytheawful fear, nd mysensations t feeling he supernatural and

5 Leslie A. Fiedler,Love and Death in the AmericanNovel, rev. ed. (New York:Norton, 967), p. 375-



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Narration n Moby-Dick 53Iin mine were very similar, n their trangeness,o thosewhichI experiencedon waking up and seeing Queequeg's pagan armthrownroundme" (p. 33). But take away that awful fearandwhat is the strangeness?sn't it a familiarity,n intimacywith-out threat?And yet sn't such intimacytrange n so far as thepowerfulhand and arm of thiscannibalharpoonerdo notpun-ish but are recognized by Ishmael to hold him "in the mostloving and affectionate anner" p. 32)? For the littleboywhowas all the time beingwhipped (p. 32), the supernatural andmight verywell terrify,nd terrifyll the more in withhold-ing its punishment, or the deferral f thatpunishmentmightitselfbe punishingby prolonging he time of threat and thechild's anticipation f beinghurt. Such a bind holds the childin a circuitof punishment ffects ven in the absence of pun-ishment and is itself vocativeof the feelingof the uncanny.Indeed, the very doublenessof the bind, of the double bind,reconstitutesne ofthearchaicfeatures fthe uncanny.Whereasthe double usually appears as a separatefigure, n the circuitof punishment-punishmentithheld he double appearswithinthe sameperson.Here, the non-punishingigure refigurestselfas a punishing ne. This is Ishmael's dilemmawithrespecttoQueequeg's embrace "as thoughnaughtbut death should partus twain" (p. 33), for the embrace holds within tself ust thatpossibility f death thatwould part the two. His embrace is,therefore, oth a figureof love and lifeand also an uncannyprefigure f death. Such is the doublenessof the unheimlichthat Ishmael approaches and avoids the uncannyby means oftheuncanny tself, r at leastbyone of its affectiveffects.Ishmaelprotects imself rom hestrange y rhetoricallyden-tifyingwith it, by reducing t to a familiar ategory. uch astrategyf addressdeferswhatwould otherwise voke fear andtrembling ydeferringo it.Anynumber fexamplescould beadduced of how Ishmael marks as strangeust thosemomentsof "attainablefelicity,"f intimacy,f homeness.When he andQueequeg become "bosombuddies,"he relates hat"I began tobe sensible of strange eelings. felt melting n me. No moremy splintered eart nd maddenedhand were turned gainst hewolfishworld. This soothing avagehad redeemed t" (p. 53).No doubt Ishmael here undercuts ertainhypocritical ieties.



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532 American LiteratureIn addition, e writeshimselfntothe stranges into a fra-ternal ommunion.he terrifyingature fhomelessness eltsaway; he trangeecomesomethinghichhe can turn owardand mergewithrather han omethinghichpetrifiesndcutsthrough im. To putthe matter ifferently,n so faras "thewolfish orld" hreatenso terrifyr otherwisenman shmael,or to splinter is heart nd maddenhis handagain, shmaelappropriatesheterrorysigningt,byaffixingt tohimself-here, o hisfeelings-as sign f hiswonder hathe couldfeelsomethingtherhan rightr ts plintering,addeningeriva-tives. fcourse, ecanonly o soby cknowledginghewolfishworld s an ever mminentossibilityfwhathewoulddomes-ticate.Here, shmael isplacesherelationetween heuncannyand thecannyn Freud's cheme. orFreud, heuncannys asubset f thecanny; ere, hecannys the ubset.To take notherxample,stricken,lasted,fhebe,Ahabhashis humanities,"eleg says, n summingp hisdescriptionfthat moody-desperatemoody,ndsavage ometimes"aptain(p. 77).Peleg'swords ill shmael with certain ildvaguenessof painfulnessoncerningim. And somehow,t thetime,felt sympathynd a sorrow orhim,butfor don'tknowwhat,unless t wasthecruel ossofhis eg.Andyet alsofelta strangewe ofhim;but that ort fawe,which cannot tall describe,was notexactly we; I do not knowwhat t was"(p. 77). Again, shmaeldomesticateshestrangenthevery ctof nvokinghe trangend ts motionalontext fdesperation,savagery,trickenness,ndpain. f such a rhetorical aneuverkeeps t a distanceheprospectfbeingblasted,t also keepsthatprospectlive. t imaginativelyivifieshepotentialfthethreat. hus, again,shmael isplaceshepriorityreud ssignsto the canny n his equivocationbout the strangewhich sfamiliarnlybecause hefamiliars strange.Yet another ime shmael ssimilateshestrangend poten-tially ncannyo thefamiliarnd safe.The occasion s Quee-queg'sdeath-bed evernd progressivemaciation.shmaelun-derstandsullwellwhyQueequegtakes ick-he isoverworkedin thebestof the voyage'sircumstancesnd must, monghisworstabors, finallyescendnto hegloomof thehold, ndbitterlyweatingllday nthat ubterraneousonfinement,eso-



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Narrationn Moby-Dick 533lutelymanhandleheclumsiestasks ndsee to their towage"(p. 395).NeverthelessshmaelremarksboutQueequeg that,"strange osay,for ll theheat of his sweatings,e caughtterrible hill which lapsed into a fever" p. 395). "Strangetosay"-Ishmael's formulaic nvocationof the strangemystifiesQueequeg's illness and suffering,uts it offfromits all toofamiliarmaterial auses. shmaelgoeson towrite fQueequeg'stabescentbody,but what he sees of his wastingfriend uicklybecomes a sign of comfort: How he wastedand wastedawaytill thereseemed but little eft of him but his frame ndtattooing.But as all else in him thinned, nd his cheekbonesgrewsharper,his eyes,nevertheless,eemedgrowingfuller ndfuller; theybecame of a strange oftness f lustre;and mildlybut deeply looked out at you therefromhis sickness, won-droustestimonyothat mmortal ealth n him which couldnotdie, or be weakened" (p. 395). Queequeg does recover, ut heis not immortal;he is annihilated t the novel'send. Ishmael,then,evades any possible or actual horror t the sightof hisdyingfriend y dealizinghim,byattributingo thesignsofhiswastingan exactly ontrarymeaning, nd a "strange"meaningforthatveryreason.The seriesofnegative onjunctions-"but"repeatsfourtimes-sets up and frames he reversalby whichIshmael's use of the word "strange" an denote not a horrorbut a scopticalfullness nd wonder, softness, luster, mild-ness and profoundness.shmael envisionsnot death but deathdefeated,not an inexorable utting ffof life but the promiseof a godlybeingnow finally bout to returnhome to,now athome in,his immortality.The rest of Ishmael's paean to Queequeg continues n thisstrainand enables Ishmael to associatethe strangewith whathe imaginesto be Queequeg's apotheosizing scension "higherand highertowardhis destinedheaven" p. 396)-his home ofhomes. Ishmael idealizes the strange-he rendersthe strangefamiliar, afe,secure,comforting,nd testamentary-andthushe seversthe strangefrom tself.He forestallshe uncannybytrying o be at homewith t.The mostuncanny xampleof thisnarrativetrategyccurs na sequence of self-invertingeflectionsn the"gallied" armada.Afterpursuingthe magnificentchool of whales for several



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534 Americaniteraturehours, he chase boats are ready o give up "when a generalpausingcommotion mongthe whales gave animating okenthat heywerenow at last under he nfluencef that trangeperplexityf nertrresolution"p.322). They re"gallied."Andin that strange" ondition hey naccountablyseemedgoingmad with consternation"p. 322). The panic of the herdofwhales was stillmore trangelyvinced y hose ftheir umber,who, completely aralysed s itwere,helplessly loated" p. 322).Having alluded to a sense of distress mong the whales, Ish-mael immediately amiliarizes his sceneand yetunderscorestsviolence by comparing he whales to thosealikegalliedhumanswho, "when herded together n the sheep-foldof a theatre'spit . . . will, at the slightest alarm of fire, rush helter-skelterfor heoutlets, rowding, rampling,amming, nd remorselesslydashing each other to death" (p. 322). Ishmael thenconcludes:"Best, therefore, ithholdanyamazementat thestrangelyal-lied whales beforeus, for there s no folly f the beasts of theearth which is not infinitelyutdone by the madnessof men."For Ishmael, the treblyremarkedstrangeness f the whalesapparently isappears n relation o the nfinitemadnessofmen;and yet the strangeness f the whales remainsvisible,finite,bounded, limited, finallynot strange omparedto the unlim-itedstrangenessf humans n theirmad self-estrangement.hestrangeness f the whales constitutes specular mage,for sh-mael, of humanstrangeness.The image ofthe "strangely allied" beasts,of their strangeperplexity,"will shortlygive way to an astonishing mage ofbirth,maternal uccor, nd enchantment-a vision,forwantofanotherword,of at-homeness. his strange ightcomforts ndsolaces. At the centerof the herd the "young,unsophisticated,and everyway innocent nd inexperienced"whales "evinced awondrousfearlessness nd confidence,r else a still,becharmedpanicwhich t was impossiblenot to marvel t" (p. 325). Ishmaelcontinues: But farbeneaththiswondrousworldupon the sur-face,another nd still tranger orldmet our eyesas we gazedoverthe side. For, suspended n thosewatery aults,floated heformsof the nursingmothersof the whales, and those thatby their enormousgirthseemed shortly o become mothers"(p. 325). What begins as the life-threateningtrangeness,he



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Narrationn Moby-Dick 535commotionsf thewhales, ecomes hecontrary,ife-affirmingstrangenessf "the nnermosteart fthe hoal" p. 324)wherefright asgivenway to an "enchantedalm"andwhere, sur-rounded y circleuponcircle fconsternationsnd affrights,"thewhales revelledn dalliance nd delight"p. 326). shmael,too, maginativelyevelsn the enchantedond": amid he or-nadoedAtlanticf mybeing, o I still or ver entrallyisportinmute alm . . deepdown nddeep nland here stillbatheme in eternalmildness f joy" p. 326).Accordingo Fiedler,"Ishmaelnterpretsisglimpsento heworld fnaturalmmor-tality, here ife s endlessly enewed yphysical eneration,sa guaranteehat heres a renewal fthe spirit, oo, n human'dalliancenddelight,' hichsall the mmortalityan aneverachieve."6 or Fiedler, theheart f livingmysteries"iscloses"birth nd copulationutno death."7Not so, not so. In themidst f this ivingmysteryhere snot onlydeath but the specter f terrible,ncanny eath:amurderousiolence iddles he cene f "naturalmmortality."Just efore eenvisionsall peacefuloncernments"p. 326),and just after e evokes he"stranger orld"of the "nursingmothersfthewhale" nd their ubs ndthe maternaleticule"ofthe tillpregnantams where,ail ohead, ndall ready orthefinal pring,heunbornwhale ies bent ike Tartar's ow"(p.325)-just afterhis vocationfbirth,shmael eturnso thebusiness t hand, hekilling fwhales.The harpoonedwhale(victim fa differentTartar's ow")thathas pulled shmael'sboat nto the nnermosteart ftheshoal,"has back-tracked,and thenow slack whale inehasbecome ntangledwiththeumbilical ordof a newlyborncub. However,shmael doesnotnote he mpendingnfanticide.Starbuck aw ongcoilsofthe umbilical ordof MadameLeviathan,ywhich heyoungcub seemed till etheredo its dam. Not seldom n therapidvicissitudesf thechase, his natural ine,withthe maternalend oose,becomes ntangled ith hehempen ne, o that hecub is therebyrapped. omeof thesubtlestecretsf theseasseemeddivulged ous in this nchantedond.We sawyoung

6 Fiedler,pp.383-84.7 Fiedler,pp.384 nd 383.



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536 American iteratureLeviathanamours n thedeep" (pp. 325-26). "Birth nd copula-tion butno death,"Fiedler says? Of a whaler'smeditation n astrange utnotuncommon cene n themidst f theslaughter fnursing nd stillpregnantwhales and newborn ubs? How hashe passed overtheimageofthefatallynaredcub,surely ne ofthemostemotionally axing magesofthenovel, nd surely nethat nterpretshab's death?At the nnermost eart f theshoalthere s not just birthbut birth n jeopardy.A parturition asbecome the impendingdestruction f a Leviathan mother ndchild.Fiedler's nterpretationepresseshe matricidal nd infan-ticidal moment ustas Ishmael'sdoes whenhe turns way fromthe endangeredmother nd cub to the amorousadult whales.So Fiedler is correct fterall: "Birthand copulationand nodeath" in Ishmael's account.But no deathonlybecause Ishmaelavertshis eyes in an astonishing-an uncanny?-evasion. Oneof "the subtlest ecrets"of the novel is divulged, believe, nthe "enchantedpond" of Ishmael's rhetoric-the way Ishmaelprotectshimself, strangeshimself, rom he uncannyviolence,the unheimlichviolence, he unhoming r orphaning r killingviolenceamidst the"still strangerworld" of maternal uccoringand primalamours.The patternrepeats.At the end of the just-citedpassage,Melville includesa footnoten whichhe,too,enactstherepres-sion of infanticide nd matricide: When by chance thesepre-cious parts theteats] n a nursingwhale are cutbythehunter'slance,themother'spouringmilkand blood rivallingly iscolorthe sea for rods. The milk is verysweet and rich . .. itmight dowell with strawberries.When overflowing ithmutualesteem,the whales salute morehominum"p. 326n). Melville can notethe mutilation fthe motherwhale,but he cannot-in anycasehe does not-bring himself o namethe matricidal nd infanti-cidal consequences:the whale maybleed to death and the cubwill starve.One might,of course, nterpretMelville's footnoteas a cannyframing f Ishmael's repression.n either case thetwo passagespointto a breach n the rhetoric fmaternity:heprimal scenes of "Leviathan amours"in Ishmael's passage andof whales saluting"morehominum"n Melville'snote replacethe infanticidalnd matricidal cenesof thetrapped ub and themutilatedmotherunable to nurseheryoung.The second pas-



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538 Americaniteraturethehorizon, e is haunted ytheir eturnothecenter fhisnarration. nd ifthecenter esignatesmetaphoricalomeorhomeness,t comesto designate n uncanny omelessnessswell, ndnot ust homelessnessut homelessnessttheverycenter f ife, homelessnessfthehome,withmatricidalndespeciallynfanticidaliolencetsmost irefulign.ForFreud, he ource f heuncannysthedread fcastration.In commentingponHoffman'sale,Freudresolutelyracesall actsofviolence gainst arts fthebody themutilationfeyes,forexample) r against hebodyas a wholeto fears fviolence gainst hegenitals. reudalludes o his nterpretationof Oedipus to validate hisreduction. evertheless,edipushimselfsthe ntendedictimfhisfather'snfanticidalttemptson his ife.Freudnotes hat inblinding imself,edipus . .wassimplyarryingut a mitigatedorm f thepunishmentfcastration-thenly unishmenthat ccordingothe ex alioniswas fittedorhim."8 o be sure, he lashingf hiseyesmakessense s a displacementfa genitallashing,speciallynsofarsOedipushascommittedgenital rime. ut the lashingfeyesalsomakes ense s a displacementf thefather'sffortso killOedipusbypiercing isankles nd ettingimdie ofexposure.The Greekwordarthronignifiesothsocket nd thepiecethatmoveswithin hesocket nd thuswas used to designatebotheyeand oint.Oedipuswaspierced hroughheankles rjoints arthra)fhis feet, ndhe sticksJocasta'sins ntohiseyeballsarthra).9n blinding imself, edipusmayhaveactedout a versionf theviolence irectedgainst imbyhisfather.So, too,Nathanieln "The SandMan": inflingingimselfffthe roofhemayhave ctedouthisfather'snfanticidalishorthesimilarwish oftheSandMan.Suchpossibilitiesrovidewayofunderstandingheunheimlich,hehomelessnessf thehome, s a preoedipalxperiencef nfanticidaleopardy s wellas an oedipalone. Allusions o suchuncannyeopardy ecurthroughoutoby-Dick.Ishmael doptshisnarrativeame, erhaps s hewisheshim-

8 Freud,"The Uncanny," . 36.9Seth Bernardetehas noted the implications f this etymological oincidence n"Sophocles' OedipusTyrannus."n Sophocles: CollectionfCritical ssays, d. ThomasWoodward (Englewood Cliffs,N. J.: rentice-Hall,966), pp. 105-22.



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Narration n Moby-Dick 539self o be adopted, nd in anycase therebynticipatesow he,as an orphan,will be rescuedby hisRachel. shmael'sname,of course, lludes to the Biblical shmael, isinheritedon ofAbraham, disinheritingvocativef Abraham's illingnessosacrifice-tomakean infanticidef-his other on, saac. TheBiblical shmael s fated o be "a wild man:his hand will beagainst veryman, ndeveryman'shand gainst im" GenesisI6:I2). Melville's shmael hareshis counterpart'sage: when-evermyhypos et suchan upperhandof me,that t requiresstrongmoral principle o preventme from.. knockingpeople'shatsoff-then, I account thightime to get to sea as soon as Ican." This, he says, is mysubstitute orpistol nd ball" (p. I2).Going to sea is also his substitute or nfanticidaleopardy.Akindof nternal ompasspoints shmaelto the"great riginal"ofthewhaling business,Nantucket p. I7), forhe has determinedto ship out from hisspotof land only.Why? Ishmael explainsthe "wondrous""legend"of this sland:In oldentimes neagle swooped ownupontheNewEngland oast,and carried ff n infantndian n histalons.With oud lament heparents awtheir hildborne utofsight ver hewidewaters. heyresolved ofollow n the samedirection.ettingut n their anoes,after perilouspassage theydiscoveredheisland, nd there heyfound n emptyvory asket, thepoor ittle ndian's keleton.What wonder, hen, hattheseNantucketers,ornon a beach,should ake o the ea for livelihood!p. 62)The founding vent-an infanticide-makes xplicit hefound-ling event-the orphaning hreatof infanticide.n relation tothislegend,which doubles as a "legend"for his psychicgeog-raphy, shmael signs aboard the Pequod. For Ishmael as forthe aboriginal Nantucketers, he sea-not the land, above allnot the land of infanticide,ut the sea-is home:"There s hishome.... For yearshe knowsnot the land; so thatwhen hecomes to it at last, it smells like anotherworld, more trangelythan the moon would to an Earthsman.With thelandlessgull,that at sunset foldsher wingsand is rocked to sleep betweenbillows; so at nightfall,he Nantucketer, ut of sightof land,furlshis sails,and layshimto rest,whileunder his verypillowrushherdsofwalruses nd whales" (p. 63; firstmphasis n theoriginal).And yet, f the Nantucketers at home onlywhen at



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540 Americaniteraturesea,he is never implyt home,never implyt sea, sincehealways arries hedesignationfthe and,ofNantucket, ithhim.The designations inscribedn thecategorical ame-Nantucketer-Ishmaelives othisperson.t is a proper amethat s "improper,"canny rheimlich amethat ontainshetrace f theunheimlich.he strangemell fthe andremindstheNantucketer-orshmael-thathisbirthplace as a placeofestrangement,onidentity,nddeath.shmael,hen,willshipoutfrom he slandofinfanticideboard shipnamed fternowextinct"ribe f ndiansp.67).Ofcourse xtinct:ecausethe hreatf nfanticidalxtinction,hetherndividualrtribal,definesndhasdefinedromhedeadend ofthebeginninghecourse f uncanny andering,f thehomelessness,nscribednthename Ishmael."Ifinfanticideandenote he xtremestangerndtheuncan-niest fhuman elations,henQueequeg's Congo dol" p. 30)comically epresentshenature fQueequeg's ronicallyagansolution-a form f religious bservancehatspecifiesn itsiconographyhefact finfanteopardy. hus,Queequegwor-ships"a curious ittledeformedmagewith a hunchon itsback,and exactly hecolorofa three ays'old Congobaby"(p. 30). Ishmael, iddennQueequeg'sbed, s quicktowonderwhetherthis lackmanikan asa realbaby"-an infanticide-embalmed ike theheadsQueequegpeddles. shmaelwatchesQueequeg honorhis "wooden dol" and notes hat all thesestrange ntics"of Queequeg "wereaccompaniedbystill trangerguttural oisesfrom he devotee"p. 30). Whenhe is done,Queequeg "bags"his idol,his "Congobaby," as carelesslysifhe werea sportsmanagging deadwoodcock"p. 30). Aparodic nversionftheprimal ather,ueequeg's otems theimageofa child, ne that ecalls n insistentear fchildhoodinjury.hus, shmaelwitnessesueequeg's ites romhewed-dingbedofMr. andMrs. Coffin.t is in thisbed,sharedwithhisyoung hildrennd hiswife, hatPeterCoffinsomehow"kicked ne ofhis sonsontothefloor,nearbreaking is arm"(p. 27). In thisbed,Ishmaelfinallyallsblissfullysleeponlytoawaken n a "strange ouse" othememoryfthe counter-panenightmare,ueequeg's"horse ollar"grip, nd a "slightscratch" rom hepagan'stomahawkwhich shmaelcalls, n



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Narrationn Moby-Dick 54Itermsevocativeof infanticide-or parricide-a "hatchet-facedbaby" (p. 33). Congo idol,marriagebed, nightmare,nd toma-hawk: fourtimes over Ishmael invokesan image of infant rchildhood danger.Four times over he experiences returnofanxiety,omicallyframed, verthe strange ossibilityfprimalharm.This sense of harm pervadesIshmael's sense of the worldand recursthroughouthe novel n themanyallusionsto beingabandoned or castaway nd to child abuse. These allusionsin-sistentlyeconstitutehe dangerof a time ong past that hauntstimepresentn Ishmael'snarrative.heyweave the uncanny,hehomelessness f the home, n its preoedipalexpressionsntothevery exture f thetext.One sequence of allusionsoccurs shortly eforethePequodmeets the Rachel.The log line has justbroken nd thelog beenlost. Ahab declares he "can mend all" and shortly hereafteraddressesPip, who answerswith an uncanny vocationof hisown dismembered nd castaway ondition: Pip's missing....Ho! there'shis arm just breakingwater.A hatchet!a hatchet!cut itoff-we haul in no cowards here" p. 427). Pip's languageunderscores he threatof mutilation ontained n Queequeg'sCongo idol; and Pip's deferenceo the threat fdismembermentdoublesbut reverses ueequeg's rite f worship.Pip's gesture fsubmission lso doublesbutreverses hab's postures f domina-tion. n any case,Ahab is moved;he reachesout to this orphanand makesexplicit he context f infantbandonment s he dis-covers n Pip a living og and in himself living ine: "Oh, yefrozenheavens!"Ahab expostulates: Ye did begetthis ucklesschild, and have abandoned him. . . . Here, boy; Ahab's cabinshallbe Pip's homehenceforth,hileAhab lives.Thou touchestmy nmost entre, oy;thou arttiedtomeby cordswovenof myheart-strings"p. 428). Ahab thenrepudiates the omniscientgods obliviousof sufferingman." He presumes o speak in thename of man who, "though diotic, nd knowingnotwhat hedoes," is "yetfullof sweetthings floveand gratitude"p. 428),as if he himselfwere theexemplary omforter,maternalpara-clete to castawayhumankind.Ahab will reject this self-imageand itsobligationsust as he will refuse he Rachel's searchforher homeless ones.



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542 American LiteratureIn themeantime,uidedbyAhab's nstrumentsf homeless-ness,his "level og and ine," hePequod ails hroughstrange""monotonouslyild" waters preludingome riotousnd des-perate cene" p.428). It is a scene f nfanticidalaunting,nditrepeats hearchetypalircumstancesfChrist's irth. hus,as thePequodand crew near the"Equatorial ishing-ground"during henight,thewatch . . was startled y a cry o plain-tivelywild and unearthly-like alf-articulatedailings f theghosts f llHerod'smurderednnocents-thatne andall,theystartedfromtheir reveries"pp. 428-29). Ahab sleeps throughthe ghastly ounds. n themorninge "hollowlyaughs" s hescorns hecrews'fears. ut evenAhab, n explainingwaythecries s merelyhose fseals, nvokes he pecter f matricidalandinfanticidal)omelessness.Someyoungealsthathad losttheirdams,or somedamsthathad losttheir ubs,musthaverisennightheship . . cryingndsobbingwiththeirhumansort f wail" p. 429). Shortlyhereafterhecrewhears notherhomeless, auntingry: a cry nd a rushing-and ooking pthey aw a falling hantomnthe ir;and ooking own, littletossedheapof white ubblesn theblueof the ea" (p. 429). Asea of death-of themother,f the nfant.If we are"whelped omewhereythe harkishea," s Star-bucksays p. 148); if the sea is "a foe toman who is an aliento it" (p. 235); ifthe ea is "fiendo tsownoffspring"nd willinsult nd murder"babyman" p. 235); if"all men ive en-veloped nwhale ines" nd "arebornwithhalters round heirnecks" p. 241); ifwe are "born n throes" nd if"'tis fit hatman should ive n pains nddie in pangs" p. 36o)-then, inthe step-motherorld"p.443)ofMoby-Dick,eathmust earthe uncannymarkof infanticiden particularndparricidengeneral."0How,then,o survivehe rphaninghreatfparricide,here

10 The relationbetween infanticidend the uncanny s inscribed n the German,unheimlich,s theunhomely; t s also inscribedntheEnglishterm uncanny." ccordingto the0. E. D., "cannywife" s a "wise woman" ormidwife nd thecannymoment hemoment f childbirth. o which would add that he cannymoment s also the uncannymoment, he moment f childbirthompromised, ither y the death of the child or thedeathof the mother. There is a wisdomthat s woe,"Ishmael says, but there s a woethat s madness" (p. 355). And there s Ahab who is "madnessmaddened" (p. I47) inthategregiouslyompromised nd self-compromisingigure f the ivingparricide.



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NarrationnMoby-Dick 543parricide enotes hemurder f parent r child? Perhapsbysomehowncorporatingithinife he mminencefsuchdeath.Such s thedynamismfthe astawayantasyhichwoulddeferthe possibilityf parricide ydeferringo it. Thus, througha certainanguage f self-splitting,habbegets nd destroyshimselfs his own castawayndcastingwaydouble,ivingndyetdead,dead and yethauntinglylive.Ishmael ttemptsodescribeAhab'sdoublenessn Christianterms.Ah, God! whattrancesf tormentsoes thatmanen-durewho is consumedwithone unachievedevengefulesire.He sleepswith lenched ands; ndwakeswithhisownbloodynails nhis palms" p. 174),a living utself-consumingouble(forwhom thevery hrobbingf his ife-spotecame nsuffer-able anguish"p. 741) fthedeadbutresurrectedhrist.Ahab'ssatanicmimesis ntailsn apocalypticelf-division:he spiritualthroesn him heavedhisbeingup from tsbase,and a chasmseemedopeningn him,fromwhichforked lamesnd light-nings hotup,and accursed iends eckoned im toleapdownamong hem"p. 174). At once nternalnd externalo him, hechasmdelimitsheextremityfAhab's self-fissuringnd self-displacement.he psychicpacethusconstituteds in generalthe paceof ncorporation11nd nparticularhe paceofnight-marishelf-conceptionnd hystericalelf-gestation.12rom thishell"something ill "burst" orthn "horror"pp. 174, I75)-Ahabhimself. is parturitionillbemonstrous:onesupremepurpose . . byitsownsheer nveteracyf will,forcedtselfagainst odsand devilsnto kind f self-assumed,ndependentbeingof itsown.Nay,couldgrimlyive and burn,whilethecommon italityowhich twasconjoined,ledhorror-strickenfrom heunbiddennd unfatheredirth"p. I75). He isincubustohisownspectral eing: the ormentedpirithat lared ut

11 For a discussionof this peculiarpsychic pace,see Nicolas Abrahamand MariaTorok,The WolfMan'sMagic Word:A Cryptonymy,rans.Nicholas Rand (Minneapolis:Univ.of MinnesotaPress, 986).12 Freud, in "A Special Type of Object-ChoiceMade by Men," StandardEdition,trans.and ed. JamesStrachey London: Hogarth, 953-74), XI, I64-65, discussesthe"rescue phantasy" s a variation n the"wishtobehis ownfather." reud interpretshiswish in termsof his oedipal hypothesis. avid Bakan interpretshe wish in relationto the fantasy f outliving ne's death. See his Disease,Pain, and Sacrifice:TowardaPsychologyfSufferingBoston:Beacon, I968), pp. 95-I28.



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544 Americaniteratureofbodily yes,whenwhat eemedAhabrushed rom isroom,wasfor hetimebut vacatedhing; formlessomnambulisticbeing, rayof living ight, o be sure,but withoutn objectto color, nd thereforeblanknessn itself" p. 175). Possess-inghimself,ispossessingimself,habconceives imselfnhisownhauntedmage. God help thee, ld man," shmael ays,"thy houghts avecreated creaturen thee;and he whoseintensehinkinghusmakeshim Prometheus;vulture eedsuponthatheart or ver; hatvulture hevery reature e cre-ates" p. 175). Near theend of the novel, hevulture ecomesa hawk whichpecks t Ahab'sbrainp. 495). Here,carrion ohis ownraptorialelf,Ahab salways lready ead to himself,being ndtheghost f a being, "livingight" nda "blanknessin itself," ulture nd carcass: livingparricide. t the end,whenthe vulture as become heheavenlyky-hawkailedtothe phallic)mast p. 469),patricideecomesnfanticides thesatanic nergies fAhabmanifesthemselvesn a final poca-lyptic iolence f uncreationrdecreation.The livingparricide,heself-begettingelf-murderingeve-nant-if sucha nonpersonies againand again n every ul-turous ttack, e or she alsoseeks tout, vento theextent fbecominghe uncannygent fself-destruction,s Ahab'ssui-cidalthrow ftheharpoon t MobyDick indicates. e is notjusta woundedman butthewound ndwoundinghemselves,exileof himself,hecastingway astaway hoexperienceselfand world s places f radical, ncannyomelessness.13

IIIf in derivinghe uncannyromhecanny reud ntroducesthepossibilityf reading hehomelessnessf the home, henthemeaningf"narration"ntroduceshe ntitheticalossibility.For"narration"nd"canny"hare he ame ndo-Europeanoot,

gno-,meaningoknow. husnarrations insome ense tropeofthecanny, knowing ow to tell, telling nowledge;ndto13 An entirematrix f images of mutilation, ismemberment,astration,nd moregenerally f reversalunderscoresAhab's uncanny elf-transmogrification.hese imagesare too numerous nd detailedto analyze here,but I would notethat theyextend themetaphorical each of homelessnessn thisnovel.



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Narration n Moby-Dick 545narrate ncludesthe otherside of the uncanny, he homenessofhomelessness.

Homelessness s not simply condition f loss and wound, ofisolation nd fright,fcraving, festrangement,fself-division,of outrageor loathinghatredofabandonedselfor casting wayother. It is not only a negativeontology, he "un" of whatwould otherwise e thecannymoment f origin, afety,nd at-homeness. Homelessnessalso harborswithin tself conditionof possibility, ain, contact, nd homeness. The divisionsthatproducehomelessness reat work within hecondition f home-lessness tself, o that theexperience f homelessness an neverbe absolute, an neverbe an absolute ostness, or xample.Onecan represent omelessness nly partially,fforno otherreasonthan thatrepresentationo some extent vercomeswhatever nemeans by homelessness y bringingt intothe register f lan-guage where homelessness's bsence s made present,where thecondition fbeingcast away s not tself astawaybut retrieved.This retrieval econstituteshe foundling vent as the event ofnarration: he moment shmael is found,he once again findshis identity s "Ishmael," the homelessone, the narrator. uthis finding lso bringshim out of his homeless condition.Atthe same momentthathis rescue confirms im as yet "anotherorphan," t also cuts him off-orphans him-from his orphanstatus.Ishmael has said as much throughout is narration. o takebut one example, insofar s the Nantucketer hovesoff frominfanticidal hores ofindhis home at sea, homelessness ecomestheconditionof his homecoming ocation. shmaelrepeats hispattern f identity: ytelling he story f theorphanhe is andyetis not, he findshis narrative ocation n the homelessnessaround whichhisnarrative ircles.He establishes self-relation,an identity, ut ofor withhis homelessness.The emotionalconsequences f this trategy oincidewith tstextualeffects. oth convergen Ishmael'sself-doublingffortstorelate: o tell his story,ut also to connectwith self nd other.The questionofemotionalitynMoby-Dickhas beenexploredin relation o variouspsychologies,specially sychoanalytic,utnot in relation o the novel'stextuality. sychoanalyticeadingsgenerally ttempt o fathomAhab's and Ishmael's affective e-



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NarrationnMoby-Dick 547from he threat f Ishmael's eath.Here, theproblem f feel-ing or relating, hich s also thepossibilityf feeling, epeatstheproblematicossibilityftelling;mutatis utandis,heprob-lematic ossibilityf telling epeats he emotional roblem fa homelessnessr nonrelation hich s also thepossibilityfrelation."4At the end, the coffin-life-buoyrisesfrom he "cunningspring"= the cannypring""cunning" and"canny"recog-nates) of "the closingvortex" et in motionby the sinkingPequod (p. 470). This strangemachine ears shmael o term,it carrieshim to his terms, ivesbirth o him as a narrativefunction. nly at theend of thenoveldoes he become thevoice at thebeginning-and hus the voice of the beginningending-of the novel.This two-foldmoment etermineshe"I" ofMoby-Dick,or t the doubleterminal,shmael doptsthe dentityf the orphanedndwanderingon who is neveradopted: Call meIshmael," ays hevoice f "another rphan."Thus, inMoby-Dickhe dentityvent,henarrationvent, hemoment Ishmael" elates imself,s alsotheuncannyvent,hefoundlingvent,heevent f homelessness.

14 I would like to acknowledgeEric J.Sundquist'swork,Home as Found: Authorityand Genealogy n Nineteenth-CenturymericanLiterature Baltimore: JohnsHopkinsUniv. Press, 979). My question about themeaning f home is, I think,different romhis. I would indicate hisdifferencey pointing ut that, t least nMoby-Dick, he homecannotbe foundwithout eing ost, nd that hegenealogicalmoment s also themomentof orphanhood. would arguethat this doubleness f thehome (and the doublenessofthe attendant otions f the uncanny,nfanticide,uthorityn general, nd so on) is notthe result f desire it is not the consequence f an ambivalence, or xample)but is thecircumstancef it.

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