BYHERMAN

MELVILLE

Unit 5Moby Dick

Herman Melville Aug 1, 1819-Sep 28, 1891

3rd child of 8, born to socialite parents.

Father died when Herman was about 12.

Helped his brother in the family business until his brother arranged for him to be a cabin boy on a merchant ship to England in 1839 (age 20).

http://www.readmoby.com/index.html

Herman Melville Aug 1, 1819-Sep 28, 1891

Joined a whaling ship in 1841.

Jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands in present-day French Polynesia.

Melville's adventures here, somewhat romanticized, became the subject of his first novel, Typee (1846).

Herman Melville

He and some and few other whalers spent about four months as guest-captives of the reputedly cannibalistic Typee people.

Joined a mutiny on another whaling ship.• Returned home and wrote

several books on his adventures, receiving a bit of critical acclaim for some and mixed reviews for others. • Melancholy began to set in

when some of his writing received a cool reception.

Herman Melville

Formed a friendship with Nathaniel Hawthorne, and their relationship reanimated Melville's creative energies.

Though the two men would gradually grow apart, their time as neighbors in 1850—Melville had bought a farm near Hawthorne's in Pittsfield, MA—helped shape what is widely considered one of the greatest works of American literature, Moby Dick.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Melville’s Most Enduring Work

Moby Dick was finally published in 1851, but it brought its author neither acclaim nor reward.

Herman Melville - Depression

Increasingly a recluse to the point that some friends feared for his sanity, Melville began his next work, which ended up being a financial disaster.

With a wife and 4 children to support, he had to turn to a traditional job, an appointment as a customs inspector on the New York docks, to support his family when his writing failed to pay off. He remained there for 19 years.

In 1867 his son Malcolm accidently shot himself after a quarrel with his father the night before his death.

His second son, who had gone to sea in 1869, died in a San Francisco hospital in 1886 after a long illness.

Herman Melville’s Melancholy

Throughout these painful events, and for the whole of his nineteen years in the customs house, Melville's creative pace was understandably slowed.

He descended into a more melancholy existence, attempting the lecture circuit and writing poetry along the way, but never gaining significant literary success.

In his last work, Billy Budd, which remained unpublished until 1924, he returned to the novel.

Though the manuscript ends with the date April 19, 1891—merely five months before Melville's death—the work had not been completely edited and was not published for another 33 years.

Moby Dick Main Characters

IshmaelQueequegAhabStarbuckStubb FlaskMoby Dick

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/mobydick/characters.html

Ishmael

The narrator, and a junior member of the crew of the Pequod.

He doesn’t play a major role in the events of the novel, but much of the narrative is taken up by his eloquent, verbose, and extravagant discourse on whales and whaling.

Remember that Ishmael is a Romantic, a dreamer, a symbolist. He is not a landsman, who concentrates only on the "real." Reality for a Romantic is but a mask or symbol of what lies beyond. Reality is paradoxical.

Name is perhaps symbolic of the Biblical outcast from Genesis.

Queequeg

Starbuck’s skilled harpoonerIshmael’s best friendQueequeg was once a prince from a

South Sea island who stowed away on a whaling ship in search of adventure.

He is a composite of elements of African, Polynesian, Islamic, Christian, and Native American cultures.

He is brave and generous, and enables Ishmael to see that race has no bearing on a man’s character.

Ahab

The egomaniacal captain of the PequodLost his leg to Moby DickHe is single-minded in his pursuit of the

whale, using a mixture of charisma and terror to persuade his crew to join him.

As a captain, he is dictatorial but not unfair. At moments he shows a compassionate side,

caring for the insane Pip and musing on his wife and child back in Nantucket.

Starbuck

The first mate of the PequodStarbuck questions Ahab’s judgment, first in

private and later in public. He is a Quaker who believes that Christianity

offers a way to interpret the world around him, although he is not dogmatic or pushy about his beliefs.

Starbuck acts as a conservative force against Ahab’s mania.

Stubb

 The second mate of the PequodChiefly characterized by his mischievous

good humor.Easygoing and popularHe proves a bit of a revolutionary, always

trusting in fate and refusing to assign too much significance to anything.

Flask

 A native of Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard and the third mate of the Pequod

Short and stocky, Flask has a confrontational attitude and no reverence for anything.

His stature has earned him the nickname “King-Post,” because he resembles a certain type of short, square timber.

Chpts 1-20

“Call me Ishmael…” lends to an air of mystery.

One of the first things we learn about Ishmael is that he is going to sea as a sort of self-annihilation—an alternative to “throw[ing] himself upon his sword.”

Clearly, he writes as a much older and more experienced sailor than he is during the events of the novel.

Chpts 1-20

1. Does Ishmael seem to believe in free will or fate?

2. Chapters “The Pulpit” and “The Sermon”—what is the preacher’s lesson?

The actual chapel and pulpit from the chapel in New Bedford. The pulpit was built after and was modeled after Melville’s description.

Chpts 1-20

The comical process by which Ishmael befriends Queequeg introduces one of the novel’s major facets: the topic of race relations. By developing a relationship with this “savage,” Ishmael shows that he isn’t bound by his prejudices.

A strong bond forms between them.Some critics read the passages about

Ishmael and Queequeg and point to them as supportive proof of Melville’s underlying homosexual tendencies.

However, there is no proof.

Chpts 1-20 Foreshadowing

The Quaker owners of the Pequod care more about Queequeg’s harpoon skill than his religion.

These chapters are filled with foreshadowing and dark imagery. Elijah, who shares his name with the Old Testament

prophet who foretold destruction to the biblical Ahab, tells Ishmael and Queequeg that the Pequod is doomed.

The ship itself is an emblem of death. Named after a tribe of New England Indians killed off by white settlers, it is covered in whale bones and teeth and cloaked in dark paint.

Chpts 1-20 Foreshadowing

Ahab himself, “desperate moody, and savage,” inspires sympathy, pity, and “a strange awe” in Ishmael.

Named for the Israelite king who angers God with his worship of idols, Ahab seems an ominous figure.

His obsession with the whale—a sort of perverse worship—has already injured him corporeally and spiritually, and we sense that the conflict will only heighten.

Chpts 21-40

Sailed out…Christmas Day.What is unusual about the start of the trip?

Ishmael still has not met the captain.Chpt 32 - Cetology is what?

The science of whalesDescribe dinners at Ahab’s table with the officers.

Formal, rigid, quiet, not companionableWhat is the masthead?

The top of the mast where sailors watch for whales. Ishmael acknowledges he daydreams too much to be any good at it.

Chpts 21-40

What does Ahab promise to the one who first spots Moby Dick? a Spanish gold doubloon

Why the vendetta against Moby Dick?Who objects to Ahab’s committed purpose?

Starbuck, first mate, says they came on the voyage to hunt whales, not to be instruments of Ahab’s revenge.

They all drink together as Ahab proclaims, “God hunt us all, if we do not hunt Moby Dick to his death!”

One of the puzzling questions presented by his soliloquy is whether God (not Moby Dick) is the real malevolent agency against which Ahab seeks to strike out.

Chpts 21-40

Note how the characterization of Ahab undergoes more development in these chapters. What are you learning about him?

The second person to take careful notes on is Starbuck, the first mate.  Stubb and Flask are, perhaps, one-dimensional, but also important. Be aware of their attitude toward their work, life in general, and fate.

Chpts 21-40

Chapter 32, "Cetology," is a highly detailed discourse on the various types of whales. Some informal studies show that eight of ten readers who begin reading Moby Dick give up in the middle of this chapter. DO NOT ASSUME THAT YOU MUST "UNDERSTAND" this chapter. You can return to it later if you wish. SKIM TO GET THE IDEA. Keep reading. Your goal is to finish the entire book to have the grand overview.

The discussion of Moby as myth and as fact establishes a major theme—the paradoxical realness of reality. After you have finished the novel, you will be asked to talk about the theme of paradox.

Paradox: a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

Chpts 41-60

Chapter 42,The Whiteness of the Whale, is all about paradox—not just the paradox of Moby Dick, but the paradox of all aspects of Life.

Chapter 46, Surmises, gives deeper insight into Ahab's character and into his thinking processes.  Note his acknowledgement that he has, indeed, overstepped the boundaries of even a captain. What does he know the crew can legally do about the hunt for Moby if he does not take care to prevent it?  What does he intend to do?

Chpts 41-60

What are the “dusky phantoms”? Stowaways (not known by the owners) extra hires by Ahab for

killing Moby Dick. The appearance of Fedallah and his men changes the dynamic

aboard the Pequod. They seem to be ghosts or devils – more foreshadowing.

Recall that Starbuck was the only crew member to object to Ahab's hunt for Moby.

In this section does Starbuck make any plans to prevent the hunt for the one whale? Be aware also, that Starbuck, as first mate, has the legal right and responsibility to take command of the ship if the captain becomes incapacitated (physically or mentally) or derelict in his duties.

Chpts 41-60

The concept of fate, in particular, serves Ahab’s purposes, as he manipulates the crew into accepting that the hunt for the White Whale is their destiny.

Fatalism, the belief in the inevitability of fate, is a perverse comfort to the sailors, enabling them to set aside their fears during times of danger since they believe that what will happen to them has already been determined by an external force. as a gift.

Fate of the Pequod by Stephen Kelly

Chpts 41-60

Foreshadowing The phantom spout The fish that turned away from the Pequod to follow the

Albatross The death of Radney in “The Town-Ho’s Story”

All foreshadow a catastrophic end to the Pequod’s quest.

For Ishmael, acknowledging these signs and coming to terms with the extraordinary dangers of whaling brings a sense of relief. His belief in a predetermined fate lets him appreciate the present, and he comes to consider each new day as a gift.

Chpts 41-60 The “Gam”

GAM. NOUN- A social meeting of two (or more) whaleships; when, after exchanging hails, they exchange visits by boats' crews, the two captains remaining, for the time, on board of one ship, and the two chief mates on the other.

Foreshadowing: Town-Ho's story / doom with Moby Dick

As you have other gams later, Ahab's personality will begin to change.

Review

Go over quizzes 1-2021-4041-60

Chpts 61-86

(61-66) Stubb kills a whale. While the sharks swarm, the men on board fight each other… mirroring the sharks in the water—not so very different.

Stubb harrasses Fleece, the cook, and makes him deliver a sermon to the sharks. Fleece is tolerant at first, then secretly wishes the whale were eating Stubb rather than Stubb eating the whale.

(67-71) The blubber is pealed off the whale in a spiral like an orange.

Chpts 61-86(67-71) The Jeroboam approaches, but because of an

epidemic on his ship, Captain Mayhew speaks to Ahab from his whaleboat.

Foreshadowing: One of his oarsmen, the crazed Gabriel says to Ahab, “Beware of the blasphemer’s end.”

As Gabriel had predicted, the chief mate of the Jeroboam was killed by Moby Dick, whom crazy Gabriel believes to be his Shaker god (while crazy Ahab believes MD is evil incarnate)—interesting irony.

Ironically, the Pequod is carrying a letter for the deceased Macey. When Ahab tries to hand it over, Gabriel grabs it, pierces it with a knife, and throws the knife at Ahab’s feet.

Chpts 61-86

(72-78) Ahab orders the killing of a right whale because Fedallah has told him that a boat with a sperm whale head on one side and a right whale head on the other cannot sink.

The sperm whale’s head is a well of precious spermaceti. Tashtego mounts the yardarm to lower a bucket into the tun and begin bailing out its 500 gallons of spermaceti.

When Tashtego slips and falls into the head, the whole thing falls from the side of the ship. Queequeg jumps into the water, swims to the sinking head, cuts a hole in it, reaches in, and pulls out Tashtego.

Chpts 61-86

Jokes are made about Fedallah being the devil—It is clearly established that he is an evil presence.

Stubb jokes about how Fedallah hides his devil’s tail and how his one tooth is shaped like the head of a snake, but when Ahab steps on deck to view the whale head, Fedallah literally stands in Ahab’s shadow. Figuratively, Fedallah is Ahab’s shadow self.

Chpts 61-86

(79-81) A chase between two whaling ships begins over one large, blind, crippled old bull.

The whale is killed by the Pequod’s harpooners and secured to the Pequod, but the whale begins to sink, pulling the Pequod over sideways. Queequeg manages to cut through the fluke chains, and the whale sinks.

The Jungfrau is no match for the experienced crew of the Pequod. Jungfrau means virgin, and so it is appropriate that she is a “clean” ship, “that is, an empty one.” Her name also suggests the inexperience of her crew, who go chasing after the uncapturable finback. “Many are the Fin-Backs, and many are the Derricks, my friend,” says Ishmael.

Chpts 61-86(82-86) Although there is no definite

answer to the question of whether the spout is vapor or vapor mixed with water, Ishmael maintains it is a kind of mist. Whalemen believe the jet to be poisonous, harmful to the skin, and blinding.

The sperm whale’s tail is 20 feet across and its upper surface is at least 50 square feet. Although the tail is incredibly powerful, it is nonetheless very graceful. The whale uses it for progression, hitting, sweeping, lobtailing, and peaking.

Chpts 61-86(82-86) Ishmael continues to see great beauty

and majesty in the whale. The peaking of the whale’s flukes is “the

grandest sight to be seen in all animated nature. Out of the bottomless profundities, the gigantic tail seems spasmodically snatching at the highest heaven.”

Ishmael also reiterates the inscrutability of the creature. “Dissect him how I may, … I know him not, and never will.” The whale represents the forces of nature, which are destructive, beautiful, and unfathomable.

Review

Go over quiz for chpts 61-86.

Chpts 87-92 Definitions

Fast fish “Alive or dead a fish is technically fast, when it is connected

with an occupied ship or boat…” Moby Dick, chpt 89. Also, if the fish bears any implements from the boat

showing that a crew member intended to capture/kill the fish with the implement.

Loose Fish “…fair game for anybody who can soonest catch it.” Moby

Dick, chpt 89.Druggs

Square of wood fastened to a harpoon by a line. The whale is harpooned, and the wood drags in the water, slowing and tiring the whale.

Chpts 87-92

The Pequod is chased by pirates near the Straits of Sundra.

The irony of the gallied (disoriented) whale scene is that while whalemen slaughter and maim whales, they can at the same time take pleasure in them. Ishmael calls his moments with the cows and their babies “enchanted” and feels secrets of the deep have been revealed to him. The scene also brings together birth and death.

The calm in the center of the gallied whales is symbolic of the soul at peace in the midst of external turmoil. “ … while ponderous planets of unwaning woe revolve round me, deep down … I still bathe me in eternal mildness of joy.”

Gallied Whales

Chpts 87-92

The Rose-Bud chapter provides a good deal of humor.

The name of the stinking ship is, of course, ironic. Stubb’s insults of the French and their captain are

quick and cutting. Without the captain knowing, Stubb calls him a baboon to his face.

Ironically, the captain is so grateful, he offers Stubb a glass of wine.

The final irony is that Stubb tricks the Guernsey-man, who tricked the captain, so he can retrieve the valuable ambergris—a fragrant yellow, waxy substance used in perfumes—from the diseased whale.

Chpts 93-99

Pip is jarred from a boat and caught in the harpoon line. Tashtego grudgingly cuts the line to save Pip and loses the whale in doing so.

Pip is once again thrown into the sea, but this time Stubb leaves him. Pip is later picked up by the Pequod, but his experience has left him mad.

Ishmael is on the helm one night as the fires of the try-works create a hellish scene. At one point, he becomes totally disoriented and a “bewildered feeling as of death” comes over him / foreshadowing.

On a thematic level, Ishmael has been deceived and led to despair by evil on the Pequod, but like a “Catskill eagle,” his soul is able to soar up out of the depths to the true light.

Chpts 93-99

The interpretations of the doubloon emphasize once again the ambiguity of meaning. Each man sees something different in the engravings on the coin. Ahab sees himself, the world, and his journey to

destruction. Starbuck sees the trinity of God. Stubb sees the life of man. Flask sees only monetary value. To Pip it is the navel of the ship; and once it is

taken down, at the first sighting of Moby Dick, the ship and her men will be destroyed.

Chpts 100-108 Study in Contrasts

Captain Boomer from the Samuel Enderby and Ahab are exact opposites. Foreshadowing & Paradox: Boomer sees Moby Dick as “a noble great whale” and wisely advises Ahab, “He’s best let alone.” To Ahab, the whale is a “magnet.”

The two ships also provide contrast. The Pequod, with her pagan crew and mad captain, is the exact opposite of the Samuel Enderby whose captain and crew enjoy a camaraderie which they extend to their visitors. Ishmael himself attests to the spirit of that jolly ship.

Chpts 100-108 Study in Contrasts

Ahab leaves the Samuel Enderby in such haste that he damages his ivory leg / has the ship’s carpenter make him a new one.

Prior to the Pequod’s voyage, he had had another mishap involving his leg. Ahab had been found unconscious, lying

face down, the leg nearly piercing his groin. The wound had not totally healed when the

Pequod sailed, which explains why Ahab kept to his cabin at the beginning of the voyage.

Because Ahab is now wary of any weakness in his leg, the ship’s carpenter fashions him another.

Chpt 109

When a leak is suspected in the oil barrels, Starbuck enters Ahab’s cabin to ask permission to take the barrels out of the hold and find the leak.

Ahab forbids it, for this requires the ship to halt for a week or more.

The two men argue and Ahab points a loaded musket at Starbuck.

Starbuck does not flinch and says, “Ahab beware of Ahab; beware of thyself, old man.”

Later, after some thought, Ahab reverses his decision and orders the barrels hoisted.

Chpts 110-114

Queequeg becomes sick and nearly dies with fever. He orders the carpenter to make coffin, in which he places the iron from his harpoon, biscuits, water, and a bag of earth. He climbs in it, crosses his arms, and asks to have Yojo placed on his breast.

Queequeg recovers , and he makes a sea chest of his coffin and on its lid, carves patterns corresponding to his tattoos.

Ahab asks Perth to forge him a special harpoon. The iron of the harpoon is made of the nailstubs from the shoes of race horses.

Ahab himself forges the shank. The barbs, made from razors, are tempered not in water, but in the blood of Ahab’s harpooners.

Ahab seems to mock the Christian baptismal formula. "Ego non baptizo te in nomine patris," he says, "sed nomine diaboli" ("I baptize you not in the name of the father, but in the name of the devil").

Chpts 115-121

After its gam with the Bachelor, the Pequod kills four whales. Ahab watches as the whale he killed turns its head to the sun, as do all dying sperm whales. Ahab sees this as symbolic of turning to God in death, but considers this a vain activity, since all is lost at that point.

During the night’s watch, Fedallah interprets Ahab’s dream—predictions that make Ahab feel immortal. Ahab must see two hearses on the sea, one made of

American wood and one not made by mortal hands. The Parsee (Fedallah) will die before Ahab, yet will

appear to Ahab after his death. Only hemp can kill Ahab—Ahab believes this means he

will hang (not likely at sea).

Chpts 122-127

Starbuck contemplates killing Ahab with the musket while he sleeps to save the crew from sure destruction.

After Pip is handled roughly by one of the sailors, Ahab swears he and Pip will never part, taking Pip with him into his own cabin.

As the ship nears the Equator, a man falls from the mast and drowns. The life buoy thrown to him proves to be damaged.

The carpenter caulks Queequeg’s coffin to make it into a life buoy. Ahab wants it out of his sight.

We see Ahab turning more to himself (rejecting the science of navigation), relying on his intuition.

It becomes more evident that pride, the classic tragic flaw of hubris (pride/arrogance), will lead Ahab to his downfall.

Chpts 128-132

Captain Gardiner of the Rachel begs Ahab’s help in finding a whaleboat last seen fastened to Moby Dick, in which is Gardiner’s 12-year-old son. Ahab refuses—no humanity left.

Ahab now spends all his time on deck. His silent (but more demonic seeming) companion on deck is Fedallah, who never takes his eyes off Ahab, representing Ahab’s dark self.

Not trusting anyone else to cry out when they see the White Whale, Ahab rigs a basket in which he is hoisted aloft. He trusts Starbuck with the responsibility of watching his ropes.

The gam with the Delight reveals that it lost 5 men to Moby Dick. One is buried at sea before the Pequod gets away.

Ahab tells Starbuck to stay on board and save himself when Ahab lowers for Moby Dick. Guilt over Starbuck’s warning? Admiration/respect?

Chpts 133-Epilogue

Ahab spots Moby Dick first. All boats, except Starbuck’s, are lowered and give chase. Just when it seems the whale has sounded, he rises straight up from the deep below Ahab’s boat and bites the boat in two. Ahab and crew are rescued.

On day two, Fedallah is drawn under in the tangle of Ahab’s line, and Ahab’s ivory leg is broken off.

On the third day, Moby Dick smashes Stubb’s and Flask’s boats. Fedallah is seen lashed by harpoon lines to Moby Dick’s flank.

When Ahab harpoons Moby Dick, the whale tips his boat.

Ishmael falls out, but manages to swim and stay afloat.

Chpts 133-Epilogue

The harpoon line snaps as Moby Dick darts through the water and heads straight for the Pequod.

The whale smashes his forehead into the side of the ship and she begins sinking.

Ahab’s boat is the last one left. He once again throws his harpoon and makes fast to Moby Dick.

The line runs afoul, and as Ahab stoops to clear it, the line catches him around the neck. He is silently pulled from the boat, down into the depths by Moby Dick.

Ishmael is drawn into the vortex of the sinking Pequod. Up from the center of the whirlpool shoots the coffin life buoy.

Ishmael, the sole survivor, floats upon the coffin for a night and day until he’s spotted by the Rachel, “…that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan.”

Chpts 133-Epilogue Analysis

To Starbuck, the whale is a dumb brute simply defending himself. Starbuck pleads with Ahab, “Moby Dick seeks thee not. It is thou, thou, that madly seekest him.” It is Ahab that has imbued the creature with evil.

That there is no single meaning that can be ascribed to the whale is central to the understanding of the novel. What Ishmael has learned from his journey is that nothing is absolute, and in all things are a multiplicity of meanings.

Another thing that Ishmael has learned is that, paradoxically, in multiplicity there is unity.

That Ishmael survives by floating on Queequeg’s coffin reiterates the theme of the brotherhood and interdependence of man. The Pequod and her crew symbolize this important concept: “the one ship that held them all; though it was put together of all contrasting things—oak, and maple, and pine wood” was held together by one long, central keel. Just so “all the individualities of the crew, … all varieties were welded into oneness.”

Themes

Chance vs Fate… Free Will vs PredestinationChoices and ConsequencesDualities / Paradox

Good and Evil – Moby Dick Masculine and Feminine – sky/air is seen as feminine;

ocean and the deep is masculine Hero & Villain – Ahab Whiteness of the whale – indicates Godly purity & ghostly

pallor

Appearance and Reality

Themes

The Deceptiveness of Fate - In addition to highlighting many foreshadowing events, Ishmael’s narrative contains many references to fate, creating the impression that the Pequod’s doom is inevitable. Many of the sailors believe in prophecies, and some even claim the ability to foretell the future. A number of things suggest that characters are actually deluding

themselves when they think that they see the work of fate and that fate either doesn’t exist or is one of the many forces about which human beings can have no distinct knowledge.

Ahab, for example, clearly exploits the sailors’ belief in fate to manipulate them into thinking that the quest for Moby Dick is their common destiny.

Moreover, the prophesies of Fedallah and others seem to be undercut in Chapter 99, when various individuals interpret the doubloon in different ways, demonstrating that humans project what they want to see when they try to interpret signs and portents.

Themes

The Exploitative Nature of Whaling (Racism)- At first glance, the Pequod seems like an island of equality and fellowship in the midst of a racist, hierarchically structured world. The ship’s crew includes men from all corners of the globe and all races who

seem to get along harmoniously. Additionally, the conditions of work aboard the Pequod promote a certain kind

of egalitarianism, since men are promoted and paid according to their skill. However, the work of whaling parallels the other exploitative activities—

buffalo hunting, gold mining, unfair trade with indigenous peoples—that characterize American and European territorial expansion.

Each of the Pequod’s mates, who are white, is entirely dependent on a nonwhite harpooner, and nonwhites perform most of the dirty or dangerous jobs aboard the ship.

Flask actually stands on Daggoo, his African harpooner, in order to beat the other mates to a prize whale.

Ahab is depicted as walking over the black youth Pip, who listens to Ahab’s pacing from below deck, and is thus reminded that his value as a slave is less than the value of a whale.