Day Forty-Seven

5/18

The Book: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

ISBN: 978-1-59308-018-1

Suggested By: Patrick Garcia

Where: Home

When: 8:15-8:45P

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 179 - 236 (57)

The Lead In: I remember when I told Randy Monty that I was reading this book he laughed and said wait till you hit the science sections. I guess I can see that now. I think that it doesn’t hurt the book, so much as give an insight into Melville’s technique. The man obviously researched the hell out whaling before writing this book. The pages reek of both book knowledge and old fishing stories told in bars in Massachusetts.

The 411 on the 55: The lesson on whales continues for another couple of pages, and then the politics of the boat begins to emerge. Ahab is the captain and the mood of the other sailors is dictated by his. He is a bit of a specter on the ship, hovering and scaring the beJesus out of everyone. The 3 mates on the ship, Starbuck, Stubb, and Flask, all operate in tightening spheres of responsibility and respect. Each must acquiesce to his superior, (specifically in this chapter) in order of rising from the dinner table.

After the dinner description there are four chapters (37-40), the first three are set as soliloquies, Ahab, Starbuck, and Stubbs. The fourth is scene written as a play, with parts separated in play style, marked for each character, without description of setting. Very  interesting, from my point of view, to see a writer use multiple construction techniques (prose and play).  

Then the story of Moby-Dick. It begins with Ahab offering a gold coin to the man who spots the whale. His madness is apparent as he raves about revenge for his leg. Later, Ishmael hears the real story of the terror of the White Whale (Moby-Dick’s alternate name). Bashing and destroying so many whale-ships that he bristles with broken harpoons. Basically, he is the badass of all whales and Ahab wants him dead.

Line of the Day: “God keep me from ever completing anything. This whole book is but a draught - nay, but the draught of a draught. Oh, Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience! pg 182

The Fact on the Fiction: On Chapter 38: Dusk: ““Dusk” is the third of five chapters written somewhat as a play. The first of this sequence of chapters dramatizes Ahab convincing his crew to chase the white whale. The four subsequent chapters follow the thoughts of four entities on the ship — Ahab, Starbuck, Stubb, and the crew. Each character stands at a different station, progressing from stern to bow. Starbuck stands by the mainmast at the center of the boat, and serves in his thoughts as the center of reason on the Pequod. In one way, I think writing the chapters as plays emphasizes the dramatics of Ahab’s persuasion — five chapters, five Shakespearean acts. More importantly, though, I think Melville used the play format to pull Ishmael out of the modernist narrator’s seat, so the reader can see perspectives on Ahab’s quest that are unfiltered and unprocessed by Ishmael.” CallMeIshmael.org