Feb 24 2010
Implications of Masculinity in “The Whiteness of the Whale” and “Leg and Arm”
From reading Moby Dick in high school, I always remembered “The Whiteness of the Whale” as my favorite chapter because of the eloquence of Melville’s writing. Is this chapter perhaps the best study in prose of a single color, ever? He explores the imagery and symbolism of whiteness across various references in various settings. Most importantly for this class and this topic, “The Whiteness of the Whale” helps readers to understand classifications of masculinity and how gender functions in the novel.
For Ishmael, this chapter is his announcement of the most horrifying attribute of the whale– its whiteness: “It was the whiteness of the whale that above all things appalled me” (168). Whiteness is associated with “majesty” and the “divine,” but also “panic,” “dread,” and the “ghastly.” The color and the significance of the color become gendered by Ishmael: he links whiteness to men. Firstly, he notes that various nations “have in some way recognized a certain royal preeminence in this hue; even the barbaric old kings of Pegu placing the title ‘Lord of the White Elephants’ above all their other magniloquent ascriptions of dominion; and the modern kings of Siam unfurling the same snow-white quadruped in the royal standard; and the Hanoverian flag bearing the one figure of a snow-white charger; and the great Austrian Empire, Caesarian, heir to overlording Rome, having for the imperial color the same imperial hue….whiteness typifies the majesty of Justice in the ermine of the Judge, and contributes to the daily state of kings and queens drawn by milk-white steeds” (168). Absolutist monarchies of the past were propagandized by rulers as divine, or divinely acquired; so white, as a “symbol of the divine spotlessness” according to Ishmael, is an appropriate color to characterize those in power (168). White is associated with hegemonic patriarchy, which includes male-ruled politics, male-governed justice, and male-monitored religion. It is the color that represents the regality, wisdom, and all-out might of men.
Ishmael offers a contrast, that white is also linked to “the innocence of brides,” and thus their purity and virginity (168). This is an important acknowledgement because white can take on multiple forms and is not wholly male-owned or masculine in tone. But in the realm of men, it is attached to those who hold absolute power and may be prone to acts of terror and cruelty (…as we know that absolute power corrupts absolutely). Just as the King of Prussia rules over his land – and nation states have historically been referred to in the feminine, France and England and Russia described by historians through pronouns “she” and “her” – the white, male Moby Dick rules over his feminized sea.
The metaphor and symbolism of the color white can naturally be extended to race. As is evident through the hierarchy aboard the Pequod, the white men have control over the brown, ethnic, “othered” male. Ishmael notes that “this pre-eminence in [whiteness] applies to the human race itself, giving the white man ideal mastership over every dusky tribe” (168).
Ishmael uses other articulate references to describe the elusiveness and awfulness of white, including the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The White Mountains and, more specifically, Mount Chocorua (their tallest peak), were habitually depicted in landscapes by the artists of the Hudson River School in the mid-nineteenth century. These artists believed in painting landscapes as evocations of the sublimity and divinity of nature, and thus the White Mountains were entirely appropriate as subject matter.
Based on Ishmael’s description, white is also associated with redemption: “in the Vision of St. John, white robes are given to the redeemed” (169). This phrase calls to mind the ivory white stub of Captain Ahab; perhaps the reader can infer that his artificial leg symbolizes his survival and redemption. He had fought Moby Dick, and while scathed, he carried on after the confrontation. Similarly, the captain of the Samuel Enderby from London, who we meet in Chapter 100, “Leg and Arm,” possesses an ivory white arm after he lost his real arm in a treacherous rendez-vous with the white whale. Moby Dick is characterized in this chapter as an “old great-grandfather” with “a milky-white head and hump, all crows’ feet and wrinkles” (391). The English captain also describes him as “the noblest and biggest” whale he ever saw (392). This depiction adds to our understanding of whiteness: the whiteness of the massive monster enhances his aura of wisdom, nobility, regality, and strength. Moby Dick’s tail is “like a marble steeple” that came down and ripped the captain’s boat completely in two, shredding it into splinters, when he met face-to-face with the most awful and impressive force of the sea (392).
But there is a clear difference between these two captains. The Englishman has clearly learned his lesson for acting over-aggressively and is now ready to retreat, vowing to focus his travels on capturing smaller whales and to never again target the enigmatic white whale: “‘he’s welcome to the arm he has, since I can’t help it, and didn’t know him then; but not to another one. No More White Whales for me; I’ve lowered for him once, and that has satisfied me. There would be great glory in killing him, I know that; and there is a ship-load of precious sperm in him, but, hark ye, he’s best let alone; don’t you think so, Captain?’ – glancing at the ivory leg” (395). Ahab does not think so. In contrast to the English captain, the white whale is still Ahab’s magnet. Thinking about pursuing Moby Dick causes his blood to boil and his heart to pulse so furiously that the planks aboard the Samuel Enderby beat in rhythm, as a man named Bunger says, surprisingly eloquently (395). Ahab continues to feels utterly emasculated by Moby Dick, to the point that it has driven him mad. He is not satisfied by his ivory white leg and does not accept the artificial walking substitute as a good enough redemption. He wants full revenge. This chapter reveals an emasculating moment in which Ahab has to awkwardly and clumsily transition from the Pequod to the Samuel Enderby – this being the first time he has set his peg leg aboard another ship besides his own. Despite the English captain’s warning, Ahab continues to be bitterly and madly driven in the pursuit of the white male to reassert his masculinity and experience the pride of killing the thing that no one else has managed to kill. But the reader can infer that Ahab’s ambition for revenge will inevitably end in his destruction.
“‘And I’m thinking Moby Dick doesn’t bite so much as he swallows’” – the Englishman (394). Gulp.
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This is a really great post, very interesting to read. While I was aware of some of the symbolism associated with the colour white, I was unaware of how extensive it was. After reading this, it made me realize how much it adds to the meaning of Moby Dick’s whiteness.
It also made me think of how the colour white is often also used to symbolize remembrance and reverence. White roses are also commonly used at funerals and memorial services, perhaps with the intent to represent this remembrance and reverence, but as a result, they are sometimes associated with death and sorrow. I don’t know if this was intentional or not, but the association of Moby Dick with death and sorrow is also quite appropriate for the novel.