Moby Dick

Descartes decided that “I think, therefore I am.” Ishmael believes that in order to think, one must first be, and in order to think well, one must be well as well. By examining the tradition of fasting, Melville connects ideas that are spiritual (religion) with a basis in the physical world, suggesting that the mind has a physical place in the body and treating the idea of the “mind” in a scientific way.

After Queequeg has spent days and nights fasting, Ishmael tries to discourage him from partaking in an activity which he perceives to be “stark nonsense; bad for the health; useless for the soul; opposed, in short, to the obvious laws of Hygiene and common sense”(83). (I thought it was intersting that Hygiene was capitalized here, as if Melville would like to emphasize the hygiene is just as important as the religions that get capitalized.) Melville writes that

fasting makes the body cave in; hence the spirit caves in; and all thoughts must necessarily be half starved. This is the reason why most dyspeptic religionists cherish such melancholy notions about their hereafters. In one word, Queequeg, says I, rather digressively; hell is an idea first born on an undigested apple-dumpling; and since then perpetuated through the hereditary dyspepsias nurtured by Ramadans. (83)

Melville writing is suggestive, and he makes makes use of the idea of cause and effect, which is scientific in nature. If the body caves in, he writes, then the spirit caves in as well, implying that the body and spirit exist together, and that the state of one affects the state of the other. Melville recognizes that our existance has a physical, scientific basis in addition to a spiritual one.

 Melville’s tone funny and sarcastic here (“hell is an idea first born on an undigested apple-dumpling.” ) He suggests that the mind and body are connected, that the spirit has a physical manifestation, and that our physical states also affect the mind. In this way, he adds science to religion; there would be no religion if we are not in a condition to believe in it, he suggests.

Melville, Herman. Moby Dick. New York: Signet Classic, 1998.

Melville, who was not a scientist, frequently utilizes scientific justifications and explanations in the first few chapters.  Reading this today, it’s interesting to see what was considered acceptable or at least normal culturally in terms of scientific thought.  For instance, during one of Ishmael’s Queequeg observation sessions, he comments that Queequeg’s “head was phrenologically an excellent one.” (44) Ishmael then compares busts of George Washington to Queequeg, which adds to his preexisting positive impression since Washington evokes images of new hope, national glory, and victory!  Of course we know today that Phrenology is a form of scientific racism with no grounding whatsoever, but it’s interesting to hear Ishmael, who probably doesn’t know much about science or pseudoscience, mention this.

The type of thought process Ishmael uses here to describe Queequeg depicts the protagonist as someone with great judgment who will seek the silver lining even if it takes some effort.  Although Ishmael spends plenty of time discussing the more “barbaric” features of Queequeg as well, he does so in a tone that emphasizes hope and positivity:

“Through all his unearthly tattooings, I thought I saw the traces of a simple honest heart; and in his large, deep eyes, fiery black and bold, there seemed tokens of a spirit that would dare a thousand devils.  And besides all this, there was a certain lofty bearing about the Pagan, which even his uncouthness could not altogether maim.  He looked like a man who had never cringed and never had a creditor.  Whether it was, too, that his head being shaved, his forehead was drawn out in freer and brighter relief, and looked more expansive than it otherwise would, this I will not venture to decide; but certain it was his head was phrenologically an excellent one.  It may seem ridiculous, but it reminded me of General Washington’s head, as seen in the popular busts of him… Queequeg was George Washington cannibalistically developed.” (44)

Ishmael describes Queequeg in a whimsically philosophical tone here with metaphors that, based on prior and later descriptions of the amazing Queequeg, all seem completely reasonable and consistent with his character and intentions.

Melville, Herman.  Moby Dick. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Herman Melville begins Moby Dick with a vocabulary lesson on the word “whale,” and follows this with a series of literary references to this famous creature.  While he cautions the reader that we “must not, in every case at least, take the higgledy-piggledy whale statements, however authentic, in these extracts, for veritable gospel cetology” ( xxiii), they do contain what sounds like scientific information about whales.  Much of this information comes from recordings of voyages taken by various explorers around the globe.  However, there are also references that come from great literary works such as the Bible, Shakespeare, and Paradise Lost.

These excerpts elevate the whale from being a mere animal to an entity whose history is intertwined with humanity’s.  Giving us the translation of “whale” in different languages also implies that this creature has an important place in cultures all over the world.  I would like to know his source for the Hebrew translation though.  As far as I can tell, חר means “hole,” or biblically “lord,” and the word for whale is actually לויתן, which is “Leviathan” in English.

These early pages prepare the reader for the importance of the whale in the main part of the novel.  Though the long introduction takes place primarily on land, whaling is present in many aspects of the lives of residents of New Bedford and Nantucket.  The Spouter-Inn is decorated with the accoutrements of whaling, and the bar is shaped like a whale.  Even the pulpit at a local church resembles a ship.  The chaplain gives a whale themed sermon retelling the story of Jonah who is swallowed by a whale for disobeying God.  Queequeg, Ishamael’s new harpooner friend, uses his harpoon to shave in the morning.  These details display ways in which whaling can truly enter into peoples’ ways of life.  Ishmael seems to understand this melding as he himself has a very close relationship with the sea, and goes to it for a form of catharsis.

Ishmael describes his affinity for water in the opening pages, but also implies that all men are innately drawn to the sea.  Men who work in offices every day at some point leave and “must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in” (2).  This connection between men and the sea, and between humanity and whales, acts as foreshadowing for the rest of the novel.  After the long introduction, the plot will continue away from land and become increasingly concerned with the act of whaling and man’s fascination with the whale.

Melville was not a scientist, and yet he reveled in details regarding the science of whales and whaling. He also considered philosophy a science, as did most of his nineteenth century peers. This group’s posts will consider how passages or events in the novel might reveal Melville’s thinking about the science of whales, of the sea, of humankind, and can also consider how his philosophical cogitations might be attempts at scientific explanation (of human motivation, or of humanity’s relationship to whales and the natural world). Another possibility: how does science seem to fall in line with, or oppose, or mingle with, the aspects of religion in this novel? How does Melville write about religion and science together?