Feb 28 2010
The Sperm Whale’s Head
In chapter 74 Ishmael discusses the sperm whale’s head. As with many other discussions of cetology and the business of whaling in this book, Ishmael uses scientific fact to produce insightful metaphors. He opens this chapter: “Here, now, are two great whales, laying their heads together; let us join them, and lay together our own” (295). Ishmael and the reader join their heads together, and the lessons of Moby-Dick are imparted to those who are willing to subtilize their minds.
Ishmael first gives us a sense of general appearance. This is not the awe-inspiring white emptiness of Moby Dick, with elements of divinity and innocence, but rather a dignified old “grey-headed whale.” It is a proper subject for study.
Ishmael goes on to a fascinating discussion of the sperm whale’s eyes as compared to a human’s. At first, the whale, with the darkness in between its two windows, seems to be at a disadvantage. But then Ishmael makes an interesting point:
“…anyone’s experience will teach him, that though he can take in an undiscriminating sweep of things at one glance, it is quite impossible for him, attentively, and completely, to examine two things—however large or however small—at one and the same instant of time…” (297)
This reminds of the old Indian story of the blind men and the elephant. It has been reproduced many times elsewhere. Wikipedia provides a few versions of the story, this one the most succinct:
A number of blind men came to an elephant. Somebody told them that it was an elephant. The blind men asked, ‘What is the elephant like?’ and they began to touch its body. One of them said: ‘It is like a pillar.’ This blind man had only touched its leg. Another man said, ‘The elephant is like a husking basket.’ This person had only touched its ears. Similarly, he who touched its trunk or its belly talked of it differently.
This tale can be read as a parable on Moby-Dick and many great literary works for that matter. The book is too large a mass to take in as a whole. The maelstrom of Moby-Dick can only be understood by observing one object at a time.
If this is the case, Ishmael’s description of the whale’s sense of sight has haunting implications:
True, both his eyes, in themselves, must simultaneously act; but is his brain so much more comprehensive, combining, and subtle than man’s, that he can at the same moment of time attentively examine two distinct prospects, one on one side of him, and the other in an exactly opposite direction?” (297)
Oh, what a loathsome lot, to be born such a lesser creature than the fearsome Leviathan!
Ishmael, in his discussion of the size of the whale’s sensory organs, gives the readers a hint to understanding life with their limited ability of sight. He says that enlarging a whale’s eyes or ears is totally unnecessary, considering its proposed superiority to humans in that regard. He tells us: “Why then do you try to ‘enlarge’ your mind? Subtilize it” (298). Melville, in studying whales and whales only, discovered themes, characters, and drama that seem to refer to all of human experience. He is a perfect example for us.
Each man sees a different creature.
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2008)
One Response to “The Sperm Whale’s Head”
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Andrew,
I appreciate your connection to the Indian tale, and your insight into the text of Moby Dick. It is true that there is much to unpack and examine about this novel; that Melville has embedded many much of his philosophizing within and throughout the language. I particularly enjoy his simultaneously fantastical and scientific descriptions of whales. He seems at once to be writing from the experience of observance and also with very poetic and philosophical intentions. Surely, this speaks to the text’s durability and to its literary depth.