Moby Dick

         The cetological references, details, and discussions in the first twenty-one chapters of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick are somewhat limited. The whaling voyage that Ishmael is going to embark on has not yet set sail, and thus Ishmael has not come in contact with any live whales.

            Not surprisingly, Ishmael’s attraction to whaling and to the ocean is very much intertwined with an interest in whales. He states that

“Chief among these motives [for whaling] was the overwhelming idea of the great whale himself. Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my curiosity. Then the wild and distant seas where he rolled his island bulk; the undeliverable, nameless perils of the whale…” (Melville, 6).

As a member of a whaling expedition, Ishmael’s responsibilities will revolve around the killing of whales. In spite of this, he seems to have respect for them.

            There are few direct physical descriptions of whales that could be viewed in a scientific light. Ishmael describes the wide, “vast arched bone of the whale’s jaw” (Melville, 12) and “the long sharp teeth of the Sperm Whale” (Melville, 67). However, these are essentially the extent of the cetology that is included in the first twenty-one chapters of Moby Dick.

            The main scientific passages in this first section of the book arise more from the workings of Ishmael’s mind than from the science of whales. There are many instances in the beginning of the novel where Ishmael’s thought processes come close to following the patterns of the scientific method. For example, at the Spouter Inn, Ishmael spends time thinking of how and where he should sleep. He thinks of several possible methods, tests one, and tries another when the first does not work. This process is also followed when he makes his presence known to Queequeg (Melville, 16-23).

            Ishmael also seems to be prone to quietly making observations about the events and people around him. His observations of Queequeg and Queequeg’s culture/religion can be categorized as anthropological observations.

            At the beginning of the novel, Ishmael ponders man’s natural and innate attraction to water – “Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged into his deepest reveries – stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water…” (Melville, 2). While this is foreshadowing of Ishmaels journey to and on the sea, this insight also has a biological base. Water is necessary for survival, and it is very likely that humans and other animals have an instinctual desire and ability to find water. The fact that the attraction to water is biological also establishes just how strong this attraction is. Ishmael proceeds to include many references to the ocean, to ships, and to whales, and the continuity and abundance of these references, in conjunction with the mention of the attraction to the sea, serve to convey the message that Ishmael’s journey to the ocean is inescapable.

            At the end of the twenty-first chapter, the whaling ship is preparing to depart. The remainder of the novel will likely include many more cetological and scientific references.

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