Moby Dick

Despite the temptation to write about the science of squeezing sperm out of whales, I’m choosing to discuss the dismal science. Chapter 97, The Lamp, is less than a page long and describes how whaling ships are always alight underneath the main deck because of the prevalence of lamps and oil. Whalemen enjoy light in dark places when such a possibility is considered expensive and luxurious by the rest of society. Melville makes the point that the whaleman “goes and hunts for his oil, so as to be sure of its freshness and genuineness, even as the traveller on the prairie hunts up his own supper of game.” (381)

While this may seem reasonable at first glance, basic economics should indicate that a commodity as valuable as whale oil should still not be used so profligately. Despite its abundance, it still commands a high price outside of whaling vessels. The following quote addresses whale oil’s scarcity, which should correspond to a high price. “In merchantmen, oil for the sailor is more scarce than the milk of queens. To dress in the dark, and eat in the dark, and stumble in the darkness to his pallet, this is his usual lot.” (381)

One justification for this profligacy is that these whalers live a dangerous lifestyle and thus discount the future more than people with safer jobs. Such an attitude would cause the crew to live exorbitantly today at the expense of future comfort that could be enjoyed through the proceeds of selling the oil. We should note though that the whalemen do not get to enjoy many other comforts at sea so they may actually value light more highly than we think.

The above two explanations are “rational.” I think in this chapter however, that Melville is making another reference to the devil-may-care attitudes that characterize much of the crew (i.e. Stubb and Flask). These guys already decided to abandon reason when they followed Ahab after he announced his true intentions about the Pequod’s voyage. Ahab did wait to reveal his true intentions but the crew could have mutinied if they thought the mission sufficiently dangerous. Burning the equivalent of money for a small gain doesn’t seem like such a stretch given the crew’s history.

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

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