{"id":1119,"date":"2010-02-28T23:15:58","date_gmt":"2010-03-01T03:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.vassar.edu\/engl177\/?p=1119"},"modified":"2010-02-28T23:20:42","modified_gmt":"2010-03-01T03:20:42","slug":"1119","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/?p=1119","title":{"rendered":"The Sperm Whale’s Head"},"content":{"rendered":"

Great Sperm Whale Video<\/a><\/p>\n

In chapter 74 Ishmael discusses the sperm whale\u2019s head.\u00a0 As with many other discussions of cetology and the business of whaling in this book, Ishmael uses scientific fact to produce insightful metaphors.\u00a0 He opens this chapter: \u201cHere, now, are two great whales, laying their heads together; let us join them, and lay together our own\u201d (295).\u00a0 Ishmael and the reader join their heads together, and the lessons of Moby-Dick<\/em> are imparted to those who are willing to subtilize their minds.<\/p>\n

Ishmael first gives us a sense of general appearance.\u00a0 This is not the awe-inspiring white emptiness of Moby Dick, with elements of divinity and innocence, but rather a dignified old \u201cgrey-headed whale.\u201d\u00a0 It is a proper subject for study.<\/p>\n

Ishmael goes on to a fascinating discussion of the sperm whale\u2019s eyes as compared to a human\u2019s.\u00a0 At first, the whale, with the darkness in between its two windows, seems to be at a disadvantage.\u00a0 But then Ishmael makes an interesting point:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026anyone\u2019s 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\u2014however large or however small\u2014at one and the same instant of time\u2026\u201d (297)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This reminds of the old Indian story of the blind men and the elephant.\u00a0 It has been reproduced many times elsewhere.\u00a0\u00a0 Wikipedia provides a few versions of the story, this one the most succinct:<\/p>\n

A number of blind men came to an elephant. Somebody told them that it was an elephant. The blind men asked, \u2018What is the elephant like?\u2019 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, \u2018The elephant is like a husking basket.\u2019 This person had only touched its ears. Similarly, he who touched its trunk or its belly talked of it differently.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This tale can be read as a parable on Moby-Dick <\/em>and many great literary works for that matter.\u00a0 The book is too large a mass to take in as a whole.\u00a0 The maelstrom of Moby-Dick<\/em> can only be understood by observing one object at a time.<\/p>\n

If this is the case, Ishmael\u2019s description of the whale\u2019s sense of sight has haunting implications:<\/p>\n

True, both his eyes, in themselves, must simultaneously act; but is his brain so much more comprehensive, combining, and subtle than man\u2019s, 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?\u201d (297)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oh, what a loathsome lot, to be born such a lesser creature than the fearsome Leviathan!<\/p>\n

Ishmael, in his discussion of the size of the whale\u2019s sensory organs, gives the readers a hint to understanding life with their limited ability of sight.\u00a0 He says that enlarging a whale\u2019s eyes or ears is totally unnecessary, considering its proposed superiority to humans in that regard.\u00a0 He tells us: \u201cWhy then do you try to \u2018enlarge\u2019 your mind?\u00a0 Subtilize it\u201d (298).\u00a0 \u00a0Melville, in studying whales and whales only, discovered themes, characters, and drama that seem to refer to all of human experience.\u00a0 He is a perfect example for us.<\/p>\n

\"Each

Each man sees a different creature.<\/p><\/div>\n

(New York: Oxford University Press, 2008)<\/p>\n

http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Blind_men_and_an_elephant<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Great Sperm Whale Video In chapter 74 Ishmael discusses the sperm whale\u2019s head.\u00a0 As with many other discussions of cetology and the business of whaling in this book, Ishmael uses scientific fact to produce insightful metaphors.\u00a0 He opens this chapter: \u201cHere, now, are two great whales, laying their heads together; let us join them, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-or-cetology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1119"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1123,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions\/1123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}