Response Journal Week 4-Amani

Our reading for this week starts off with Chapter 42, narrated by, as Gabi pointed out, an unknown narrator. The narrator, most likely Melville, seems to know much more than about whaling than Ishmael. He talks about experiences that neither Ishmael nor Melville ever experienced. It may be Ishmael recounting his experience to the reader, however, that is not consistent with the previous passages that have been told in present tense. Ishmael’s (as the narrator) knowledge throughout the book has varied with Melville’s assistance at certain points. On page 178, in “Surmises” Ishmael is able to explain what’s going on in Ahab’s mind. Melville is clearly playing a role here. 

In “The Whiteness of the Whale,” Melville describes the significance of the symbolism that is represented by the color white. He explains that although white can be associated with purity and good things, it possesses a mystical terror. Melville describes white “as not so much a color as the visible absence of color...it is the “all-color atheism” (165). This symbol of whiteness is seen in the following chapters and seems to represent the divinity of God that is not just good but also terrifying. The whiteness of the whale or divinity of the whale represents some deity that frightens Ishmael. “Besides, when making a passage from one feeding-ground to another, the sperm whales, guided by some infallible instinct--say, rather, secret intelligence from the Deity...with one tithe of such marvelous precision” (167).  

The deity guiding this whale may be fate. In “The Affidavit,” Melville seems to be convincing or warning the reader of how dangerous whales, mainly sperm whales, are. From the stories he tells us, it seems like those who interrogate or purposely attempt at attacking the whale will not only fail but will be pursued and destroyed by the whale; those who accidentally hurt the whale are unharmed. The whale, depicted by Melville, is not just an animal; it is directed by some form of supreme being. 

I thought Chapter 44, “The Chart” was interesting because Melville allowed the reader to learn more about Ahab, one of the most fascinating characters of the book. Ahab has a split mind; which can be categorized as his conscious and subconscious. His subconscious, free from his “mind,” reveals itself when Ahab attempts to sleep, it is tormented with “insufferable anguish” (169). His conscious is “a kind of self-assured, independent being of its own.” Melville hints at Ahab’s blankness or whiteness in both this chapter and other chapters to come. When Ahab’s mysterious crew appear, they are characterized with ghostly qualities. Melville connects Ahab to Prometheus, a tragic hero: “he [Ahab] whose intense thinking thus makes him a Prometheus; a vulture feeds upon that heart forever, that vulture the very creature he creates” (170). Ahab’s conscious mind creates his subconscious mind. His own thoughts create his torment. Ahab, like the heroes of Greek tragedies, will be the cause of his own destruction.