Response Journal Week 4 - Kalil

These chapters serve to reinforce the conflict between the concrete and the abstract. In The Affidavit, Ishmael (presumably) ironically states, “So ignorant are most landsmen of some of the plainest and most palpable wonders of the world... they might scout at Moby Dick as a monstrous fable, or still worse and more detestable, a hideous an intolerable allegory” (172). Because the book has thus far had an abundance of philosophizing and allegorical symbolism, it is hard to take this at face value. Therefore it seems more likely that this reinforces the idea that Moby Dick is representative of either a god or demon figure, or even simply evil itself. This conflict is affirmed in the narrative structure too, which flits between deeply philosophical, plot advancing, and simply a list of facts about whales.

This conflict is also important in Captain Ahab's attempts to find the whale. Because he personified the whale as intelligent, and because of the crew's belief in the whale's mystical powers of ubiquity and invincibility, it is hard to treat it as merely an animal. Instead, it is elevated to godhood, which makes the idea of predicting its location almost absurd. Ahab is applying a science to a god, which is blasphemous (chapter 44).

Initially, Ishmael was more than simply a narrator, he was an actively involved character, yet as the book goes on, he has become less and less directly involved in the plot. While this is partly a result of him being a loner, it is odd that the character who seemed to be the most important during the first few chapters, has all but faded out of view. However, in chapter 49, the Hyena, we once again get an injection of Ishmael's worldview. He still appears oddly detached (he laughs at their situation though they all nearly died), but suddenly he does something. He brings his own morbid feelings back into the novel by rewriting his will, and suggests that he has already died, and has now risen. Thus, he has no fear of death, and continues his stoic acceptance (189).