Review by: Samantha M. Chandler
This book. There is so much going on and so much to love. The characters, the plot, the writing style, the beauty and history of the whale, race, life lessons, foreshadowing, and the symbolism. I don’t even know where to start to be honest because it feels like dissecting this book does Mr. Melville’s work a total disservice, but I don’t know any other way to write about it. So, let’s dive into the deep abyss of these topics and float into our own adventure of understanding Moby Dick.
First of all, this book is beautiful. I read the Barnes and Noble's Classics edition which is a total of 710 pages long. I chose this edition because it has super helpful footnotes to help understand the history of the period, historical references, and some famous people who I had no idea existed. I also chose this edition because there was an excellent timeline in the beginning to help conceptualize what was happening around Melville. The introduction by Carl F. Hovde was fantastic to help prepare me for the depths of this book. However, I was most impressed with the definitions portion of the book because sometimes I would be swept up in jargon and have to wonder what in the hell I just read! This book is meant to be read for depth and not for breadth. I highly recommend this book, 10/10 would and will read again. Also, I followed along to the reading of Moby Dick on a free YouTube channel. Listening to someone else read it allowed me to really enjoy the book, hear more of the poetic writing, easily keep the characters separated, and just feel like I was living on this epic adventure.
Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg84olIrn-k&t=61976s
Quick summary
It is told from the perspective of this gentleman called Ishmael (famous line alert: “call me Ishmael).” Ishmael decides he is going to board the ship called The Pequod to go whale hunting. He’s having a bit of a mid-life crisis. Little known to him and the crew (Queequeg, Tashtego, Dagoo, Flask, Stubb, Starbuck, and others) at the beginning, they are going to become obsessed like their fearless and insane leader, Captain Ahab, in chasing after the famous white Sperm Whale called Moby Dick. Moby Dick is the reason Capt. Ahab has a false leg, and he wants his vengeance on the whale who took it.
Why Did I Love This Book?
Just like many other readers think, this book is scary to look at. First, it is a classic meaning there is a whole bunch of stuff that must really be analyzed and reflected upon. I caught myself asking this question over and over as I read it, “Why did Melville write it like this?” I mean it was clear that as I read it I thought “Why did he write that in 5 paragraphs when that could have been said in 4 sentences?” Second of all the actual story itself is a whopping 655 pages not including the helpful appendices. Third of all, it is written in a way kind of Shakespeare meets Lovecraft style. Lovecraftian (is this a word? It is now) in the fact that there is some cosmic horror and Shakespearian with his similar writing patterns and characters. It was like Shakespeare and Lovecraft had a love child and I became the cool aunt that was witnessing their work growing up.
Okay, if none of that sunk your heart and made you want to run away perfect. It is a challenging book. I will be the first to admit that. Sometimes I had to reread paragraphs, pages, and sometimes even whole chapters. But the writing is gorgeous. Melville wants you to use your senses, he wants you to feel the emotions, and he wants you to understand the life of a whaler and all of their beautiful knowledge. It is long-winded. And sometimes it feels like I was reading poetry, but this complex writing style opens up thousands of ways to interpret this wonderful work of art. I really love the fact that at points of the book I was thinking to myself “wow I am learning so much about whales!” and then the next moment I was like “what the holy fuck of voodoo witchcraft?! Melville, you sneaky bitch, you were actually teaching me about all of the things of what it means to be human, the world, and connections to the universe. LIKE ALL OF THE THINGS.”
There were points I had to put down the book and walk away and think about something because it hit a nerve so deeply. I felt like at times I was watching a magician. The writing style was really unique and not like anything that I have read. It would sometimes be told from the perspective of the main character Ishmael, sometimes it was told from someone else’s perspective, other times it read like a historical essay, and then sometimes it read like a play (almost emphasizing the drama). There are so many parallels between the whaling industry and human life and I think that was a major theme Melville was trying to give that access and wisdom to his readers.
Chapter 69 is called The Funeral and that one just kind of hit home for me. This chapter is about how after the crew has cut into the whale, they let it go (this being called a funeral). The only living things that mourn this animal are the vultures and the sharks. The whale carcass floats away from the boat. Later, other boats see this whale and avoid it because their ginormous bodies are mistaken for rocks or shoals. The ships make note of this large obstacle by putting it on their boat maps to avoid that area.
I had to reread this chapter because I came to this conclusion which kind of slain me: even though the whale is dead, just like when it was alive, it still puts fear into humans!!! This hit hard for me because I am surviving against PTSD. I tend to want to avoid the things that instill fear in me. I could go on for days about parallels and connections, but I don’t want to give too much of the book away!
I particularly enjoy water life. I love the creatures of the deep. I am a person that if I could live underwater I would. It is so beautiful, magnetizing, and majestic. Everything just slips away from me. This book let me live that journey. It had the history of whaling, the cetology of whales, what parts of the whale was used for what, and whales in historical writings written by others. This was a holy shit classic Shakespeare moment. Involving other influences and experts' thinking. Just beautiful. It was so well intertwined in the reading as to not overwhelm the reader but give them this amazing background knowledge and understanding of the giants of the deep.
There are some parts of the reading in which I felt like I was reading essays on whales in various contexts. I found it completely fascinating that they were in the voice of Ishmael but written with this academic flair. I will admit that sometimes I had to reread them because I forgot what type of whale I was reading about or I would have to look up some information to understand what I read. They are super interesting though and I was so impressed with learning how each part of the whale was used so as to not waste as much as possible. It reminded me not only of Native American culture, but of my Grandpa.
When telling a few people that I finally finished Moby Dick, they laughed and said “Why did you read that? The story is there is crazy captain, takes the ship out, tries to kill a whale, and then people die. Oh, and there is this guy called Ishmael who tells the story. The moral of the story was to not chase what you can’t obtain.”
Well, my answer is going to go into the deepest part of the ocean. First of all, you just literally tore my heart and soul into pieces by that awful summary. HOWEVER, what if I mentioned that there are cannibals, there is a crazy captain who convinces his crew to kill a vicious white whale (after they are 1,000s of miles from the port because hidden agenda), there are some hints of LGBTQIA diversity (I am by no means an expert but there were some moments I was like dammmnnnnn that is some homoerotic tension for sure), race, brotherhood, WHALES, survival, man vs. nature, QUEEQUEG (did I mention him yet?! because he is the shit), comedy, peg limbs (yes, there is another character with a peg arm!), equality, murder?! and I am pretty sure that Herman inserted himself into this book at times because at some points I had no idea who was talking. I mean that would have been easy to do because he used to be a sailor and a whaler. He was able to add his real-life experiences to this book. That should make anyone want to pick up this fracking book. I mean you had me at cannibals and whales! I absolutely love this book because it focuses on cetology and characters (being a D&D player I love the leveling up and backstories, so this was really engaging for me).
Also, as a teacher, when I say the word essays, I instantly hear groans and also think of them as boring. I think Melville did a spectacular job of integrating the historical essays into the plot of the book. I cannot imagine reading all of the essays in the beginning, middle, or end of the book. Melville placed them strategically so that I could understand more about the whale and also use that information to help me float through later chapters and reflect on previous chapters. Like I mentioned earlier, I did have to stop at times in the reading to reread certain chapters. Some of these were the essay like chapters because I knew that information was placed there for a reason, I just didn’t know why yet.
Characters
Can we just stop and talk about characters finally? The characters in this adventure epic are phenomenal and so well rounded. Oh. My. Gosh. Seriously. The characters reminded me of a lot of Shakespeare and how he wrote. There were the villains (Moby or Ahab) (I’d like to pose Ahab because Moby was a whale and was just enjoying his beautiful life as a whale and was made to be the villain), you have the comics (Stubb, Pip), Ishmael and Herman himself were the Lovers of whales), and heroes (Queequeg and Starbuck). But they are strong, complex characters that you get to really know, you can relate to something in each of their stories, and even though they are sailors they talk to you in a way that is understandable and relatable in the human life.
There is Ishmael (which sometimes I question if he is the main character/ narrator, a crazy captain (Captain Ahab) who doesn’t appear for the first like 25ish chapters, a first mate named Starbuck, there is second mate Stubb, Flask, the harpooners named Queequeg, Tashtego, and Dagoo, and Fedallah, a blacksmith named Perth, a carpenter (has a special purpose), and Pip the cabin boy. Lastly, Moby Dick. I mean he is mentioned in the title so I cannot forget him!
Ishmael, Ishmael, Ishmael. He is supposed to be the narrator. However, he kind of removes himself somehow from the story at points and it’s like he was able to watch and hear things that he shouldn’t have been able to know. Like the scene where Captain A is sleeping and Starbuck holds a gun in his hand after an argument with the Cappy. It was just the Captain and Starbuck in those quarters. How did Ishmael know about this?! OooooOOOooOooOoOOOoO! Also, in some chapters (especially near the end) Ishmael isn’t there. Where the hell did he go? WHERE IS HE?! This is a theme I see in the book. People come and go in chapters. But you know who else comes and goes in some chapters? THE FUCKING WHALE! That whalllllleeeeee duuuuddeesssss!!!! And Ishmael. They both disappear and reappear throughout the book. Shit man, that’s a revelation. Oh shit, and then there was a ship, the Rachel that appears, disappears, and reappears. Oh my gosh. I need to reread this book.
He seems timid of new things, but he is interesting in the fact that he is willing to have an open mind and tries to understand that person, culture, or idea. I find his knowledge of whaling and the world interesting and would find myself reflecting quite a bit on these particular characters' noticings. I can definitely feel how Ishmael suffers, sees hunting whales as violent, and the sorrows he has of whaling, but he and the reader are well aware that this is his paycheck. He uses this adventure as a way to analyze and add knowledge to Cetology.
Okay, so Captain Ahab has one leg, which was taken by the mysterious White Whale. This guy and his quest to kill Moby Dick pretty much take hold of the plot and storyline, but he is definitely interesting all right. This quest to kill Moby Dick is really Ahab on this quest for vengeance which leads him on the rails of the crazy train (or shall I say the waves of the crazy boat). This kind of leads me to relate to Shakespeare’s writing because it is really the idea of a person slowly destroying their own lives, but still Lovecraftian (I mean what’s scarier than coming face to face with a giant beast which metaphorically is everything Ahab sees wrong with the world).
Starbuck is the first mate of the Pequod and he holds a special place in my heart. He is this major follower of Ahab. I got the sense that he was kind of lost throughout most of the journey. He never argued with Ahab until he had a moment with him on the ship (the really touching moment where they looked into each other’s eyes) and told Ahab he wanted to go home to his family. He is one of the only people to try and stand up against crazy Captain Ahab and tell him that chasing Moby Dick is really a bad idea. I felt like this was Starbuck standing up for the other brainwashed crew members as well.
Stubb, the second mate honestly pisses me off. His character is supposed to be seen as humorous, but he is super racist. I honestly couldn’t stand the dude. I hated how everyone on the boat seems to see each other as equals, but he really doesn’t do that, especially with the cook or Pip.
Flask is the third mate. He is a young, short guy who is eager to fight. His character made me feel like there was and always has been beef between him and the majestic leviathans of the deep.
Finally, I get to talk about Queequeg! This dude is tight as shit. First of all, he is a headhunter and cannibal from Polynesia. He has tattoos all over, speaks very little English, is black, and teaches Ishmael to be more open-minded. This is simply another reason that I love this adventure novel. Melville was trying to demonstrate that all people are just that, people. It doesn’t matter your race, your past, yadda yadda, what matters is everyone is on equal ground. That was really apparent especially when Melville describes how men have to die (metaphorically) to be reborn on the whaling ship. That is also seen in the chapter mentioned later in the character of Tashtego below.
Normalizing people and their differences. That was a huge moment while reading that made me just revel in all of the glory of this book. Besides Stubb being a douche canoe, everyone is on the same level of brotherhood and survival. I love at the beginning of the book where Ishmael and Quee meet and have to share a bed because all of the rooms are occupied. This then turns into a blooming bromance and can be seen as a marriage between the two later.
One of my favorite moments in the book where Queequeg thinks he is going to die, so he has a coffin made for him. However, he then wills it that he cannot die because he has one last thing to do before death and he is miraculously healthy again. I loved this part. It was truly funny, queer, and shocking. Queequeg is the shit. Nuff said. (Also, I can’t go into too much detail about the coffin because it is a major spoiler, but THE COFFIN, YO!
Tashtego is a Wampanoag Native American harpooner. A favorite story of him is when he falls into the whale’s head. That is a story you will just have to read for yourself. But there is a lot of great information and parallels in this story.
Dagoo is this huge African harpooner. I think he was a part of Flask’s boat.
Oh, Fedallah. This has to be my second favorite character. He is Ahab’s secret harpooner and his spiritual guide. He is an ancient Indian of the Zoroastrian faith and lived in China at one point. He is a character that is not introduced at all for some time because he is actually hidden beneath the deck for some point of the book. He is a super-spiritual human being who only goes on deck when whales are to be killed. I think at one point the rest of the crew thinks he is secretly the devil. He predicts how our favorite ol' cappy will die. Is he right? I guess you’ll have to read the book!
Perth is the ships’ blacksmith. Perth’s story is really tough for me to read because it is super relatable to anyone that has had a relationship of any form with an alcoholic. It was his story of how alcoholism destroyed his life. His main role was to create the harpoon that would destroy the White Whale.
Pip is an African American cabin boy. He is pretty weak compared to other boys his age. Cabin boys stay on the ship while the others go after the whale. However, at one point he is to go out in Stubb’s boat (the racist asshole). After this voyage, Pip does not return the same.
Okay, so the whole book is named after a whale… meaning we should probably talk about him as a character. The life lesson of the whale is pretty present throughout the whole book. You will drive yourself crazy (AHAB) if you keep seeking something you shall never have (MOBY DICK). It eventually will lead to your demise.
But wait, that’s not all! I really think the whale symbolizes different things to different crew members and myself at different times. Each character has a different view of this whale. Ahab’s view of the whale represents the evilness of the world and all of the suffering. For some of the crew members, I felt like Moby symbolizes God. Moby Dick is a leviathan that has been brought up in legends, some people have seen him, others haven’t, and it is their pursuit to have a chance to meet this God of the seas. I felt like for many of them, it was a way to see if this whale exists if God exists. I truly don’t think they were interested in killing the whale. That was Ahab’s whole motive and end goal. However, I think the crew’s goal (or especially Ishmael’s because of his love, respect, and want of understanding for whales) was to just simply do their job and be in the presence of The Whale.
In conclusion, READ THE FRACKING BOOK.
