Final Words on Whales

Moby Dick has repeatedly challenged the ideals of the times about whales. It first started with the accepted view, but through Ishmael changed into a more humane, retrospective view on the role the whales play and how they should be classified. Do they feel? Should they be treated as a living being, such as deer, would on land? Are they better than the men who hunt them? All of them questions that have been brought up time and again. Up until the ending, they really did seem the better being, just living life and having that robbed when a harpoon made the critical fatal shot, but having Moby Dick being a mass murderer changes the final impression.

He was hunted down and attacked multiple times by different whaling ships, but is he any better than the men hunting him since he too is a murderer. His actions at the final point seem to be in hopes of saving his own life, but it looks bad on the whales as much as on Ahab. The harpoon ships were the aggressor, not so much the ship. He attacked as a beast from legend would, reinforcing the idea of the time that whales were fantastical monsters lingering in the sea waiting to kill hapless individuals who are just trying to make a living. Did Melville do this on purpose?

Taking into account the way people felt about whales, Melville could have written this in so the audience would still be willing to read and understand what the book was portraying. It could also be a final way for Melville to connect the whales to the humans. Moby Dick’s final act is one of vengeance against those who would hurt him, which is a very human emotion and act. So, does the act truly misrepresent the whales, putting them in a monster-like light, or does it pull together one last string, making the whales a reflection of humans.

Codes on Land and Sea

Generally on land, the rules of hunting are very distinct on who is hunted and who is left alone. Women and children are off-limits and considering that they are the foundation of the species, determining if it will continue or not, this rule is understandable. In the sea, the rules are changed and almost the opposite. The women and children become the prime pray, while the male whales are feared and avoided. Why would there be such a difference and does it make the hunters at sea more barbaric than those on land?

            Continually Melvin brings up the question of who is the true villain, whale or man, and as the story of Moby Dick goes on, the perceptions from the start, the heroes being the crewmen, shifts slowly. The whale hunters are described more and more as vicious hunters, who look at the money versus the life they are taking. In having them go after the weak and young, Melvin may be adding to the idea that the whales are the victims and the hunters are the savages. Also, as discussed in class having the women go back for the whales that have already been snagged creates a strong contrast to the sailors, specifically Stubb, who abandon their shipmates because it is safer for them. Another question that might arise from this is, money is a great determinate, but how do the hunters come to terms with going against something that is universally accepted on land?

Humanizing Whales While Making Villains Out of Humans

During the last chapters of Moby Dick, Ishmael’s stance on whaling has seemed to change drastically from scientific to emotional. He begins to discuss whales in terms of different shapes, such as the sperm whale, which is more dignified and the right whale, which is more misshapen and less refined. In classifying them more on characteristics instead of scientific observations, the whale themselves take on more of a personality, thus becoming more a friend than a subject. Also in the chapter “Funeral”, the slaughter of the whales is depicted as an act of cruelty and a feeling of remorse and sadness is taken away from the chapter instead of a feeling that this practice is needed for advancement and civilization to continue. When Ishmael connects the blubber to skin, the ways become more human than mystery. In addition, considering it cannibalism to eat the whale meat gives the impression that whales should be seen as more than a resource, as a living being that deserves to live.

            Now, if the whales are being depicted as more human, having souls and such, what does that make the humans who hunt them, especially Stubbs and Ahab? Do they become the villains? When Stubbs makes a point of eating the whale he killed even though everyone else on the ship refuses to, he becomes the sharks that eat the whale carcass in a sense. He is nothing more than a predator, which by some of the crew is lesser and inferior, a savage. Also, if Moby Dick is somewhat human, Ahab’s obsession with killing him is an obsession with committing murder against another “human” and morally conscience men would consider that wrong. These beliefs can come together to make hunters, especially Ahab and Stubbs, the savages while the whales are the innocents.

Destiny: Excuse or Truth

          Throughout the beginning voyage of the Pequod, multiple members of the crew refer to destiny and the idea that there is no turning away from it. Ahab in particular believes that it is his destiny to kill Moby Dick as it was Moby Dick’s destiny to disfigure and mutilate him, specifically in taking his leg. Other crew members accept this belief, especially Stubb, and are willing to go along with Ahab’s fool-hearty plan of revenge because of it. Is this belief actually a truth for each man or is it an escape from responsibility?

            Ahab claims to have had his future told to him and is only following what he believes to be the way things are meant to be. The way in which he discusses his revenge and the overwhelming drive of it states otherwise though, it seems more of an obsession with Moby Dick instead of an accepted knowledge that it is meant to be. Would he need to be full of anguish and work so hard if it was set in stone? In bribing the crew with the gold doubloon and having the ritual of binding, Ahab is ensuring that the crew will work with him, but if it was destiny, he wouldn’t need to convince them since it was always meant to end that way. Also, in believing it is destiny, Ahab can remove all guilt that might plague him because destiny has taken away the responsibility of it. The men who die were always meant to die, thus he is not to blame.

            Stubb also buys into the idea of destiny versus the overwhelming presence of obsession with Ahab. He speaks out against Ahab for pushing the men so hard, but the moment Ahab makes to fight him, Stubb retreats. Later he has a dream and decides with advice that it is better to be dominated by Ahab than to fight back. Following this idea, Stubb might have decided to believe in destiny because it is easier to believe that than the truth which is that he is a coward, especially since he wants everyone to believe he laughs in the face of danger. In comparing him to Ahab, both men more likely believe in the idea that destiny removes responsibility more than the idea of destiny itself.