In chapter 82,
“The Honor and Glory of Whaling”, Ishmael reveals his admiration for historic
whalers. He talks of the stories of Perseus, St. George, Hercules, Jonah, and
Vishnoo. As the name of the chapter suggests Ishmael believes there is great
honor and glory in whaling, and he uses these mythical stories as justification
for his belief. He suggests the fact that whales live and are caught in the
ocean makes it a more heroic task; “Any man may kill a snake, but only a
Perseus, a St. George, a Coffin, have the heart in them to march boldly up to a
whale” (285). While his images depict whaling in such a heroic light, I fail to
see what is so glorious and heroic about it. While I understand that whaling is
an extremely difficult and dangerous task, they are not fighting off whales that
threaten their community, or predators endangering the lives of their families.
They are simply hunting. They spend months chasing whales only to brutally kill
them, for no purpose but their own economic gain.
The way Ishmael
tells these mythical stories also gives an insight into what he thinks is
important in storytelling. Ishmael focuses on the parts relevant to his point,
and twists stories to suit the message he is trying to make. For example he
claims the dragon St. George killed was actually a whale. If he can claim a
dragon was actually a whale it makes me wonder what else he thought it was appropriate
to change. This throws much of the novel and the mythical stories he had told
about Moby-Dick into doubt.
The way he criticizes
the people who look for the truth in these myths suggests he places less value
on truth when trying to make a meaningful point. He might believe that a story which
strays from the truth, or embellishes it, is ok because of the message it conveys.
In chapter 83, “Jonah Historically Regarded”, he talks of the criticisms of the
story of Jonah and the whale. He disregards Sag-Harbor’s ideas which go against
the story, but argues for the reasons why it is true. While some argued a man
could not survive in the gastric juices in the whale, Ishmael chooses to believe
the arguments that Jonah stayed in the mouth of the whale, or took refuge in a
dead whale. He seems so desperate to believe this story is true, that he
disregards some explanations in favor of more unrealistic ones.
I like how you point out that whaling cannot really be considered heroic, for the simple reason that the whalers are not protecting anyone from whales. Should not a heroic task involve someone being saved? Another good point showing how Ishmael manipulates the stories he tells. However the fact that he shares with the reader that he is indeed changing the original story gives him some credibility. If he told the reader once that he was changing a story I do not see why he would not tell the reader every time he stretched the original story to fit his criteria.
ReplyDeleteYour post makes a good point about how Ishmael twists stories to bend them into his narrative and into his belief systems. Kaitlyn's right, too: he always tells us what he's changing and why, or at least we think he is.
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