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Chapter XII - Biographical

Chapter XII - Biographical

Ishmael learns that Queequeg is the son of a King. He is a prince who desired to understand the world better, so that he might help his people to be happier and stronger, so he sought to go whaling to explore the rest of the world.

Sounds like a man made of solid stuff, if you ask me. :)

There is a tragic little moment, that is SO true in life, when Queequeg found that even so-called Christians were wicked. So, he gave up and decided he'll remain a pagan. What's the difference?  Isn't that true though? There are so many false Christians out there - and that is what the world sees. Why would they want to learn about Christ or follow the Lord's path? They see the wickedness of the people who only attend on Sunday (if even) and proclaim themselves better than all others.

But that is not Christianity. Melville summed up quite nicely something I believe strongly - good Christians need to shine their light. We are commanded to do so. Don't be afraid of the world. Yes, hate and persecution will come, but live your life right and shine your light and you have nothing to fear. The world cannot harm a soul protected by Christ. :)

...if thereby he might happily gain the power of enlightening his untutored countrymen. For at bottom—so he told me—he was actuated by a profound desire to learn among the Christians, the arts whereby to make his people still happier than they were; and more than that, still better than they were. But, alas! the practices of whalemen soon convinced him that even Christians could be both miserable and wicked; infinitely more so, than all his father's heathens. Arrived at last in old Sag Harbor; and seeing what the sailors did there; and then going on to Nantucket, and seeing how they spent their wages in that place also, poor Queequeg gave it up for lost. Thought he, it's a wicked world in all meridians; I'll die a pagan.

And finally, Queequeg has decided to sail with Ishmael. They shall take the journey together.

Happy is me. :)

Chapter XI - Nightgown

Chapter XI - Nightgown

This is the most perfect description of bliss to me. I agree wholeheartedly! It is best to sleep when the room is cold and you are bundled up in a blanket. Love it!

We felt very nice and snug, the more so since it was so chilly out of doors; indeed out of bed-clothes too, seeing that there was no fire in the room. The more so, I say, because truly to enjoy bodily warmth, some small part of you must be cold, for there is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself. If you flatter yourself that you are all over comfortable, and have been so a long time, then you cannot be said to be comfortable any more. But if, like Queequeg and me in the bed, the tip of your nose or the crown of your head be slightly chilled, why then, indeed, in the general consciousness you feel most delightfully and unmistakably warm. For this reason a sleeping apartment should never be furnished with a fire, which is one of the luxurious discomforts of the rich. For the height of this sort of deliciousness is to have nothing but the blanket between you and your snugness and the cold of the outer air. Then there you lie like the one warm spark in the heart of an arctic crystal.

I also love how Melville used this example to explain how one can not truly understand joy unless they understand pain. Everything has an opposite. Balance is the basis of all creation. Praise the Lord!

And isn't this an interesting idea:

...whether by day or by night, and whether asleep or awake, I have a way of always keeping my eyes shut, in order the more to concentrate the snugness of being in bed. Because no man can ever feel his own identity aright except his eyes be closed; as if darkness were indeed the proper element of our essences, though light be more congenial to our clayey part.

I also tend to close my eyes to concentrate and think. I used to get in trouble in school because I could focus on lectures better with my eyes closed. My teachers always thought me sleeping. ;) Of course, if they had watched me fully, they would have realized I only closed my eyes for moments at a time. I mean, how do they think I took notes? I always had pages of them. I suppose I was an enigma to my teachers. :)

The really interesting idea though is this: darkness for our souls and light for our bodies? What do you think?

Perhaps the 'darkness' is the place we go to think...a meditative state where there are no distractions, like shadows or colors - just pure thought. And the light is when we experience what we feel....the presence of everything - sights, sounds, tastes, etc... When we close our eyes and just think and sit quietly with our own souls, we are not active. But when we have our eyes open and the light is let in and all the world is before us and we experience it. We reach out and touch it and we are active. Two sides to a person...the spirit side and the physical side. Both are important to do God's will. Both are important to take our journeys.

hmmm, something to ponder. :)

Chapter X - A Bosom Friend

Chapter X - A Bosom Friend

I adore this chapter! It's a lovely description of the budding friendship between Ishmael and Queequeg. Also, it's a beautiful thought about how people may seem very different, but at the heart of things, we are all the same. We love, we hurt, we wonder, we dream. :)

I love how Ishmael describes Queequeg -

Here was a man some twenty thousand miles from home....thrown among people as strange to him as though he were in the planet Jupiter; and yet he seemed entirely at his ease; preserving the utmost serenity; content with his own companionship; always equal to himself. Surely this was a touch of fine philosophy...

Lovely. :)
 
And I love that Ishmael touches on the idea that the only true way to reach inside someone's soul and show them who you are, is to join them in their place....go to them...don't preach at them. Don't demand of them. Respect and understand THEM and they will, in turn (hopefully), respect and understand you. Then truth shall be found. :)

Do you suppose now, Ishmael, that the magnanimous God of heaven and earth—pagans and all included—can possibly be jealous of an insignificant bit of black wood? Impossible! But what is worship?—to do the will of God—that is worship. And what is the will of God?—to do to my fellow man what I would have my fellow man to do to me—that is the will of God. Now, Queequeg is my fellow man. And what do I wish that this Queequeg would do to me? Why, unite with me in my particular Presbyterian form of worship. Consequently, I must then unite with him in his...

The description of Queequeg's is rather funny....always makes me giggle:

Queequeg was George Washington cannibalistically developed.

Chapter IX - The Sermon

Chapter IX - The Sermon

Quite simply, a wonderful sermon about Jonah. Appropriate, being that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Every time I read this, I do have a little chuckle though....what are the odds that Ishmael would attend the one Sunday that the chaplain spoke about Jonah and the Whale - or does the chaplain give the same sermon every week? ;)  Or I suppose we could assume that the chaplain chose this sermon specifically for the men going on the upcoming whaling voyage. :)

No, but seriously, it is a very good sermon. I don't think I need to go into detail about it, because "Father Mapple" explains himself very well. I hope Ishmael was listening though. ;) It was an excellent sermon to hear before leaving on a whaling trip. And, if you've never really sat down and read the story of Jonah, this is a nice outline.

I do like the message and I've chosen a few of my favorite quotes that sum up the message for me.

Favorite Quotes:

But all the things that God would have us do are hard for us to do—remember that—and hence, he oftener commands us than endeavors to persuade. And if we obey God, we must disobey ourselves; and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God consists.

And here, shipmates, is true and faithful repentance; not clamorous for pardon, but grateful for punishment. And how pleasing to God was this conduct in Jonah, is shown in the eventual deliverance of him from the sea and the whale. Shipmates, I do not place Jonah before you to be copied for his sin but I do place him before you as a model for repentance. Sin not; but if you do, take heed to repent of it like Jonah.

Woe to him who seeks to please rather than to appall! Woe to him whose good name is more to him than goodness!

I have striven to be Thine, more than to be this world's, or mine own.

What I took away from this chapter and sermon:

1. Obeying God is difficult. In order to obey God, we must disobey ourselves...our own sin nature. In the world today, so many people talk about "there's nothing wrong with it, it's natural. This is who I am, this is how I was born. It's wrong to tell me that my natural self is wrong!" This (among many other verses) is a great example of a lesson in sin nature. Yes, we are naturally a certain way. But God asks us to fight our nature and do what He asks.
2. We should strive not to sin, but we are weak and certainly will sin from time to time. In those times, it is important to repent. And repent correctly. It must be from a place of humility and true understanding of the wrongs done. God doesn't listen to the words you speak...He listens to your heart. You cannot hide what is in your heart.
3. If you truly follow the Lord and shine your light, you will not please everyone. Some will persecute you. They will hate you for what you have to say. Will you endure this for the Lord?  What is more important to you - eternal salvation or finite Earthly contentment?
4. Strive to belong to God. Do not strive to belong to yourself by fulfilling every whim and desire you have. Do not strive to belong to the world by saying and doing what they want you to say. Belong to yourself and the world and your reward will be fleeting. Belong to God and your reward will be eternal.
   

Moby Dick: Chapter VIII - The Pulpit

Chapter VIII - The Pulpit

This is one of those chapters that high school students complain about. ;) An entire chapter describing the pulpit where the chaplain stands to preach.  So, what is the point?  Well, we could get into a long discussion of deeper meaning, but, as I said before, I'm not really here to do that.  From time to time, I might share what it means to me, but you can go to an interpretation or critical analysis of the book for more about deeper meanings. :)

What does this chapter mean to me? Well, in its simplest form, it is a beautiful description of a small church in a whaling community. I love the description Melville gives in Moby Dick. It is one of my favorite things about the book. I think examining and observing the environment around you is so important in life. I've traveled quite a bit and every time I've found myself someplace new, I have been sure to take a careful look around. What do the houses look like? What do the streets look like? Are they immaculately clean, lived-in, or rotted and broken? It says so much about a community to look at how the members of the community take care of the environment around them. In respect to churches, I find it very interesting to see different churches.  Not only do they give you a good indication of how wealthy/poor the members/community is, but also what things are most important in the community.

This town is a whaling town, and the church reflects that. Not only is whaling how they make their living, it is also how they understand life and make sense of things.  Every person has their own barometer for making sense of the world. :)

Favorite Quote:

Yes, the world's a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; and the pulpit is its prow.

I'm back!!

So sorry for no posts! I forgot my log in information! LOL  And, also, we had some deaths in the family and some illness, so it's been rough. But, I'm back and I'll be posting more regularly from now on. :)

No posts you say?

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten this blog!  This month has turned out to be INSANE! :) Bad news, good news, a new job, huge blizzard...it just goes on and on. So, I think, since it isn't slowing until after the first of the year, I'll have to put this blog on hold until January. So, look for new posts in 2010! :)  More adventures on the high seas to come! :)

Moby Dick: Chapter VI - The Street & Chapter VII - The Chapel

Sorry for the delay! It's been a super busy week! Job interviews, holidays, funerals.  whew.  It's refreshing to be back with Ishmael.  :)  Shall we?

Chapter VI - The Street

This is another short chapter. I like it because it's a wonderful description of a city street.  What Melville is good at is describing things in such a way that you really feel like you are there.  :)

Queequeg fits right in in New Bedford. ;)  There is a real variety of people there, of course, considering it is a port town.  What I get from this chapter is that Ishmael is entranced with the town.  The women are the most beautiful.  The weddings are the most elaborate.  The people are the most interesting.

And we get a nice chuckle with Ishmael about the newbie sailors in their fancy, tailored outfits.  ;)

Favorite Quotes:

"In summer time, the town is sweet to see; full of fine maples—long avenues of green and gold."

"And the women of New Bedford, they bloom like their own red roses. But roses only bloom in summer; whereas the fine carnation of their cheeks is perennial as sunlight in the seventh heavens. Elsewhere match that bloom of theirs, ye cannot, save in Salem, where they tell me the young girls breathe such musk, their sailor sweethearts smell them miles off shore, as though they were drawing nigh the odorous Moluccas instead of the Puritanic sands. "

Chapter VII - The Chapel

Love love love this chapter.  It's really quite beautiful and tragic at the same time.  As is death.  A Sunday service in a place like New Bedford isn't all cheer - it has the sadness of loss too.  I love that Queequeg goes to church too.  Just another little interesting thing about him.  Ismael almost gives a eulogy in this chapter, but then at the end, he says the most beautiful thing:

"Methinks my body is but the lees of my better being. In fact take my body who will, take it I say, it is not me."

Ah! Gorgeous.  Yes, the physical body and our short life on this Earth...it is nothing compared to eternity.  We will be lifted up and given glorious new bodies and live forever with our Lord.  Don't mourn the dead - praise God for the time you had with them.  Enjoy your life and if you've lived it a God fearing person, a repenting person, a believing person...you will have great things awaiting after physical death.  Death is only a new beginning.

So, I agree with Ishmael:

"...come a stove boat and stove body when they will, for stave my soul, Jove himself cannot."

Moby Dick: Chapter IV - The Counterpane & Chapter V - Breakfast

Chapter IV - The Counterpane

The "counterpane" - this might be one of the more difficult words to understand. To me, it sounds like a window adornment or something, but it's actually the word for a comforter or bedspread or quilt.  :)

What a sight to see - big Queequeg with his tattooed arm draped over Ishmael, affectionately hugging him.  Heehee. :)  I think Melville did a great job describing the phantom hand experience.  I've had moments like that - between waking and dreaming and your not sure what's real or not.  I think perhaps Ishmael was feeling the weight of his stepmother's hand while he slept. Parents have to discipline, but do feel bad about it.  And, parents are known to watch their children sleep. ;)  But, regardless - the creepy, dream-like way Melville describes the phantom hand is really well done.  I think he achieves that feeling of unease that we all know at one time or another. :)

The rest of the chapter is a description of how Queequeg readies himself in the mornings. It's quite interesting...at least to me.  I love description passages (and Moby Dick is full of them). :)  We gain some insight into Queequeg, nothing too deep, but enough to have a better understanding of the man standing before Ishmael.

Queequeg is still rather 'savage', but also a little civilized.  He wears boots (though he prefers putting them on in private under the bed, lol) - which Ishmael points out.  Queequeg seems to have some manners and civility about him.  There is still the matter of communication - so we can't yet (through Ishmael), ask Queequeg why he does the things he does, but observation can tell you a lot. :)  Queequeg shaves with his harpoon.  To me, this is more a sign of a man that is efficient, and less a sign of a man who is 'savage'.  No need for extra items or silly frivolities...just the bare necessities.  It's also nice that Queequeg gave Ishmael some privacy to get dressed - another sign that he has a bit of civility in him.  Whether it's from traveling with 'civilized' men as a harpooner, or some other unknown reason, it's hard to say at this point.  :)

We also learn a bit about Ishmael.  We already know it, but this chapter proves that Ishmael is a very curious person.  And he's fairly open minded.  He wants to understand Queequeg better.  A prejudiced or fearful man would simply say "you are a savage, this is not the way things are done!", but Ishmael is willing to observe and let Queequeg be himself.  Although Ishmael admits that staring at Queequeg (especially after Queequeg offered to give Ishmael privacy) is a bit rude - Ishmael can't stop watching.  But he's not watching and saying 'What is wrong with you??"...he's watching to learn.  Two different things.

This chapter serves to give us a better understanding of Queequeg, but it also serves to set up the relationship between the two men.  They already have a sort of respect for each other.  And whaling voyages are lonely.  Ishmael doesn't know anyone - but now he knows Queequeg.  It will be interesting to see if they gravitate toward one another in the future, now that they have this acquaintance.

Favorite Quotes:

"For though I tried to move his arm—unlock his bridegroom clasp—yet, sleeping as he was, he still hugged me tightly, as though naught but death should part us twain."

"Seeing, now, that there were no curtains to the window, and that the street being very narrow, the house opposite commanded a plain view into the room, and observing more and more the indecorous figure that Queequeg made, staving about with little else but his hat and boots on; I begged him as well as I could, to accelerate his toilet somewhat, and particularly to get into his pantaloons as soon as possible."

"Thinks I, Queequeg, this is using Rogers's best cutlery with a vengeance."

Chapter V - Breakfast

A short little chapter - introducing the rest of the sailors at breakfast.  Ishmael sees the landlord and doesn't get upset with him about Queequeg.  He goes on to say that laughter is a good thing - if you can laugh at yourself and you can't allow others to have a good laugh, even at your expense, then you are missing out on a great thing in life. :)

I like that there is a brief explanation of Queequeg having dinner.  Ishmael doesn't spend to much time on it though, as if to say "it fits in his character...nothing too shocking here." lol  Queequeg is at the head of the table - probably looking quiet fierce and royal in his tattooed and tanned skin and beaver cap.  And he has his harpoon with him...which he uses to obtain his food from the far edges of the banquet style table.  Rather amusing - yet also it seems to imply that perhaps Queequeg is an important man.  He seems very at ease.

Favorite quotes:

"A curious sight; these bashful bears, these timid warrior whalemen!"

"But that was certainly very coolly done by him, and every one knows that in most people's estimation, to do anything coolly is to do it genteelly."

Moby Dick: Chapter III - The Spouter-Inn

This chapter is best read out loud.  It really adds a lot if you read it to yourself with the proper accents of the Landlord and Queequeg. :)  This chapter is a bit of a comedy and a horror story and a mystery all in one. :)

First, we are treated to a detailed description of the entry way.  The entire place is described as being much like an old ship.  There is an odd painting on the wall in the entry that unnaturally steals all of Ishmael's curiosity.  Right along with Ishmael, I want to know what that painting represents, so I go on the journey of discovery with him.  I love his theories as to what the painting could mean, ranging from the theory that it was a simple painting of a gale on the Black Sea to a deep and philosophical theory that the painting was the breaking up of Time itself.  The things that a man's imagination can create...  ;)

Also in the entryway is a wall of weapons - ghastly, old weapons with rich stories attached to them.  A wall of death to greet you. Nice.  ;)

In the main room, there is much description given of the furniture and the design of the bar (a whale's head).  I love that Ishmael describes the tapered glasses as deceptively cheating and robbing the drinker of drink. hehe ;)

The rest of the chapter is basically about Ishmael's 'plight' of having to share a bed with another person - specifically a mysterious harpooner.  I love how he goes back and forth in his mind about the whole idea of it.  Ok, ok, I can share a bed with him.  Well, as long as he's a decent sort of fellow.  No, no, he's out much too late, he must not be a decent fellow at all....etc...  It's comical how Ishmael works himself up about it.  He's like a child who just doesn't want to go to bed and fights it all the way, even though he's falling asleep whilst fighting.  :)  I love that the Landlord KNOWS that Ishmael is gonna freak the heck out when he meets Queequeg, but he acts like it's no big deal (though, grinning the entire time).  It's probably some of the best entertainment the Landlord has had in a while, watching this gentle Ishmael fret about a head-peddling harpooner.  *giggle*  :D

There is also a description of a brawny, tanned, Southern-born, seaman who comes into the Inn, having just stepped foot on land from a long voyage.  Though it's a brief introduction to him, I'm just as interested as Ishmael is with him.  He's a quiet, mysterious fellow and I look forward to learning more about him. :)

When Ishmael finally decides to go to the room and sleep, he lallygags around and thinks and then thinks some more.  He realllllly doesn't want to share a bed with some harpooner who keeps late hours and peddles embalmed heads.  But, he resigns to the inevitability of it (though he does talk himself into the idea that the harpooner might just not return to the Inn that night) and gets in bed.

The hilariousness that is Ishmael observing Queequeg when he arrives...I just can't explain how it tickles me.  Obviously, it would be a strange thing; can you imagine having to share a room - a bed - with a strange man? AND a large, oddly decorated man with an embalmed head in tow and a large harpoon nearby?  Yeah, I'd be nervous too.  ;)  Ishmael's state of mind goes from curious to terrified (over nothing, honestly) and finally, to an odd feeling of comfort.  There is an understanding between the two strangers - which is so enduring.  Queequeg was as frightened of Ishmael was Ishmael was of Queequeg - isn't that the truth of life?  We are frightened of what we don't know, of what we don't understand - but guess what...those new, mysterious people are just as frightened of us. ;)  We are as different to them as they are to us.  It's a good lesson to remember while going through life. :) 

My favorite quotes from chapter 3:

"A boggy, soggy, squitchy picture truly, enough to drive a nervous man distracted."

"But stop; does it not bear a faint resemblance to a gigantic fish? even the great Leviathan himself?"

"With heads to be sure; ain't there too many heads in the world?"

"For all his tattooings he was on the whole a clean, comely looking cannibal."

"Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian."

"I turned in, and never slept better in my life."