Questions tagged [moby-dick]
For questions about the novel Moby Dick, by Herman Melville. Use this tag with the [herman-melville] tag.
18 questions
0
votes
0
answers
107
views
Is the concept of "ascent through descent" present in "Moby-Dick"?
I've recently been studying the concept of "ascent through descent" (that is, a form of katabasis prefiguring some later anabasis) throughout different literary works and I was wondering ...
- 91
2
votes
1
answer
176
views
Why did Melville make Queequeg a cannibal?
What is Melville's point in making Queequeg a bona fide cannibal? Is it simply to exaggerate the cultural contrast between the modern and primitive? Most primitive societies weren't cannibalistic, so ...
- 31
2
votes
1
answer
496
views
Why there are no annotations in Penguin English Library edition of "Moby-Dick"?
I recently bought a copy of Moby-Dick belonging to the Penguin English Library Series. I found that at the end of the book, there are no annotations as other versions of the same book commonly do, ...
- 959
5
votes
0
answers
172
views
Are there adaptations of Moby Dick that try to emulate the novel's diverse use of genre/styles?
The novel Moby Dick uses many different genres of writing (most famously the encyclopedia-style chapter on whale types, but also play-scripts, Shakespeare-style soliloquies, sermons, etc.).
Are there ...
- 617
4
votes
1
answer
103
views
Why was "a world" used in this sentence of Melville?
I cannot make much sense of "a world" in the following passage from Moby-Dick:
There’s your law of precedents; there’s your
utility of traditions; there’s the story of your obstinate ...
- 1,625
6
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Melville's chain of thought in the "great democratic God" passage in "Moby-Dick"
I am not a native English speaker. I am struggling with the last few paragraphs of chapter 26 ("Knights and Squires") of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville.
I tried using a dictionary and even ...
- 71
2
votes
1
answer
794
views
What are "deadly voids and unbidden infidelities" in "Moby-Dick"?
From chapter 7 ("The Chapel") of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville:
Oh! ye whose dead lie buried beneath the green grass; who standing among flowers can say—here, here lies my beloved; ye know ...
- 23
3
votes
1
answer
900
views
Bewilderment at "not the smallest atom stirs ..." in "Moby-Dick"
In Chapter 70 (The Sphynx) of Moby-Dick, Ahab states:
"O Nature, and O soul of man! how far beyond all utterance are your linked analogies; not the smallest atom stirs or lives on matter, but has ...
- 1,257
8
votes
1
answer
485
views
Is there a math mistake in Moby Dick Chapter 99?
In Chapter 99 ("The Doubloon") of Moby Dick, Flask comments that the doubloon is worth 16 dollars, and, at two cents a cigar, that will get him 960 cigars. But if each cigar is two cents, then you ...
- 244
17
votes
4
answers
14k
views
What did Melville mean by the "Pythagorean Maxim" in "Moby Dick"?
From Herman Melville's Moby Dick.
For as in this world, head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim), so for the most part the ...
- 593
3
votes
1
answer
406
views
In which editions of Moby Dick is this a six inch chapter?
Towards the beginning of Moby Dick there is a chapter which is dedicated to a character called Bulkington, in this chapter the Author addresses this as a "six-inch chapter"
Wonderfullest things are ...
- 947
6
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Why is Ishmael sometimes seen as an unreliable narrator? Does he ever actually lie in the text?
Related: Does "call me Ishmael" imply that that might not be his real name?
Ishmal in Moby-Dick has sometimes been called an example of an unreliable narrator. Why do some people think that?...
13
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Does "call me Ishmael" imply that that might not be his real name?
The narrator of Moby-Dick famously tells readers to "call me Ishmael." Is this implying that this might not have been his real name? If so, why would he lie about that?
14
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Is there any significance to the races of mates and harpooners in Moby Dick?
To my best knowledge, all four boatmates in Moby Dick are white men from the New England. The boatmates are the men in charge of the small whaling boats.
Ahab - Quaker(?) from New England, possibly ...
- 516
9
votes
2
answers
375
views
Why does Melville call Washington "General" rather than "President"
In Moby Dick, beginning of chapter 10, I read about the resemblance of Queequeg's head to George Washington's:
It may seem ridiculous, but it reminded me of General Washington's head, as seen in the ...
- 193