Okay first off the videos have very little to do with the actual book; they are basically there for my own amusement.
I definitely enjoyed this more than the Blithedale Romance. The characters especially are more likable. In the Blithedale Romance; the narrator is kind of annoying; I would go as far as to say very annoying. However in Moby Dick; the narrator Ishmael is much more likeable; possible because he isn’t constantly telling us he is likable.
One of the main things I love about Moby Dick is the relationship or, to quote a brilliant term brought up in class today, bromance between Queequeg and Ishmael. The two characters form a bond that is both awesome and a little confusing. We feel the need to constantly question it; are they just friends? Although I couldn’t help thinking that if the two were girls instead of boys would we question it as much? The relationship between the two characters could be described as that of a married couple. They share a bed; they look after each other and there is a sense of them both sharing moments that could almost be described as intimate. Although it seems as though Melville knows we will question this relationship but does not wish to clear up the confusion. He or Ishmael never address the oddness in how close the two characters are.
Another point in the story that I found interesting was the absence of Captain Ahab for the first few chapters. His presence in the story is huge but Ishmael and the reader never actually see him. Although we went through some of the possible reasons for the absence it still just doesn’t sit right with me. Maybe it’s just in hindsight; the reader or even someone who has actually read the book; can go back and say there were all these warning signs and Ishmael should have picked up on them. Also the case that no one seems to realise that he’s not exactly right in the head; and I get that he is a very charismatic character. However it just seems strange that only one person questions him; the rest of the crew take having to make an oath in their stride. Again hindsight is a wonderful thing but surely that wasn’t common place; there can’t have only been one person who thought, wait a minute this isn’t right.
I’m going to keep this post short because I want to reserve further judgement until I’ve read more of the book.
I'm not sure we can ever know exactly why Ahab does not appear, Emma. It would be interesting to know if any other captains had that habit as well.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your comment about finding Ishmael likeable because he's not busy trying to convince us that he is, as Coverdale is.