Sympathy for a Whale?!

I know we spoke about this in class; but for me the image of the old blind whale being killed is still very much engraved in my mind. It just seems so unnecessarily cruel and brutal an action. Here is this whale that is harmless and frail and yet the crew kills it as if it were some terrifying monster who was attempting to eat their children. This scene sticks in my head; simply because it is so pathetic and heart breaking. At this point it is as if the whale has become the victim and the crew the monsters. It feels almost as if it is retribution when the whale sinks; as if something is punishing the crew for their cruelty. I can’t get the image out of my head though; to the point where I can imagine a look of fear in the whale’s eyes. If I’m perfectly honest I lost a lot of respect for the crew through their attack on the blind whale.

I think this particular happening within the story has caused me to see the rest of the novel in a harsher light. I understand that it’s a job and they do it to earn a living but it just seems so unfair on the animal. I’ve always had an issue with killing wild animals and that chapter in particular just made it worse.

In the chapters that follow it becomes clear that we’re starting to get near the climax of the book; in the writing it’s almost as if something is telling you that they are getting closer to Moby Dick. I think we can all say we know how the book ends; it’s a story that everyone knows without having to read the actual book but I kind of wish it didn’t have to end that way. It would be a rubbish ending but why can’t Ahab see the errors of his ways and go home. He loses everything through his desire for revenge. Maybe I’m just looking at this from too modern a view but the whole practice of whaling just appals me. 

Next time on Emi’s blog; a full opinion of the book as a whole; hopefully without a lecture on the morality of whaling.