Paula’s Comments (group member since Jun 18, 2025)

Paula’s comments from the Reading the Chunksters group.

Hummingbirder wrote: "Hello! I'm Hummingbirder, and I was lured here by the smell of whale oil. I recently retired from the federal government. I used to post in the Amazon forums. I'm only just joining groups on Goodre..."

I love your comment. Yes the whale has summoned us 🤗.

Cindy wrote: "Andrea wrote: "I love the amount of alliteration Melville is using - it makes the narrative sound so poetic. I actually find myself flagging the most interesting descriptors, like "these bashful be..."

Yay! So you got what I loved about it as well! In the Bible, the story is but a small, rather dry, recounting of a story. But Melville, through the voice of the preacher, made it a true sea story. It lived and breathed. And that the preacher recreated the story in a way that his parishioners could relate to was wonderful. And he felt the message as well. Felt it related to him as well. Even doubly so.

Roman Clodia wrote: "Ah, thanks - I was over-thinking it in search of significance. Your reading makes sense, with Ahab manipulating the ship's crew."

It's just my take. I'd like to hear other theories 🙃

Roman Clodia wrote: "Paula wrote: "I found other similarities between Stubb's Dream (right after Ahab called him a donkey, an ass, a mule) with Bottom's Dream in a Midsummer Night's Dream."

Yes! And Bottom's dream is ..."

Because mules, asses and donkeys kick. It's what they are known for. I'm thinking that Ahab calling Stubb a donkey/ass/mule, became a part of Stubb's dream, and that's where the kicking came in.

In this case though, I it was Ahab doing the kicking...Kicking the ass (Stubb) instead of the other way around.

Which is what really happened to Bottom. He was changed into an ass, an ass that was being used and kicked around by Oberon. I think Melville enjoyed making such analogies 😄.

Mark wrote: "I like: he's already part whale himself. - )"

I love this too.

Roman Clodia wrote: "There's a very interesting allusion to Othello in chapter 41 which helps to solidify Ahab's obsession:

When describing Ahab's first encounter with the whale which bites off his leg:

'No turbaned..."

Great post! I love finding the Shakespearean connections (such as the play). I found other similarities between Stubb's Dream (right after Ahab called him a donkey, an ass, a mule) with Bottom's Dream in a Midsummer Night's Dream. Queen Mab was also referenced as the consort of Oberon in some early English lit. And Oberon is the Fairy King who directs that Bottom be changed into an ass (I posted it in last week's thread).

Dianne wrote: "Chapter 45 - The Affidavit

This chapter was interesting to me. First of all, it is called the 'Affidavit'. As if Ishmael is in a court of law and has to prove something. Which may have something ..."

I found this chapter very interesting as well. I enjoyed the stories about various close encounters of an unsettling kind between sperm whale and sea vessels. I looked up some of them, which I always enjoy doing.

Also, this chapter contains one of my favorite passages so far. It follows the story of a Commodore whose vessel is "stopped on the way by a portly sperm whale, that begged a few moments' confidential business with him."

"I tell you, the sperm whale will stand no nonsense."

A understated bit of humor followed by what is certainly an understatement, as we learn more about the great white whale.

The other thing I found interesting was how I was jolted out of the story when I read Ishmael's recollection of meeting up with a particular whale 3 years apart. I thought "wait a minute, I thought this was his first voyage, right?" Of course, he, Ishmael, could be writing this years later, but why insert it into the narrative as he did? It just seemed odd.

We've talked before about when Melville was mainly getting his thoughts across using Ishmael as his voice, but this felt different. I felt Ishmael had disappeared entirely, and it was just Melville talking to us.

When a reference was made to a Captain D'Wolf as being "Ishmael's" uncle, I decided to find out if this captain was a real person. And he was. He was Melville's uncle.

I thought this was fascinating. I'm wondering if there will be other times in the book where Melville drops his narrator, and decides to live in the book as himself.

Dianne wrote: "Chapters 43-44 -

Chapter 43 - Hark!

A scuttle-butt which contained water on ship for daily use.



This chapter is basically a bit of foreshadowing as two sailors fill the scuttle-butt and hea..."

I was on instant alert with "Hark". Unexplained creepy sounds coming from the Hold? Yay! And then, the subject is dropped.

Sigh.

Dianne wrote: "Chapter 42 - The Whiteness of the Whale

BORING CHAPTER ALERT - This chapter is entirely about the color white, the good, the bad, the meaning of the good, the bad, or even white as the absence of..."

Yes, very beautiful prose in this chapter. I just think Melville spent a lot of time building a case that just didn't hold water (sorry, couldn't resist). I was never convinced that a white whale or a polar bear were any more frightening than one of any other color. I do not want to bump into a bear of any color in the wild thank you very much. And an angry whale? Same.

Perhaps if Melville's intent was to portray Moby Dick as some sort of supernatural entity, or as a creature of such terrible purity that all other creatures (including man) were inferior to it, I could understand Ishmael's dread, but I don't get that impression.

Mark wrote: "Chapter 42 The Whiteness Of The Whale

"A WHITE BEAR! Very well. Have I ever seen one? Might I ever have seen one? Am I ever to see one? Ought I ever to have seen one? Or can I ever see one?
Would ..."

I feel there is a lot of relevance here.

Tracey wrote: "One thing I have noted is that Melville has a lot of Biblical references but they are Old Testament rather than New Testament. The God of the Old Testament comes across as more wrathful and vengefu..."

Makes sense. MD is a book with central themes of wrath and vengeance; whereas the overriding message of the New Testament is forgiveness.

I have 3 cats. I am their happy and willing slave 😻.

Dianne wrote: "Linda wrote: "So was that the extent of the “boring” part that people talk of? Chapter 32? It wasn’t nearly as long or as boring as I was expecting, unless there’s more to come. A coworker saw that..."

I still laugh about the dry humor Melville inserted in the bit about the Thrasher whale. That was hilarious!

Dianne wrote: "Chapters 30-31

Chapter 31 - Queen Mab

Okay maybe this is a crazy stretch, but there are several chapters in this reading assignment which are so strongly evocative of Shakespeare (including the obvious Queen Mab chapter) that I'm finding associations that may not be there, but which I like anyway. 🙃

In Chapter 29, Ahab lets loose on Stubb, calling him a donkey, a mule, and an ass. From there, in Queen Mab chapter, Stubb describes his dream where he is being kicked over and over.

I had to look up Queen Mab to refresh my memory, and in addition to the Romeo and Juliet reference (where Mab is the deliverer of dreams) I also found other references to this fairy of English folklore. She was known for playing pranks on sleepers, but also, in other early English works, she was named as the consort of Oberon, the fairy king.

This reminded me of my favorite Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, where Oberon and his Queen, Titania, are feuding. And here is where Bottom enters the play and is turned into an ass.

Stubb's dream reminded me strongly of Bottom's dream (as Bottom recounts it later to his friends) even before I started doing a bit of research; the rhythms and cadences of the prose, the absurdity of the dreams, the references to donkey, ass, mule, the similarity in personalities of Stubb and Bottom, etc..

And what are mules, asses and donkeys known for doing? Kicking.

When combined with the fact that Mab was known for playing pranks on sleepers, just as Bottom was played pranks upon by his fairy visitors, all of this made the association even deeper for me, and really made me laugh!

Mark wrote: "Chapter 41 Moby Dick

"Small reason was there to doubt, then, that ever since that almost fateful encounter, Ahab had cherished a wild vindictiveness against the whale, all the more fell for that i..."

What an almost hypnotic chapter, where Melville delves into and explores the psychological themes of madness, obsession, rage, and mental pain...and what a deadly stew can be concocted from these ingredients. The prose is so vivid. Melville takes us into the effects of those months when Ahab lay confined to his hammock; the dreariness of the weather in mid-winter and the howling winds further contributing to his slow slide into an inner hell.

"...then it was, that his torn body and gashed soul bled into one another; and so interfusing, made him mad."

"...he swung to the mad rockings of the gales."

But this is my favorite passage from Chapter 41. It is quietly chilling.

"Human madness is oftentimes a cunning and most feline thing."

And the madness of Ahab is most cunning indeed, which I think we've only begun to see.

Business travel and 12 hour workdays. I will be home on Friday. I'm deliberately not reading any comments since I'm in the middle of the Cetology chapter. I'll be back 😘!

Mark wrote: "Paula wrote: "Everyman wrote: "Harold Bloom on Moby Dick.

He claims that Melville and Whitman are the two most important figures in our national literature, the other possible candidates include ..."

Hi Mark,

Thanks. I am reading this book with such a sense of discovery...being in the hands of a true master.

Chapters 10 & 11

These two simple chapters are perfect examples of why rereading is a benefit. It's so easy to read them quickly and, yes, we see those little details that are so easy to find, but we are bent on continuing the journey, and don't get the opportunity to go back and mull them over. It's why reading in a group reaps such extra benefits for me.

Anyway,

These two chapters touched my heart. They are filled with quiet moments, giving Ishmael the chance to relax and ponder, but mostly - just relax and be at peace with himself. It's not until Chapter 10 that I fully realized how tense this poor man has been; not only once he arrived at the beginning of our story, but much further back.

He goes back to the Inn, to find Queequeg whittling away at his idol, then counting pages from a book, stopping every 50 pages to voice a reaction.

Ishmael watches all of this, yes, in fascination, but his reactions are just so very calm and relaxed. It's as if he is finally able to release a breath he's been holding in for who knows how long.

He watches Queequeg, and his eyes begin to see past the outer markings, so foreign to Ishmael. They just fall away. And he, for the first time, really "sees" Queequeg, and he realizes: "You cannot hide the soul."

He sees a "simple honest heart", "a spirit that would dare a thousand devils" and a "lofty bearing".

And then we get some of Melville's wonderful, adept humor with the following description of Queequeg's head:

"It may seem ridiculous, but it reminded me of General Washington's head".

And even better:

"Queequeg was George Washington cannibalistically developed.".

Gosh, that is such perfect humor!

And from there, Melville takes us into some incredibly beautiful prose:

"As I sat there in that now lonely room; the fire burning low in that mild stage when, after its first intensity has warmed the air, it then only glows to be looked at; the evening shades and phantoms gathering round the casements, and peering in upon us silent, solitary twain; the storm booming without in solemn swells; I began to be sensible of strange feelings. I felt a melting in me.".

"I felt a melting in me.". At last, Ishmael finally exhales that long-held breath and becomes more of himself again.

At last, at last, he has a friend. It is with this paragraph that we know that it has been a very long time since Ishmael has had a friend. Maybe ever?

I found this whole passage very moving.

But Melville, master that he is, doesn't milk that moment; instead, he moves on and gives us a touch of humor.

"He made me a present of his embalmed head."

And then some further reflection on what is worship and what is truly the will of God. One wonders how well received was Melville's commentaries on practicing tolerance for thy fellow man.

In Chapter 11, we have the bedroom scene, or what I'm starting to call the "sleepover scene". I love the atmosphere...Ishmael and Queequeg snug in bed, knees drawn up (a position most of us have assumed at night, snug under the bedcovers). They stay up most of the night, just enjoying their company, then sharing a pipe.

I loved how Melville described how we cannot really understand a quality without having had experienced its opposite; for example, we cannot truly understand happiness without having experienced sadness. Here, he uses the cold of the room contrasted with the calming, snug warmth of the bed.

And then, he throws in another lovely line:

"Then there you lie like the one warm spark in the heart of an arctic crystal.".

How beautiful this one, single sentence.

I'm treasuring this read.

Everyman wrote: "Harold Bloom on Moby Dick.

He claims that Melville and Whitman are the two most important figures in our national literature, the other possible candidates include Emily Dickinson, Wallace Steven..."

I'm trying not to read too far ahead (almost finished next week's reading), which gives me the opportunity to circle back and reread the current chapters. What a pleasure it is to do that. Melville has a masterful touch; his range is so broad. Sometimes majestic, other times there is that light, deft touch where the humor shines. And always, you sense he is totally in control; that this book is his ship, and that, at all times he is the able captain guiding us through the story.

I know I'm gushing, but I am in awe of what he created.

I love Dickinson and the raw, elemental works of Whitman. I haven't read Crane (my father loved his work) or Stevens. I need to.

Blathering on again about the chapel and the pulpit, Melville had such a great idea in re-imagining the pulpit as the prow of a ship. What I really appreciate about him is that, at the end of Chapter 8, he basically tells us why.

I find that Melville does this for us constantly. He presents an image, idea or symbol, and then he very eloquently illuminates it for us.

For the pulpit imagery, Melville illuminates that symbol as follows:

"What could be more full of meaning? - for the pulpit is ever this earth's foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the world. From thence it is the storm of God's quick wrath is first descried, and the bow must bear the earliest brunt. From thence it is the God of Breezes fair or foul is first invoked for favourable winds. Yes, the world's a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; and the pulpit is its prow."

Melville has such an elegant and classical style to his writing. It is so beautiful. A work of art.