ASEBL Journal – Volume 13 Issue 1, January 201 8
Melville also recognized the enormous size of a sperm whale with, “I say, a Sperm
Whale of the largest magnitude, between eighty-five and ninety feet in length, and
something less than forty feet in its fullest circumference, such a whale will weigh at
least ninety tons; so that, reckoning thirteen men to a ton, he would considerably out-
weigh the combined population of a whole village of one thousand one hundred in-
habitants” (Melville 494). Also, “But in that great Sperm Whale, this high and mighty
god-like dignity inherent in the brow is so immensely amplified, that gazing on it, in
that full front view, you feel the Deity and the dread powers more forcibly than in be-
holding any other object in living nature” (Melville 389).
The goriness and bloodiness of the whole whaling operation is described in graphic
detail by both Philbrick and Melville. “Its spout transformed into a fifteen- to twenty-
foot geyser of gore that prompted the mate to shout, ‘Chimney’s afire!’ As the blood
rained down on them, the men took up the oars and backed furiously away, then
paused to watch as the whale went into what was known as its flurry.” Then, “The
whale fell motionless and silent, a giant black corpse floating fin-up in a slick of its
own blood and vomit” (Philbrick 54). “There is a murderous appearance about the
blood-stained decks, and the huge masses of flesh and blubber lying here and there,
and a ferocity in the looks of the men, heightened by the red, fierce glare of the fires”
(Philbrick 56-57). Philbrook suggested that “The repetitious nature of the work desen-
sitized the men to the awesome wonder of the whale” (Philbrick 65).
Captain Ahab said, “And this is what ye have shipped for, men! to chase that white
whale on both sides of land, and over all sides of the earth, till he spouts black blood
and rolls fin out” (Melville 204). About a whale that was killed (not Moby Dick),
“The red tide now poured from all sides of the monster like brooks down a hill. His
tormented body rolled not in brine but in blood, which bubbled and seethed for fur-
longs behind in their wake. The slanting sun playing upon this crimson pond in the
sea, sent back its reflection into every face, so that they all glowed to each other like
red men” (Melville 329). Melville makes allusions to gory biblical scenes, “Moby-
Dick swam swiftly round and round the wrecked crew; sideways churning the water in
his vengeful wake, as if lashing himself up to still another and more deadly assault.
The sight of the splintered boat seemed to madden him, as the blood of grapes and
mulberries cast before Antiochus's elephants in the book of Maccabees” (Melville
589).
Melville does also attribute vengeance to Moby Dick in, “Retribution, swift venge-
ance, eternal malice were in his whole aspect, and spite of all that mortal man could
do, the solid white buttress of his forehead smote the ship’s starboard bow, till men
and timbers reeled” (Melville 612).
Even though Captain Ahab thought that the whale was personally “out to get him,”
others recognized that the animal might just be acting from instinct, and did not attrib-
ute a great intelligence to these animals. “Vengeance on a dumb brute!” cried Star-
buck, “that simply smote thee from blindest instinct! Madness! To be enraged with a
dumb thing, Captain Ahab, seems blasphemous.”
Melville also points out the usefulness of several of the whale parts, especially the
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