ASEBL Journal – Volume 13 Issue 1, January 2018
tized men to the wonders of the whale. We don’ t see this in Ishmael. That is why the shift in his tone after Ahab’ s revelation of vengeance against the White Whale is so disturbing to us. Sure, Ishmael lists how whales are useful as food, oil, and tools. He also pines on about whales in pictures and sculptures and ancient mythologies. Readers sense that there is an open-minded, ethical and independent mind at work in him. We’ re drawn in by the curious, speculative natural philosopher in this not-so-common whaler. What Nolan is able to connect is the terrifying nature of the savagery that can be seen both in Melville and Mowat. Even the most thoughtful or good-natured of us may descend into cruelty, ignorance, and savagery.
Mowat writes of an actual mob killing of a whale trapped in the Newfoundland bay of Burgeo:“ what sickens me is their simple failure to resist the impulse of savagery... How can they be so bloody stupid? How could I have been so blood stupid?”( 148). That’ s the very question which strikes the careful reader of Moby-Dick. How could the reader be lulled into Ishmael’ s dreamy musings of the whale only to be thrust into the realization that Ishmael accepts Ahab’ s mindless blood vengeance? Ishmael says,“ Ahab’ s quenchless feud seemed mine”( Melville 219). I don’ t think it’ s accidental that Moby-Dick’ s revival and rediscovery came during a period of totalitarian fear. American and German scholars noted the prescient foreshadowing of Melville’ s 1851 Ahab in the rhetoric of ruthless leaders of the 20 th century. What happens when even the ethical are consumed by the power of mob or the will of a dictator?
Mowat witnessed blood sport in common people. A group descended on a trapped mammal and killed her for sport. Passive spectators turn into primal beasts. This isn’ t far from Melville’ s fear in 1851. What happens when a thoughtful, intelligent narrator, taken with the incredible splendor and energy in the natural beauty of the whale, gives up his wonder and agency to follow the monomaniacal commands of a mad, villainous dictator out for vengeance on a dumb brute? Melville knew this was always in the heart of humankind. He understood that humans aren’ t logical, nor do they always follow the better angels of their minds and hearts, nor do they often understand the consequences of their behaviors on others. That’ s why this work sticks with us; it reminds us that humans can be cruel and unthinking creatures sometimes. They can bend to the irrational will of others. This is a fact we forget at our own peril, for in stories( fiction or not) we are reminded of the cruel primitive demons of our darker selves. Nolan’ s essay leads us through these worlds back to the world of conservation, protection, and scientific exploration and knowledge. However, the most startling connection is to see the consistent presence of mob violence and cruelty, even when we least expect it from a wandering, philosophical, natural historian narrator or a group of“ simple” people living close to the land they profess to love and respect. Melville and Mowat remind us to question the saintliness of our watching, peaceful selves and to be wary of the primitive killers lurking under our collective human heart of darkness.
Works cited
Melville, Herman. Moby Dick. 1851. NY: Random House.
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