One of the best lines and symbolism of a white whale (chap 41-42)
When I was reading chapter 41 I think I might have found one of the funniest lines in the book. Ishmael said “And as if the now tested reality of his might had in former legendary times thrown its shadow before it; we find some book naturalists-Olafsen and Povelsen-declaring the Sperm Whate not only to be a consternation to every other creature in the sea, but aslo to be so incrediby ferocious as continually to be athirst for human blood.” The reason why I loved this line was that, Ishmael was trying to make himself sound all smart and cultured by saying that according to some bunch of naturalists who have scandanavian sounding last names that say that sperm whales are these vicious and blood thirsty creatures that have a liking towards human flesh. Not only does he he just throw two random names but he also doesn’t even mention the book where he found this information (”we find some book”). I actually took time to try to look through search engines such as google to try to find out if these two were really naturalists and I didn’t even get any revelvent results. This line just makes me laugh out loud and it really shows what kind of a compulsive (and not to mention bad) liar Ishmael is.
The next chapter really discussed the significance in (terms of symbolism) the color white has. It seems that many cultures have seen the color white as being a sign of good such as christianity with the white tunic that is worn by priests. In many cultures the color white is seen in a good sense. However, in other cultures such as the Incas the color white is somewhat dreaded because it means snowy mountian peaks for them. The color white seems to have taken on a darker meaning with Moby Dick. It seems that this whale is a symbol itself of danger and death.
