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Herman Melville
Taal: Amerika
Geboren: Onbekend
 
Kwaliteit van het verslag:
Beoordeling: 1.0/5
(1 stem geplaatst)

One cold and wet December day he enters, a carpet bag on his shoulder, the shipping port of New Bedford, and finds a room at Spouter Inn. He shares his bed, at first in great consternation, with a massive South Sea Islander named Queequeg.

Queequeg is a heathen, and an expert harpooner on whaling ships. The next day a driving storm forces Ishmael to seek shelter in the Whalemen’s Chapel, a cold and austere place. Soon the pastor, Father Mapple, enters and, tossing off his greatcoat, climbs a rope ladder to the pulpit situated high above his listeners.

Father Mapple’s stirring sermon is upon Jonah and the Whale. Father Mapple exhorts his hearers to deny sin and to uphold the truth. But above all, the true delight of life and great achievement of man comes when he acknowledges no law, no force, but the Lord his God.

Ishmael and Queequeg become fast friends. The time arrives to leave New Bedford, cross the short expanse of sea to Nantucket, where together they will search out a whaling ship. On the packet boat en route to Nantucket a foolish landrubber, who had been making fun of Queequeg’s strange blank-and-tattoo coloring, is accidentally plunged into the icy water. Only Queequeg, of all aboard ship, dives into the sea and rescues him. They secure a room that evening in Nantucket, and the next day Ishmael, after carefully looking over the whaling ships being fitted for several years at sea, chooses the Pequod. When the ship’s owners are told of Queequeg, and subsequently see him, the gladly sign him on also. Good harpooners are scarce.

The captain of the ship, they are told, is Arab. Because of some vague illness he is confined to his cabin. A strange old wisp of a man later confronts Queequeg and Ishmael and alludes darkly and ominously to Captain Ahab and the Pequod.

On Christmas morning, a cold grey day, as Ishmael and Queequeg approach the ship, they see several dark figures scurry aboard. Shortly the Pequod sets sail upon a wind-swept Atlantic. Now, says Ishmael, the world of the Pequod is surrounded by the mysterious sea.

Ishmael introduces us to Starbuck, the chief mate, Stubb, the second mate, and Flask, the third mate; and their harpooners who are, respectively, Queequeg, Tashtego, and Daggoo. As the ship enters warmer air, some days after leaving Nantucket, Ishmael catches his first glimpse of Ahab, captain of the Pequod, standing on the afterdeck, his white peg leg anchored in a hole bored into the deck floor. A shiver of terror comes over Ishmael.

The focus is shifted momentarily from the crew to whales as Ishmael describes the various types. He points out that the most prized of all is the sperm whale, which yields valuable spermaceti oil which lights the lamps of the world and is also essential for perfume and other products. Ishmael aslo explains how the officers and seamen are housed and fed in opposite ends of the ship, and how whales are sighted by sailors called "lookouts" who perch precariously from the mast and, when they sight the sperm whale blowing mist from his spoute in the distance, sign out, "There she blows!"

The crew is commanded to come before Ahab and there he tells them that the sole purpose of the Pequod’s voyage is to hunt down the Great White Whale, which some crew members instantly recognize as Moby Dick. Ahab confesses is deep, burning, tormenting desire to strike back at the creature who took his leg from him. The crew excitedly accepts the challenge flung at them by Ahab and they all drink a pledge to it. The wine casks are opened and the crew revels through the night, drinking and shouting and singing.

And who is Moby Dick? Ishmael learns from the crew that he is a larger-than-usual sperm whale with a peculiar snow-white forehead, a deformed lower jaw, and a malicious temper which drives him to madness when attacked. No other whale approaches the evil Moby Dick. Indeed, Ishmael offers affidavits that the enraged sperm whale, such as Moby Dick, has the power to ram and sink a whaling ship!

Night after night, day after day, Ahab pores over the charts of the world’s seas, plotting a course which he hopes will take him to Moby Dick. Meanwhile the crew sights its first sperm whales as the lookout sings out, "There she blows!" he whale boats are lowered from the Pequod. At this moment Ishmael discovers that the mysterious dark figures who slipped aboard the ship the morning of sailing are East Indians who man the oars and tiller of Ahab’s boat. In the wild excitement of the first chase Ishmael’s boat capsizes. When it is rescued from the water he realizes the crew finds humor in this reckless adventure.

In a later lowering, Little Pip, a Negro, is tossed from a boat and presumably left to die. Although he is finally rescued by the Pequod, this harrowing experience turns Pip into an idiot.

The Pequod continues voyaging relentlessly through the South Atlantic, then the Indian Ocean and on the way captures, kills, dissects and extracts oil from the sperm whales. Ships are met, and on each occasion the gab-fest or "gam" opens with Ahab’s stern demand, "Hast seen the White Whale?"

The suspense of the chase for Moby Dick steadily heightens as the Pequod enters the Japanese sea, the area in which the White Whale is most likely to be found.

Then one day the Pequod meets the whaling ship Enderby, whose captain shows Ahab that he has lost his arm very recently to the White Whale. Ahab rushes back to his ship and in the process splinters his ivory leg. The carpenter and blacksmith hurriedly fashion a new one, and Ahab has a new harpoon fashioned from the finest iron.

The Pequod, now in full sail, enters the vast depths and expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Despite the efforts of Starbuck and Stubb to abandon the mad chase, the Pequod plunges ahead.

Suddenly a fierce typhoon descends upon the Pequod. The ship’s sails are ripped by the raging winds, her decks washed by mountainous waves. The three main mast tips suddenly spout fire casting an eerie glow over the ship. Still Ahab urges the vessel forward. He becomes increasingly impatient – devising a new compass when the storm ruins the regular ship’s compass.

The storm subsides and the Pequod meets the whaling ship Rachel, which has encountered Moby Dick and lost a whale boat bearing a crew including the captain’s son. Ahab ignores the Rachel’s plea to help search for the lost boat.

The tempo of the chase increases. At long last, the Great White Whale – Moby Dick – is sighted by Ahab.

The first day harpoons are driven into Moby Dick but the furious whale smashes Ahab’s boat. All the whalemen are rescued, but Moby Dick escapes.

The second day the harpoons of all three boats find their mark in Moby Dick’s huge sides and again Ahab’s boat capsized. But all hands are rescued save the Parsee, Fedallah.

The third day Ahab drives a harpoon into Moby Dick’s side. Two of the boats, in danger, are ordered back to the Pequod. Ahab’s boat remains alone to fight the whale. The angered Moby Dick drives his forehead into the side of the Pequod, splintering its bow. Ahab throws another harpoon into Moby Dick, but its rope catches Ahab about the neck and drags him into the depths. The Pequod sinks.

Only Ishmael survives. He is rescued by the Rachel.



2 Analysis of characters



Herman Melville’s characters in Moby Dick, are not only recognizable blood-and-flesh individuals but are also symbolic of the varying degrees of strength and frailty of man.Yet it would be a mistake to assume that all of Melville’s characters are constants. By this we mean that an evil man, such as Ahab, was not always evil; and that a mild man, like Starbuck, was not always mild. So, when we talk about the individuals in Moby Dick we must realize that in many instances we speak not of black and white but grey.

Six characters will be examined here, not because the others are unimportant, but simply because these characters are pivotal. By this we mean that the main streams of Melville’s thoughts flow around and through them, in sufficient detail, to convey the essential meaning of the book.



3 Main theme



Moby Dick is a story about courage and loyalty



4 Meaning of the title

The title is the name of the ordinary seaman (Ishmael) who ships out on the Pequod.



5 Personal appreciation



The story is easy to read, probably because it’s a story that everyone know’s, due to that the book reads fast and is it a good book.



6 Author



Melville, Herman (New York 1 aug. 1819 – aldaar 28 sept. 1891), Amerikaans schrijver, voer in 1839 als hutjongen naar Liverpool; de opgedane ervaringen verwerkte hij in Redburn (1849). In 1841 monsterde hij op een walvisvaarder, maar na anderhalf jaar droste hij op de Marquiseseilanden en leefde als gevangene tussen de kannibalen. Na ontsnapt te zijn op een Australische walvisvaarder, deserteerde hij op Tahiti en scheepte zich het jaar daarop weer in naar Amerika. In zijn beide romans Typee (1846) en Omoo (1847) gaf hij romantische schilderingen van het leven in het Stille-Zuidzeegebied, die zeer veel succes oogstten. In 1851 verscheen zijn meesterwerk Moby Dick or The Whale, opgedragen aan Nathaniel Hawthorne, met wie hij bevriend was geraakt. Het boek, een van de hoogtepunten uit de wereldliteratuur, werd echter zowel door het publiek als door de critici uiterst vijandig ontvangen, en de publicatie van Pierre (1852), een gekweld, pessimistisch boek, deed zijn sterk afgenomen populariteit nog verder tanen. De rest van zijn leven bracht hij door als douanebeambte. Pas in de jaren twintig werd hij herontdekt en sindsdien wordt hij als een van de belangrijkste Amerikaanse auteurs beschouwd; ook zijn poëzie, vaak zwak van vorm, maar groots van visie, en zijn korte prozawerken, zoals Billy Budd, sailor, pas in 1924 uitgegeven, hebben vele Amerikaanse schrijvers beïnvloed.

WERK: (behalve de genoemde): Proza: Mardi (1849); White jacket (1850); Israel Potter (1855); The piazza tales (1856); The confidence man (1857). – Poëzie: Battle-pieces and aspects of the war (1866); Clarel (1876); John Marr and other sailors (1888); Timoleon (1891).

UITG: Works (16 dln., 1922–1924); The apple-tree table (1922); Journal up the Straits (1935); Journal of a visit to London and the continent (1948); Journal of a visit to Europe and the Levant (1955); Letters (1960); The writings of H. Melville (1990)." />Moby-Dick
door Herman Melville

1 Summary



We hear the story of Moby Dick form the lips of a man who, at the very beginning of the story, says simply, "Call me Ishmael." Ishmael, an inlander of Massachusetts, succumbs to the urge to go to the sea, not as a passenger nor as an officer, both of which he disdains, but as an ordinary seaman. There is the life!

One cold and wet December day he enters, a carpet bag on his shoulder, the shipping port of New Bedford, and finds a room at Spouter Inn. He shares his bed, at first in great consternation, with a massive South Sea Islander named Queequeg.

Queequeg is a heathen, and an expert harpooner on whaling ships. The next day a driving storm forces Ishmael to seek shelter in the Whalemen’s Chapel, a cold and austere place. Soon the pastor, Father Mapple, enters and, tossing off his greatcoat, climbs a rope ladder to the pulpit situated high above his listeners.

Father Mapple’s stirring sermon is upon Jonah and the Whale. Father Mapple exhorts his hearers to deny sin and to uphold the truth. But above all, the true delight of life and great achievement of man comes when he acknowledges no law, no force, but the Lord his God.

Ishmael and Queequeg become fast friends. The time arrives to leave New Bedford, cross the short expanse of sea to Nantucket, where together they will search out a whaling ship. On the packet boat en route to Nantucket a foolish landrubber, who had been making fun of Queequeg’s strange blank-and-tattoo coloring, is accidentally plunged into the icy water. Only Queequeg, of all aboard ship, dives into the sea and rescues him. They secure a room that evening in Nantucket, and the next day Ishmael, after carefully looking over the whaling ships being fitted for several years at sea, chooses the Pequod. When the ship’s owners are told of Queequeg, and subsequently see him, the gladly sign him on also. Good harpooners are scarce.

The captain of the ship, they are told, is Arab. Because of some vague illness he is confined to his cabin. A strange old wisp of a man later confronts Queequeg and Ishmael and alludes darkly and ominously to Captain Ahab and the Pequod.

On Christmas morning, a cold grey day, as Ishmael and Queequeg approach the ship, they see several dark figures scurry aboard. Shortly the Pequod sets sail upon a wind-swept Atlantic. Now, says Ishmael, the world of the Pequod is surrounded by the mysterious sea.

Ishmael introduces us to Starbuck, the chief mate, Stubb, the second mate, and Flask, the third mate; and their harpooners who are, respectively, Queequeg, Tashtego, and Daggoo. As the ship enters warmer air, some days after leaving Nantucket, Ishmael catches his first glimpse of Ahab, captain of the Pequod, standing on the afterdeck, his white peg leg anchored in a hole bored into the deck floor. A shiver of terror comes over Ishmael.

The focus is shifted momentarily from the crew to whales as Ishmael describes the various types. He points out that the most prized of all is the sperm whale, which yields valuable spermaceti oil which lights the lamps of the world and is also essential for perfume and other products. Ishmael aslo explains how the officers and seamen are housed and fed in opposite ends of the ship, and how whales are sighted by sailors called "lookouts" who perch precariously from the mast and, when they sight the sperm whale blowing mist from his spoute in the distance, sign out, "There she blows!"

The crew is commanded to come before Ahab and there he tells them that the sole purpose of the Pequod’s voyage is to hunt down the Great White Whale, which some crew members instantly recognize as Moby Dick. Ahab confesses is deep, burning, tormenting desire to strike back at the creature who took his leg from him. The crew excitedly accepts the challenge flung at them by Ahab and they all drink a pledge to it. The wine casks are opened and the crew revels through the night, drinking and shouting and singing.

And who is Moby Dick? Ishmael learns from the crew that he is a larger-than-usual sperm whale with a peculiar snow-white forehead, a deformed lower jaw, and a malicious temper which drives him to madness when attacked. No other whale approaches the evil Moby Dick. Indeed, Ishmael offers affidavits that the enraged sperm whale, such as Moby Dick, has the power to ram and sink a whaling ship!

Night after night, day after day, Ahab pores over the charts of the world’s seas, plotting a course which he hopes will take him to Moby Dick. Meanwhile the crew sights its first sperm whales as the lookout sings out, "There she blows!" he whale boats are lowered from the Pequod. At this moment Ishmael discovers that the mysterious dark figures who slipped aboard the ship the morning of sailing are East Indians who man the oars and tiller of Ahab’s boat. In the wild excitement of the first chase Ishmael’s boat capsizes. When it is rescued from the water he realizes the crew finds humor in this reckless adventure.

In a later lowering, Little Pip, a Negro, is tossed from a boat and presumably left to die. Although he is finally rescued by the Pequod, this harrowing experience turns Pip into an idiot.

The Pequod continues voyaging relentlessly through the South Atlantic, then the Indian Ocean and on the way captures, kills, dissects and extracts oil from the sperm whales. Ships are met, and on each occasion the gab-fest or "gam" opens with Ahab’s stern demand, "Hast seen the White Whale?"

The suspense of the chase for Moby Dick steadily heightens as the Pequod enters the Japanese sea, the area in which the White Whale is most likely to be found.

Then one day the Pequod meets the whaling ship Enderby, whose captain shows Ahab that he has lost his arm very recently to the White Whale. Ahab rushes back to his ship and in the process splinters his ivory leg. The carpenter and blacksmith hurriedly fashion a new one, and Ahab has a new harpoon fashioned from the finest iron.

The Pequod, now in full sail, enters the vast depths and expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Despite the efforts of Starbuck and Stubb to abandon the mad chase, the Pequod plunges ahead.

Suddenly a fierce typhoon descends upon the Pequod. The ship’s sails are ripped by the raging winds, her decks washed by mountainous waves. The three main mast tips suddenly spout fire casting an eerie glow over the ship. Still Ahab urges the vessel forward. He becomes increasingly impatient – devising a new compass when the storm ruins the regular ship’s compass.

The storm subsides and the Pequod meets the whaling ship Rachel, which has encountered Moby Dick and lost a whale boat bearing a crew including the captain’s son. Ahab ignores the Rachel’s plea to help search for the lost boat.

The tempo of the chase increases. At long last, the Great White Whale – Moby Dick – is sighted by Ahab.

The first day harpoons are driven into Moby Dick but the furious whale smashes Ahab’s boat. All the whalemen are rescued, but Moby Dick escapes.

The second day the harpoons of all three boats find their mark in Moby Dick’s huge sides and again Ahab’s boat capsized. But all hands are rescued save the Parsee, Fedallah.

The third day Ahab drives a harpoon into Moby Dick’s side. Two of the boats, in danger, are ordered back to the Pequod. Ahab’s boat remains alone to fight the whale. The angered Moby Dick drives his forehead into the side of the Pequod, splintering its bow. Ahab throws another harpoon into Moby Dick, but its rope catches Ahab about the neck and drags him into the depths. The Pequod sinks.

Only Ishmael survives. He is rescued by the Rachel.



2 Analysis of characters



Herman Melville’s characters in Moby Dick, are not only recognizable blood-and-flesh individuals but are also symbolic of the varying degrees of strength and frailty of man.Yet it would be a mistake to assume that all of Melville’s characters are constants. By this we mean that an evil man, such as Ahab, was not always evil; and that a mild man, like Starbuck, was not always mild. So, when we talk about the individuals in Moby Dick we must realize that in many instances we speak not of black and white but grey.

Six characters will be examined here, not because the others are unimportant, but simply because these characters are pivotal. By this we mean that the main streams of Melville’s thoughts flow around and through them, in sufficient detail, to convey the essential meaning of the book.



3 Main theme



Moby Dick is a story about courage and loyalty



4 Meaning of the title

The title is the name of the ordinary seaman (Ishmael) who ships out on the Pequod.



5 Personal appreciation



The story is easy to read, probably because it’s a story that everyone know’s, due to that the book reads fast and is it a good book.



6 Author



Melville, Herman (New York 1 aug. 1819 – aldaar 28 sept. 1891), Amerikaans schrijver, voer in 1839 als hutjongen naar Liverpool; de opgedane ervaringen verwerkte hij in Redburn (1849). In 1841 monsterde hij op een walvisvaarder, maar na anderhalf jaar droste hij op de Marquiseseilanden en leefde als gevangene tussen de kannibalen. Na ontsnapt te zijn op een Australische walvisvaarder, deserteerde hij op Tahiti en scheepte zich het jaar daarop weer in naar Amerika. In zijn beide romans Typee (1846) en Omoo (1847) gaf hij romantische schilderingen van het leven in het Stille-Zuidzeegebied, die zeer veel succes oogstten. In 1851 verscheen zijn meesterwerk Moby Dick or The Whale, opgedragen aan Nathaniel Hawthorne, met wie hij bevriend was geraakt. Het boek, een van de hoogtepunten uit de wereldliteratuur, werd echter zowel door het publiek als door de critici uiterst vijandig ontvangen, en de publicatie van Pierre (1852), een gekweld, pessimistisch boek, deed zijn sterk afgenomen populariteit nog verder tanen. De rest van zijn leven bracht hij door als douanebeambte. Pas in de jaren twintig werd hij herontdekt en sindsdien wordt hij als een van de belangrijkste Amerikaanse auteurs beschouwd; ook zijn poëzie, vaak zwak van vorm, maar groots van visie, en zijn korte prozawerken, zoals Billy Budd, sailor, pas in 1924 uitgegeven, hebben vele Amerikaanse schrijvers beïnvloed.

WERK: (behalve de genoemde): Proza: Mardi (1849); White jacket (1850); Israel Potter (1855); The piazza tales (1856); The confidence man (1857). – Poëzie: Battle-pieces and aspects of the war (1866); Clarel (1876); John Marr and other sailors (1888); Timoleon (1891).

UITG: Works (16 dln., 1922–1924); The apple-tree table (1922); Journal up the Straits (1935); Journal of a visit to London and the continent (1948); Journal of a visit to Europe and the Levant (1955); Letters (1960); The writings of H. Melville (1990).
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