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Nor is this the end. Desecrated as the body is, a vengeful ghost survives and hovers over it to scare. Espied by some timid man-of-war or blundering discovery-vessel from afar, when the distance obscuring the swarming fowls, nevertheless still shows the white mass floating in the sun, and the white spray heaving high against it; straightway the whale's unharming corpse, with trembling fingers is set down in the log—SHOALS, ROCKS, AND BREAKERS HEREABOUTS: BEWARE! And for years afterwards, perhaps, ships shun the place; leaping over it as silly sheep leap over a vacuum, because their leader originally leaped there when a stick was held. There's your law of precedents; there's your utility of traditions; there's the story of your obstinate survival of old beliefs never bottomed on the earth, and now not even hovering in the air! There's orthodoxy! Herman Melville – Moby-Dick (Chap. 69: The Funeral)

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Like the sharks in chapter 66, this whale has a second act on earth after its heart and brain have been cut out of its body. Its corpse is so large that it will be mistaken for hazards. The dead whale will put fear in their hearts and change the course of maritime journeys for years. If a dead whale can exact such vengeance, what of the unkillable Moby Dick?

Looking at this photo of a dead sperm whale adrift, it’s easy to see how it’s mass could be mistaken for a shoal or a group of rocks.

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572

8 years

Just as captains alter their courses to avoid long-decayed whale carcasses, Ahab relies on his lookout’s assessment and orders a lowering. What other “orthodox” beliefs does Ahab cling to? Is his belief in the necessity of confronting Moby Dick equally flawed?

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572

8 years

This phenomenon of lookouts mistaking one thing for another seems related to Dagoo’s error in Chapter 59.

A strange spectre was seen by Daggoo from the main-mast-head.
― Herman Melville – Moby-Dick (Chap. 59: Squid)

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572

8 years

Maps warning of dangerous shoals are yet another example of the fallible nature of perception and the folly of trusting received wisdom. Ishmael suggests that many, if not all foundational beliefs are equally baseless.

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ween Herman Melville – Moby-Dick (Chap. 69: The Funeral)

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suppose, think, figure, etc.

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But yes, yes we are. Tom Scocca – "On Smarm," Excerpt

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f62BHH4xMXw

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Well, no. Tom Scocca – "On Smarm," Excerpt

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Are you serious? the commenters write. Is this serious? On Twitter, the right-thinking commenters pass the links around: Seriously? Tom Scocca – "On Smarm," Excerpt

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The GOP corrected itself 3 hours after crediting Rosa Parks for ending racism

So what’s the big fuss? Simple slip of the tongue.

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It does seem to me, that herein we see the rare virtue of a strong individual vitality, and the rare virtue of thick walls, and the rare virtue of interior spaciousness. Oh, man! admire and model thyself after the whale! Do thou, too, remain warm among ice. Do thou, too, live in this world without being of it. Be cool at the equator; keep thy blood fluid at the Pole. Like the great dome of St. Peter's, and like the great whale, retain, O man! in all seasons a temperature of thine own.

But how easy and how hopeless to teach these fine things! Of erections, how few are domed like St. Peter's! of creatures, how few vast as the whale! Herman Melville – Moby-Dick (Chap. 68: The Blanket)

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This is a metaphor right? Cool.

Yes actually, Ishmael is telling us to remain cool. Or warm. Just regulate yourself and don’t let your surroundings get the best of you.

The best way to ensure that you do so is to be large like St. Peter’s Basilica, which has a very spacious interior afforded by that architectural marvel the dome. In other words, cultivate a deep and vast internal life.

St Peter’s Basilica

does indeed have a large and beautiful interior life

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But more surprising is it to know, as has been proved by experiment, that the blood of a Polar whale is warmer than that of a Borneo negro in summer Herman Melville – Moby-Dick (Chap. 68: The Blanket)

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Shades of Mengale…it’s safe to say that this was not an ethical experiment.

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But no more of this Herman Melville – Moby-Dick (Chap. 68: The Blanket)

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Ishmael has made a very flimsy case for why a whale’s skin is not properly it’s skin. But okay.

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for it were simply ridiculous to say, that the proper skin of the tremendous whale is thinner and more tender than the skin of a new-born child. Herman Melville – Moby-Dick (Chap. 68: The Blanket)

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Fucking magnets, how do they work?

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572

8 years

Ishmael is supposing that because whales are so big, therefore every organ should be proportionately big. This is an understandable theory, but it’s wrong and he knows it. After all, he well knows that their eyes are not in the same proportion to their heads in the usual sense.

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isinglass Herman Melville – Moby-Dick (Chap. 68: The Blanket)

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