NCHS AP English Language

QUESTION NUMBER 7 BY CAILIN LOYD

7. The "Whiteness of the Whale"

Allusions in Chapter 42, the "Whiteness of the Whale"

KINGS
1. "even the barbaric, grand old KINGS OF PEGUplacing the title "Lord of the White Elephants" above all their other magniloquent ascriptions of dominion"
The
2. "the modern KINGS OF SIAM unfurling the same snow-white quadruped in the royal standard"

EMPIRES
1. "the HANOVERIAN flag bearing the one figure of a snow-white charger"
2. "the great AUSTRIAN EMPIRE, Caesarian, heir to overlording Rome, having for the imperial colour the same imperial hue; and though this pre-eminence in it applies to the human race itself, giving the white man ideal mastership over every dusky tribe"

PEOPLE/TRADITION
1. "for among the ROMANS a white stone marked a joyful day"
2. "the innocence of brides, the benignity of age; though among the RED MEN OF AMERICA the giving of the white belt of wampum was the deepest pledge of honour"
3. "though in many climes, whiteness typifies the majesty of Justice in the ermine of the JUDGE"
4. "contributes to the daily state of KINGS AND QUEENS drawn by milk-white steeds"
5. "Most famous in our Western annals and Indian traditions is that of the White Steed of the Prairies; a magnificent milk-white charger, large-eyed, small-headed, bluff-chested, and with the dignity of a thousand monarchs in his lofty, overscorning carriage. He was the elected Xerxes of vast herds of wild horses, whose pastures in those days were only fenced by the Rocky Mountains and the Alleghanies."

RELIGION
1. "though even in the higher mysteries of the most august RELIGIONS it has been made the symbol of the DIVINE spotlessness and power"
2. "by the PERSIAN fire worshippers, the white forked flame being held the holiest on the altar"
3. "in the Greek mythologies, Great Jove himself being made incarnate in a snow-white bull"
4. "though to the noble Iroquois, the midwinter sacrifice of the sacred White Dog was by far the holiest festival of their theology, that spotless, faithful creature being held the purest envoy they could send to the Great Spirit with the annual tidings of their own fidelity"
5. "though directly from the Latin word for white, all CHRISTIAN PRIESTS derive the name of one part of their sacred vesture, the alb or tunic, worn beneath the cassock; and though among the holy pomps of the ROMISH FAITH, white is specially employed in the celebration of the Passion of our Lord; though in the Vision of St. John, white robes are given to the redeemed, and the four-and-twenty elders stand clothed in white before the great-white throne, and the Holy One that sitteth there white like wool"
6."The Romish mass for the dead begins with "Requiem eternam" (eternal rest), whence REQUIEM denominating the mass itself, and any other funeral music. Now, in allusion to the white, silent stillness of death in this shark, and the mild deadliness of his habits, the French call him REQUIN."

These allusions range from secular KINGS to religious practices and leaders.

posted by Lisa @ 9:52 AM