The Spirit Spout (Chris FItzer)
The "spirit spout" is a direct reference to the silvery spewing of water from Moby Dick's blow hole first viewed on the horizon by Fedallah. This viewing appeared to have awakened the spirits of the sailors and reencouraged them to stick to their original goal. This spout seems to transfix Ahab, so much so that he spends day and night on deck awaiting another sighting. Each time it tempts him, for it is the icon of his enemy teasing Ahab with his proximity. Night after night the spout taunts Ahab, which causes him to became more irritated and possibly even more determined to ultimately kill Moby Dick. Contrastingly, this spirit eventually died out in the sailors as they all became pessimistic as to whether or not Moby Dick could actually be caught. Their attitude change from a zealous excitement to that of mute depression, but even though Ahab's expression seemed to have saddened he never lost the hope that he would get revenge: he never lost his spirit.
posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 10:44 PM
1 Comments:
I'm not sure exactly what you mean in the last sentence. This is also another touch of the numinous.
5/5
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