NCHS AP English Language

#7Allusions to the White Whale

Categories:
Nature:
-Rocky Mountains and the Alleghenies pg. 206
-Southern Seas has been denominated the White Squall pg. 208
-White Mountains of New Hampshire (gigantic ghostliness) pg. 209
-Virginia Blue Ridge (soft, dewy, distant dreaminess) pg. 209
-White Sea (spectralness over fancy) vs. Yellow Sea (mild afternoons on the waves) pg. 209
-Snow-howdahed Andes as dread and fearfulness, inhuman solitudes pg. 210
-Scenery of the Antarctic sea as cruel graveyard of splintered crosses pg. 211
-Rolling of a milky sea, rustlings of frosts of mountains, shifting of snows of prairies vs. showing a buffalo hide to a colt pg. 211
Landmarks:
-White Tower of London pg. 209
Peoples:
-Grand old kings of Peru pg. 204
-Modern kings of Siam pg. 204
-Among the Romans a white stone marked a joyful day pg. 205
-Persian fire worshippers pg. 205
-Noble Iroquois, midwinter sacrifice of White Dog pg. 205
-Albino man pg. 207-208
-White Hoods of Ghent (snowy symbol of their faction) pg. 208
-White Friar or a White Nun pg. 209
Mythology/Religion:
-Adam walked majestic as a god, fearless as the Steed pg. 206
-Old fairy tales of Central Europe (tall pale man) more terrible than Whopping imps of the Blocksburg pg. 209
Animals:
-White bear of the poles pg. 205
-Fierce-fanged tiger pg. 206
-White-shrouded bear or shark pg. 206
-(Indian) White Steed of the Prairies, magnificent milk-white charger pg. 206

In chapter 42, Ishmael hears that Moby Dick is a powerful, huge white whale, perhaps a little “better” than other sperm whales. Ishmael wonders about the whiteness of him and can not seem to grasp the meaning of the white. There are different connotations and meanings of the color white to various civilizations. Thus, white does not have a universal meaning. Ishmael proceeds in giving examples of how the color white is symbolized in different cultures, using white for animals, nature, peoples, etc. Perhaps for people who go to Nolan, white symbolizes purity and renewal, like on a baptism robe. For white can also mean power and fear, like a huge crashing wave into a rock, or a powerful shark or polar bear. Ishmael goes on to say that white can mean supernaturalism, with an example of the White Mountains of New Hampshire having ghostliness about them. Ishmael presumes that all the other colors could be covering up nature’s absence of color as a powerful force. As seen in the numerous allusions, white is not as pure, heavenly, or sacred as some people think. Melville makes Moby Dick white, and Ishmael concludes that it the white color that frightens the crew. A whale in itself attacking you is incredibly terrifying enough, but a white whale is scary as a whale and as a shark or polar bear. To summarize, white is as nice to everyone.

posted by Caroline Ward @ 7:56 PM