NCHS AP English Language

Chapters 70, 73, & 93 - Nathan Sheptock

Chapter 70 - The name Sphinx, literally meaning “to strangle,” taken from the Greek interpretation, can also refer to any person, object, creature, place or other thing which in itself holds immense power, hidden knowledge, and great mysteries unknown to man. Both of these views are evident in the Greek hero Oedipus’s solving of the Sphinx’s riddle to free the city of Thebes (the Sphinx, in this case, is both a tyrannical monster prone to “strangle” all passers by who cannot solve her riddles, mysteries concealing the great knowledge she possesses). This dualistic view is also present it Ahab’s discussion with the “head” of the decapitated whale. For whatever reason, he views the whale’s head as resembling that of a Sphinx’s (possibly due to the view of the head of an object as its primary source of power and knowledge, for which the Sphinx is very well know for possessing) and proceeds to ask it to explain the mysteries of the universe to him, since it knows more of the vast ocean, and therefore the universe, than any other creature or man. As this creature, to Ahab, is all knowing and all powerful, it must certainly know of the presence of evil within the universe and wherein this vast ocean that evil lies (the evil, of course, being personified in Moby Dick). This knowledge, along with the fact that the source of knowledge is a whale itself and his belief in the interrelatedness of all forces within the universe, he believes will allow him to seek out and destroy the evil one (Moby Dick), expelling it from the ocean and in turn bringing harmony to the universe.

Chapter 73 – This chapter begins with Stubb and Flask’s discussion of why Ahab wished to catch a right whale, the answer being that Ahab had heard and believed that a ship with a sperm whale head on one side and a right whale head on the other could never capsize. They then proceed to observe and discuss their views of the stowaway Fedallah, whom Stubb believes to be a devil in disguise who will undoubtedly bring harm to Ahab and the voyage. These views could easily and presumably be accepted with regards to the sequence of events which then take place with in the chapter. First, Fedallah begins a prolonged view back and forth between the wrinkles of the whale’s head and those of his own palm, which could be seen to those suspicious of him as a sort of palm-reading, intended to see into the future of the voyage, perhaps in some attempt to win the upper hand with Ahab or take crucial advantage when the right future moment comes. Second, his shadow, when he comes in close proximity to Ahab, seems to join with and partially envelop Ahab’s in such a way that although it may seem that Ahab’s shadow is the more prominent one, with Fedallah’s simply strengthening it, it is Fedallah’s shadow which is in fact the stronger one, secretly overpowering Ahab’s and perhaps also alluding to event forthcoming, in which he may attempt or even succeed in “enveloping” Ahab by wining favor with him or placing him in a downfall. Yet another interpreted attempt to bring both him and the voyage to harm. Lastly, the reference to “Laplandish speculations” which were “bandied” among the crew shows that their views are generally in accord with Stubb’s and Flask’s, which is what these phrases refer to.

Chapter 93 – This chapter focuses partly on Pip’s experience when he is “cast” into the ocean on two separate occasions (hence the title). On the first occasion, he is rescued rather quickly, scolded, and told to stay in the boat, but on the second occasion, he is left alone, almost to the point of losing him inn the vast expanse, as some sort of twisted punishment for disobeying orders. It is during this second, protracted period in which Pip encounters the work of God Himself, a perfect paradigm, the “unwarped primal world” that is the great ocean surrounding him. He has become mad because he has now experienced firsthand “the intense concentration of self in the middle of such a heartless immensity,” the pure form of the archetype that is the ocean and that tremendous isolation in itself, the work of “God-omnipresent.” This view of God at work in His most basic form, through the immense envelopment of the ocean, through its ability to rip him away from all “peaceable securities” which he holds dear and drown the “infinite of his soul” is simply too complex for his fragile mind to comprehend, effectively rendering his mind useless and himself mad. This experience, as stated before, is no more than a direct observance of and interaction with a pure archetypal form of nature brought forth by God in its simplest and most multifaceted manner. Ahab, most of all, has had such an experience so far in his previous encounter with Moby Dick (yet another pure archetypal from) in which he felt firsthand the awesome power of raw nature, again brought forth by God and imposed on him through the loss of his leg. These two tremendous experiences have brought Ahab and Pip together in at least two ways: one, these firsthand experiences have both brought their observers to the brink of madness through the shear nature of their being, and two, they have both brought about that madness and mindset through their ability to bring to their observers an all-consuming sense of isolation, Ahab from the land and from his crew, and now Pip from the former “securities” of his life and the relatively peaceable journey which he has had up to this point.

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 9:56 PM