NCHS AP English Language

Fedallah's Shadow- Emily Rew

In Chapter 73, the crew catches a Right Whale and begins to strip it the same process as they do the Sperm Whale. As the whale lays upon the deck, Fedallah every so often eyes the whales deep wrinkles and compares them to the lines of his own hand. Meanwhile the vision Ahab sees when Fedallah is standing in front of him is that the shadow of Ahab is lengthened somewhat by Fedallah's so that they become one big shadow. One part of an archtype that Jung's archetype theory says we have is the "Shadow" or potential of experiencing the unconscious side of our unique personalities. These unconcious personalities are usually manifested in other people through thier reaction towards us. When FEdallah stands in front of Ahab it is a blending of thier shadows both literally and metaphorically. Real in the actual shadows, and a metaphor in that the "Shadow" of Ahab or Fedallah is the otherwordly part that makes up Ahab. The crew sees this and it adds more to thier speculations abotu the demonic qualities of Fedllah that they first gave him. AS for the comparance of the palm and the whale, Fedallah was probably trying to maek some connection between the whale and the whereabouts of Moby Dick by psychic palm reading.


Meantime, Fedallah was calmly eyeing the right whale's head, and ever and anon glancing from the deep wrinkles there to the lines in his own hand. And Ahab chanced so to stand, that the Parsee occupied his shadow; while, if the Parsee's shadow was there at all it seemed only to blend with, and lengthen Ahab's. As the crew toiled on, Laplandish speculations were bandied among them, concerning all these passing things.

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 3:08 PM