/lit/ - Literature

>>18552164
That's exactly right though.

>>18552164
the whale is a whale.

>>18552164
It is.

>>18552176
>the whale is a whale.

>>18552173
No, too simplistic.

>>18552176
Literally the best answer, and it accurately encapsulates what Moby Dick is all about.

>>18552176
based

The whiteness of the whale represents man's insatiable desire to cum

Captain Ahab is King Ahab

The whale is Leviathan.

So ignorant are most landsmen of some of the plainest and most palpable wonders of the world, that without some hints touching the plain facts, historical and otherwise, of the fishery, they might scout at Moby Dick as a monstrous fable, or still worse and more detestable, a hideous and intolerable allegory

The whale is a whale.
That's the whole point.
It's not a hateful, spiteful, malicious monster hellbent on finding and devouring men. That's what Ahab needs it to be.
Ishmael discovers the real truth before the end. That it's just an animal, a large, smart, scary animal for certain but only flesh and bone like him. Ahab refuses to accept this, because that would mean his life defining struggle has been childish and foolhardy and more than anything pointless.
I always felt bad for him.

>>18552453
A performative abnegation of interpretation is the resting place of the pseud.
The whale is NOT a whale.

>>18552593
spermaceti muncher

>>18552593
>The whale is NOT a whale.

>>18552176
Thank you, based whale

>>18552453
I think you're on the right track, but you should go further, in that while the whale is indeed just a whale and not a monster, it is metaphysically reflective of something far greater and its relationship with Ahab is not simply one where the conclusive interpretation to it is a psychoanalytic one.

>>18552176
uh, I think someone took the redpill, boys.

>>18552164
The whale is a prism

>The whale is NOT a whale.

The whale was the real monster

>>18552635
Yes, but that is what it is to Ahab. It becomes that for him and because of him. It's not that to Ishmael or Starbuck or the reader, and that's why Ahab's insanity is so profound and clear and such an engaging profile. If anyone buy he captained the Pequod, Dick would be a legendary hunt, a mythical capture, but it wouldn't be the war against the devil (or God ;)) himself. Ahab is responsible for the dead men almost more so than the whale. Ahab makes these things real.
>>18552593
C'mon, man. Burbling vocabulary is the resting place blah blah...
Anyway, if you'd like conclusive proof, familiarize yourself with the unabridged title.

Have you heard about the group who worship Moby Dick? They want to serve a greater porpoise.

>>18552612
>>18552615
>>18552815
hm, pathetic

>hm, pathetic

>hm, pathetic

>>18552176
Maruku Hurakami would approve

>constantly see people parrot "pynchon doesn't write good characters"
>read GR
>all the characters are intresting and good

>>18553415
>>18553469
yep, pathetic

>yep, pathetic

>F-Frankenstein is the REAL monster!
At worst he is your average dad who went out for a pack of cigarettes and never came back. The abomination he created is a serial killer that strangled a child to death and conspired to get an innocent girl hanged for it purely out of spite.
Worst take of all time bar none.

>>18552176
It's true

>>18552164
The whale is my cock.

>>18552593
I hope your dad smacks you during Christmas dinner. Though I doubt you've talked to him the past several years.

>there is no folly of the beast of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men.

This is the key to the book. Meditate on this quotation for three fortnights and you will understand. Unfortunately, the thread will be dead by then and you will not be able to share your findings, but you will have learned the truth, and therein lies the victory.

>>18552164
>be me
>come from a familly that has been marineers for centuries
>got some ancestors that died at sea (many left the shore and never came back (I joke saying they went to Ireland to start a new life) some died in WW2)
>grand pa told me countless story of the deaths we had at sea
>my grand ma said to me that every generation in our familly had tragedies happened
>said my grand pa didnt want us to know
>I hate the sea and love it at the same time
>I hate boating but while doing it I feel so good
>I feel at home at sea
>I sense fear from my soul
>I really do not like water
>There is mysteries down there and I ain't leaving my body with the depths like some of my forebears did
>every cousins and brothers have boats

Who in my familly will fall to our curse? Why is it me? Why is it so mysterious and cruel? And why do I love it so much?

Books on that lads? Sorry for blogposting I was just thinking about that just before I read the OP and some replies in here and I felt like here would be a good place to empty my heart.

>>18555139
Americans are incapable of understanding their own literature. Melville isn't Hemingway, he brings all of himself to it.
The whale is not a whale.

The whale is the material world. Ahab is an example of the reprobate man in suffering because he's not one of the calvinic elect chosen by God. The big question is really what is the nature of fate? Is God acting through the whale and punishing Ahab? Is Ahab's fallen state due to Ahab himself or some affliction? Is Ahab, Ahab?

If you've ever read some of Melville's marginalia, you'll see he's really against the concept of election.

>>18553592
i would never read a book by some faggot named "pynchon"

>>18557101
damn nigga u mad that a whale is a whale foh with that clown shit fr

>>18553592
>all the characters are good
The crisis of modernity has men seeing shells as human.

>>18552176
The post that made midwits seethe

>>18557583
What are you talking about? Everyone unanimously agrees with that guy.

>>18553657
Let me guess, you say "Frankenstein and the Monster are different!!!"

>>18553657
I laughed

>>18557080
I read your post and thought it was interesting. Thanks for the post.
wtf you are cursed, just look at the captcha I had to solve

>>18552635
This was my take but I'm a brainlet so it's probably too shallow.

The whale is a fish.

>>18552164
The whale is not a mammal

>>18557662
seething

>The whale is your mom

>>18557662
Then explain >>18552593 >>18557122

>>18557522
Speaking like a nigger is not amusing. Come back when you've cured yourself of Sontagisme.

The Whale is shit

>>18557761
There it is anon. I am destined to be ashored.

The whale is.

>>18557874
it's amusing when you do it on purpose to make fun of niggers

>>18558025
YO! 4CHAN MUTHAFUCKAS! WE FOUND THIS MUTHAFUCKIN BOARD!!!1

FUCK ALL JEALOUS AHH CRAKKKERS POSTING THIS RACIST SHIT!

WE GON PULL A 187 ON YO SERVERS!

WE GON PULL A 187 ON YO MOOT!

WE GON FUCK YO WOMEN!

AN WE GON PULL A 187 ON ALL Y'ALL SKINNY ASS WHITE MUTHAFUCKAS WHO THINK THEY COOL POSTIN THIS RACIST SHIT WHILE THEY ANON!11!!!

COME STEP TO A REAL THUG AND SAY THAT SHIT, CRACKER ASS MUTHAFUKAS!!!!

THIS IS FUCKIN WAR!!!

>>18557080
Sailors have hated the sea and yet felt pulled to it since mankind was old enough to row a boat.
Character arises from challenges and no one lives forever.
Godspeed, Anon.

>>18552176
The whale is white because he's a canvas you can paint your own vision upon.

>>18558048
haven’t seen this in a while lol
absolutely classic

>>18552453
Ishmael does NOT think the whale is just a whale though. Literally half the book is him trying to elevate the whale to the level of a God.

>>18552176

>>18558080
>t.brainlet

>>18558172
Yes because Ishmael is retarded

>>18557101

>>18558405
Criticism of Americans is necessary because of their incessant self-insertion into every corner and crevase of the globe, every book, every sound, every wound and screw and bolt. They are makings of Anglo perfidion, continuous from 1066 onwards, and enforced by the globohomo machine, and so even the Yankanons on this board posting are, by virtue of their meagre contribution, performing the sodomite colonial duty. It isn't enough to just ignore them.

>>18558416
really the pot calling the kettle black. We're all in this sinking ship, why are you trying to throw people overboard?

>>18558405
> eurogay vs americuck
Fight!

>>18558416
>Americans exist so I must be angry about them
Obsessed, seething, take your meds etc.

>>18558416
wew

>>18552164
The whale is the anti-god so to speak

Melville is Ahab and the book itself is Moby Dick.

>>18552164
>1984 is a good book
>I keep track of what I've read
>I look up reviews of books *after* I've read it

>>18553657
>F-Frankenstein is the REAL monster!
Why are brainlets like this?

>>18552164
Did someone write a fish tale about this?

>>18552164
The whale is America. Looks white but really a black and white animal.

>>18552176
What a gem