Today's MOZEN: Whale Tales

F loBuono

Moby Dick; or, The Whale (as it is actually titled), written by Herman Melville in 1851, is considered a classic of American literature. The characters who hunt the massive beasts and inhabit its pages have become familiar names to most of us: Ismael, Queequeg, Starbuck, Tashetego, Daggoo. and, of course, the mysterious  Ahab, captain of the whaling ship, Pequod.

Melville felt he had written a masterpiece. However, it was not a success at the time of its publishing. In fact, it was a miserable failure (only 3,200 copies were actually sold in his lifetime). After his repeated attempts to hawk his novel, he had to leave his writing (and whaling adventures) behind to earn a living as a patent clerk. But, he was never shaken from his belief that a story about the will of man vs. the awesome power of nature (as represented by Ahab vs. Moby Dick) was one that is immortal. It was not until the 20th Century that it was recognized as a masterpiece.

Still, take it from me, it's a TOUGH read. It's written in a style popular in the middle of the 19th Century and features archaic language not used any more. And, the pace of the writing matches the tedium those sailors must have experienced in the endless hours at sea. I have to admit that I slogged through most of it, but not all! However, it you can hang with it, there are some real gems within.

Loosely based on a true story (see the whaling ship Essex), it follows the crew from Nantucket to the South Pacific as they pursue the ocean's great whales for the the oil that lights most of the Western world. And, they hunt one species of whale in particular: the awesome Sperm whale, whose massive head contains the spermacetti oil, from which they derive their names.

However, their is only one whale that Captain Ahab is interested in; The Great White Whale, known as Moby Dick. The awesome beast has more than wounded Ahab's body by taking his leg in a previous encounter but, by escaping, crippled his very soul. And, only the great whale's death can quench Ahab's thirst for revenge.

Most people who are familiar with the story are so from the 1956 film directed by John Houston and in which Gregory Peck stars as Ahab. I was one of those who saw the movie before I read the novel. And, as brilliant as Peck is in the role, after reading the book, I felt it a rather one-side portrayal. Peck's Ahab is a fearsome man who inspires dread in his crew. They fear him more than they respect him. He accepts no quarter nor does he give it. His iron will drives him and vicariously, his men.

However, even though Ahab is defined by his iron will, in the novel, he is more human, if you will. Yes, he says things that establish his unshakable contitution like: what I've dared, I've willed; and, what I've willed, I'll do. But, at the same time, he has this wonderful sense of his place in the world by also saying; I try all things. I achieve what I can. He encourages us to be bold in our dreams and unwavering in our pursuit of them while, at the same time, acknowledging that failure is also a part of life. In other words, it's the effort, the dogged pursuit of our goals, whether we achieve them or not, that is most important.

Interestingly, we all know how the story ends; mans' will may be indomitable but the power of nature is inexorable - Moby Dick drags Ahab to a watery grave. We can not defeat nature. We can only live within it.