Tag: Theology

Chapter 116: The Dying Whale

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Well, things are finally turning around a bit.

Just a quick update on the saga of my dental problems: I had my root canal this week! At long last! Honestly, it was mostly fine, as I was simply laying there dazing in the chair hopped up on nitrous oxide the whole time. It cost a bit extra, but man it was worth it. And now the pain in that tooth is gone. Everyone talks shit about root canals, but they really do the damn thing. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, which this week is a deep, dark subject….

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Chapter 110: Queequeg in his Coffin

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The pieces are starting to fall into place.

It’s funny, so much of this book is either vague and philosophical, blowing out its themes to a vast scope, or extremely mundane and specific, that one quite forgets that there’s an actual plot going on, and certain things must be set up for it to conclude. Not that we’re ever going to fully get away from Ishmael’s philosophical reveries, of course. Yet, this is one such chapter, containing a pivotal development that will resonate with the inevitable end of this tale.

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Chapter 107: The Carpenter

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Alright, let’s get back to business, shall we?

How does this go again? Excuse me if I take a moment to get my bearings. The last time I was writing on this subject, the very flames of hell were licking at my monitor from outside my lone apartment window. Now they have been replaced with the icicles of the holy fanfiction of one Dante Allighieri. No, but we have in fact had a rather mild winter this year, no snow down here in the Green River valley, though it is a little chilly tonight. It will… not quite freeze, reaching a mere 33 degrees.

But enough about the weather, let us move on to today’s subject.

Continue reading “Chapter 107: The Carpenter” →

Chapter 106: Ahab’s Leg

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Summer continues apace here in Pacific Northwest, and it has been awful, here in my little apartment.

This place was not designed to deal with this sort of heat. I get the radiant warmth from lower floors, so it is nearly impossible to maintain livable conditions without sitting directly in front of a fan at all times. And, over the past weekend, we had some awful wildfire smoke to boot! Ugh. The rains of fall cannot come soon enough.

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Chapter 71: The Jeroboam’s Story

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Alright, now we are back in it.

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Jeroboam sacrificing to his idol, oil on canvas by Claes Corneliszoon Moeyaert, 1641

Today’s chapter is a lengthy one, featuring the tale of another whaling ship that the Pequod comes across on that vast, wild plain of the Pacific Ocean. They hear the story of this ship, another wild tale that happens to be incredibly relevant to their own quest. Let’s listen in, shall we? Continue reading “Chapter 71: The Jeroboam’s Story” →

Chapter 70: The Sphynx

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See? I said I would start posting more regularly, and here I am at it again, less than a week later.

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This chapter is a fun one, kind of a bridge between narrative and non-narrative. You get a bit of everything, including a return to Ahab being extremely portentous all the time. Let’s get into it! Continue reading “Chapter 70: The Sphynx” →

Chapter 58: Brit

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Enough ruminations about various depictions of whales! Let’s just all agree that true life experiences are very difficult to convey and that the skill of it belongs only to the great masters of craft among us.

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Today, we’re talking about a much smaller subject: brit, that food that whales crave. Not the whales that Ahab and co. are actually hunting, but the right whale and some other kinds of whale that do not produce enough or the right kind of oil to be noticed. Continue reading “Chapter 58: Brit” →

Chapter 55: Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales

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And now, for something completely different.

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A Richard III Whale

After that incredibly long and detailed short story, that microcosm for the book as a whole encapsulated in a single chapter, it’s time for a good ol’ fashioned non-narrative chapter where Ishmael yells at clouds. Or, rather, yells at artists for not knowing what whales look like. Continue reading “Chapter 55: Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales” →

Chapter 39: First Night-Watch

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Here’s another tiny little chapter. At this rate we’ll be down to a single paragraph, then a single sentence, and perhaps even a single word will suffice.

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This time, the focus is on Stubb in the aftermath of Ahab’s big revelation. He didn’t get a lot of focus in that chapter, though he was there with everyone else. How will he respond to the new plan of vengeance on the white whale, Moby Dick? Let’s find out! Continue reading “Chapter 39: First Night-Watch” →

Chapter 36: The Quarter-Deck

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Hoo boy, this is a big one. Not in terms of length, it doesn’t compare to Cetology, but in terms of importance and… depth of meaning?

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This is one of the most famous scenes in the book. If you know two scenes, it’s probably the ending and this one. Ahab is gonna play his hand, give a big speech, and reveal his innermost secrets. Not all of his secrets, mind you, just the deepest ones. Continue reading “Chapter 36: The Quarter-Deck” →