Chapters 55-65

This section is for discussion re: Chapters 55-65

Melville seems to balance out the amount of action he provides in each section with the amount of fact or digression he offers. In this section we have a significant amount of action that is pretty exciting surrounded by tons of factual information.

I wonder if he has not only added this information to explain what is probably a subject few people know much about, but also to lend credibility to a faltering career in writing. It is almost like having commercials in the story, saying this book is worth reading, look at these facts this author know...

Again we see the theme of racism through Stubb and the cook, and possibly some hints at classism while discussing who would or would not eat whale.

AND of course SparkNotes mentions the following, which is a great pick up, I just wish it was mine....

"As Ishmael notes in Chapter 58 with his metaphor for the human soul, even when we examine ourselves, we see only surfaces and quick glimpses of hidden truths. Ishmael finds this limitation to human perception strangely liberating. Unaware of what lies beneath these surfaces, he is free to interpret the world as he sees fit. "

Kelley, I give you kudos. You came up with some great observations.

-trying to validate his faltering career
-I like the bit about commercials, what else could it be except to be an advocate to the whaling industry

I sure enjoyed the "squid" scene. I thought to myself, oh no, there could be another book on the "killer squid - Guido."

Kelley is definately getting more out of the book than just surface reading! I thought we got more than any one would WANT to know about whales and whaling through out these chapters but as has been pointed out by both of you, people read much more because it was what there was for entertainment and also for learning, so people probably did not mind having so much information about a subject in one book. they read for self teaching as well as for pleasure. Maybe people felt you should get more out of a book than just entertainment!

I think a lot of it was the time of the writing.