Moby Dick.

Five.

Wylie's Wisdom 

MOBYYYYYYYY. YOLO.

Our class discussions from the past week have gotten me thinking more about Chapter 64: Stubb’s Dinner. At the beginning of the chapter, Fleece is preaching to the sharks, giving them a moral lesson: share with your neighbor. He is also presenting the message that the more capable and stronger sharks should help the meek, the sharks with smaller mouths. He is openly acknowledging that he is preaching. What’s interesting about this is that Fleece wants the sharks to recognize that the whale is not theirs to take and they should not feel entitled to the whale. I think that Fleece’s sermon to the sharks is actually a larger commentary on the irony of whaling and the politics of the human social hierarchy.

In his effort to make peace amongst the sharks, Fleece preaches, “ ‘Now, look here, bred’ren, just try wonst to be cibil, a helping yourselbs from dat whale. Don’t be tearin’ de blubber out your neighbour’s mout, I say. Is not one shark good right as toder to dat whale? And, by Gor, none on you has de right dat whale; dat whale belong to dat whale?”  In this excerpt, Fleece is implying that even though it goes against their nature to share with and treat their fellow sharks with kindness, they should still make an effort to do so. Just like the sharks, the whalemen feel entitled to the whales and their resources. This is ironic because why then, should the humans feel entitled to the whale? It seems that the crew is quick to apply strict religious values on other people, in this case animals, but when it comes to their own lives being affected, they don’t apply those same values to themselves. They don’t realize that they are hypocrites. The whale meat belongs to neither party.

 “‘Well done, Old Fleece, that’s Christianity; go on,’” Stubb calls out sarcastically. He is not expressing genuine appreciation for religion at all, but commenting on the entertainment value he gets when watching Fleece talk to the sharks. Then, Fleece says “‘no use goin’ on; de dam willains will keep a scrougin’ and slappin’ each oder, Massa Stubb; dey don’t hear one word; no one a-preachin’ to such dam g’uttons as you call ‘em, till dare bellies is full, and dare bellies is bottomless…’” It is possible that Fleece is making an ironic reference about society. His situation as a black cook who has just been disturbed in the middle of the night to not only cook whale meat but also perform like a jester for the most intolerant and rude mate onboard demonstrates the imbalance of nautical and social groups. The word “bottomless” shows the insatiable nature of the whaling industry. No matter how successful one voyage is, they will return to sea, striving to kill even more whales. Stubb’s constant commands and inability to recognize the message in Fleece’s sermon indicates that perhaps this is a reasonable attribute of the typical whaleman. When Fleece calls Stubb “massa,” Melville is referring to the unfair power dynamic onboard. From his commands and complaints about the cooking of his steak, Melville is demonstrating Stubb’s disrespect for Fleece’s old age. This scene is a clear example of how the American social hierarchy of this time is mirrored on the Pequod.