THE MEANING OF MOBY DICK

The careful reader would have learned also,

that when a whale has stretched "fin out," he is

dead. This fact is presented in one of the most im-

passioned outbursts in the book:"And this is what

ye have shipped for men! to chase that white whale

on both sides of land, and over all sides of earth,

'till he spouts black blood and rolls fin out." If

the phrase "stretch fin out" is intended to mean

to swim, it is misleading, because "to the whale,

his tail is the sole means of propulsion. . . . His

side fins only serve to steer by."

Moby Dick is really two stories} an ostensible

story that treats of material things; and another

story, hidden in parables, allegories, and symbol-

ism, which treats of abstract things. And these two

stories are parallel and analogous to each other.

The superficial narrative describes a hunt for a

white whale; but the story which it hides tells of'a

supernatural adventure to carry out the most origi-

nal and daring scheme for setting this world right

that has ever been invented. But aside from the

main parable, which shows the ulterior relation be-

tween Ahab and the Whale, the other hidden

meanings are without sequence, continuity, or co-

ordination. However, they do possess a degree of

uniformity, inasmuch as they all relate to the mys-

tery of life and destiny.

The hidden matter also includes analogous allu-

sions to probably all the religions, philosophies,

Generated on 2013-01-31 16:43 GMT / http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015000517709

Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-google

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