tkral15’s Blog

“the fact that he had one was insisted upon wherever he was known. His acquantances resented the fact that he turned up in popular resaurants with her and, leaving her at a table, sauntered about, chatting with whomsoever he knew. Though i was curious to see her, i had no desire to meet her-but i did…” (24)

i chose this quote because it shows how these people were just so rich that they even had mistresses. Whenever i think of a mistress i associate them with rich men who can afford to have a wife and an affair. i feel like a mistress is just an assessory and when the 3 are in the cab they pull over and buy a dog. they go shopping on fifth avenue as if its not a big deal. the people in this story are very nosey, they buy the scandelous gossip magizines daily. they talk about trips they take frequently to monte carlo and other lavish places in europe.

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http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/themes.html

    The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg

quote:

“I graduated from New Haven in 1915, just a quater of a century after my father, and a little later I participated in that delayed Teutonic migration known as the Great War. I enjoyed the counter-raid so thoroughly that i came back restless…so i decided to go East and learn the bond business. Everybody i knew was in the bond business, so i supposed it could support one more single man.” Page 3

this quote relates to my american character essay in that it shows how someone has the freedom to do a variety of things. The main character and narrator-nick mentions how he went to college and then took part in the war. When he returned he just decided that he wanted to learn about the business of bonds. Everyone has the freedom to chose what they want to do with their life. I think i’m going to like this book. I feel like its much easier to read and i can actually understand what is going on.

http://www.armzrace.com/mark/images/MLAL/great_gatsby.jpg

At last the end of the book…

Well i’ll have to say the ending was pretty good. Almost worth the 120ish other chapters. It was nice to see all of the predictions coming true at the end of the book to Captain Ahab. I believe he deserves every thing he got. I mean there were just so many different prophecies from numerous people predicting deaths and negative things. 

So, i am happy that i can say i’ve read Moby Dick. It is such a well known classic that it in a way feels good to know that i’ve chewed on this thing for the past two months. i’m happy its finnally done though. I feel like it could have been a much better book if 120 chapters were subtracted..but then that wouldn’t make it moby dick. Moby dick is about the long torturous adventure. Through the struggles, rejoices, good times and bad times, that is how the story went, and that is how the story is read.

If it was any different people would think completely different of it. People wouldn’t be able to complain…like an old quote, you have to have the negatives to know what a positive is…

so in conclusion..moby dick wasnt that bad but it was definitely not my favorite. I probably won’t willingly read it ever again, but i feel i’ve accomplished something-though i’m not quite sure exactly what it is.

Today in class after listening to the news thing i was really thinking about how they mentioned moby dick and jaws. duh- jaws was based completely off moby dick. this crazy man wanted to go after the huge mean killer shark and would really do anything to get to it, including deaths and pain and lost profit. I think that it is interesting how so many things today make simple references like moby dick. Like the progressive insurance commercial, xxx the movie, jaws, even the war being compared to moby dick is really neat.

Also going back to what we discussed in class today…Seriously when (and if) Ahab and the crew do catch moby dick really what is ahab going to get out of it? Will Ahab ever be satisfied. He can never get his leg back from the whale ever. So, why is he going out on such a risky trip. Why is he so crazy that after hes stopped and talked to other ships and seen what Moby has done to him he is continuing his voyage. Seriously this man is nuts! I am curious as to why other members of the boat are not sticking up for themselves…for their life. Easily i think that the Pequod group members could overpower the captain so why not do it? Are they scared? Maybe this man is not even mentally insane and they’re afraid of him..I would be!

Over the break I had plenty of time to see my family and hang out with friends. My parents actually had to go away for the weekend so i have stuck home with my grandmother…There are only so many things one can talk to with their grandmother. Recent news, my parents, the usual…but unfourtuantly I ran out of subjects. So, why not bring up Moby Dick?

My grandmothers opinion?- She basically stated that you hear people talking about Moby Dick and its greatness. How it was supposed to be some philosophical book that after reading it, it made you a better person. She said that it was a book that within it there were so many hidden messages that every time you would read it, you could get something different out of it. I put in my opinion saying how i wasn’t really too thrilled with the book. I liked the exciting parts, but the tangents that Melville goes off on sometimes annoy me. With a small nod she agreed with me, and also mentioned how she just felt like that was the way people would write back then. She though that really that was just how Melville was as an author.

So, i just think that it is interesting how Moby Dick is viewed through other people too. I am able to see the opions of my classmates, but to hear a view from an older person is interesting too.

I have really come to a conclusion that Melville really wanted to fill up a certain amount of pages and then decide he was done. In this case 470 pages was his quota. I feel like Melville would write about anything that came to mind just to fill up the pages. I mean the tantrums he goes off on sometimes are just so abstract i don’t know how he even got to them or how to understand them.

Also, something that i found interesting… I think it is really neat, (and i planned to write about this last night) how the titles of the chapters can end up being so misleading…such as The Town Ho’s Story, The Crotch, The Blanket, The Pequod meet the Virgin… Looking ahead it makes me wonder what some other chapters will be about…Queequeg’s in his Coffin, Heads or Tails–> are we talking about a coin here of an actual whale body parts? Also just by looking ahead there are a couple chapters that do spark an interest upon me…but could these be misleading and end up boring me? We’ll see…

I really think that it is interesting how Moby-Dick and the presidency/ war on terrorism can be linked together so well. It is also pretty neat how certain positions such as Moby-dick can be compared to the same thing. Like moby dick could be the U.S. trying to end terrorism, or Moby-Dick can be the terrorism that we are trying to catch. I really liked the analgies that were made in the article we read with the sub. Even if i dont one hundred percent agree with the views of the article, i think that the way the person backed up their ideas made them seem like the right views the believe.

After reading these two sections i did get a little bored and annoyed. The few things i did enjoy were the Monkey Rope Chapter. I just thought it was really neat to see how much the shipmates depended on each other. If Queequeg went down, Ishmael was going with him. I also liked the conversation between Stubb and Flask when they caught the whale. They were just bashing on the Fadhella. They things they said about how he was secretly the devil and had a long tail that he kept tucked in his pants i though were amusing.

However, the numerous chapters about the sperm and right whale heads and the differences i hated. I thought they were tedious and borning. Basically they were Melville being “melvilly” which on ocasically is okay and bearable, but not for chapter after chapter.

There were also some pretty detailed chapters about how to cook whale, and how to extract the oils from their heads and how to dismantle its head, and remove its blubber. The images about the blubber being like a rine of an orange will probably stick with me for a while, and i probably won’t be able to eat an orange for a while.

After reading this section i felt like Moby- Dick is two stories mixed together. There is the real scientific chapters that offer information and biological facts. And then there is also the chapters that are fantasy and exaggerated stories.  I think that it is a really interesting way to compose a story. It is also a “cool” way to learn about whales and their history while reading about an adventure. In the two chapters about the paintings of whales i thought it was so interesting how whales were portrayed completely different. From the shapes, and sizes, and the colors. The Line, chapter 60 was well put. I liked how before Melville got into the whaling scene. He explained with great detail about the  special rope which is coated in special tar for a good smooth grip. He mentions how important the storage of the rope is. It has to be easily accessible so that in seconds it can be let lose and attached to the whale.

Then finally a REALLY exciting chapter came up in Stubb Catches a Whale. It’s what we’ve been waiting for Whale action.  I thought that chapter was a little too graphic with the blood coming out of the whale. It grossed me out, and i felt bad for the whales. I’m still not sure where i stand on the whaling issue, so right now i think the rest of the book may be hard for me to read. After Stubb catches the whale the next two chapters started to explain the little things and terms on the whaling trip that one would need to know. I really like how some details are really explained well. I feel like i could get on a whaling ship and be able to point everything out and be helpful around the ship. I am now excited to read more. I was bored for a little bit, and now i was able to turn through all the pages.

After reading this section i was pretty excited. I really liked chapter 48 because there was a lot of action. It was interesting to see how the four boats raced after the whales. The different tactics they chose and the way they navigated. One thing that did stick out a lot to me was how much Ahab spoke. I mean if i was out there i would want to toss his overboard. I found Ahab very obnixous and unesscary. Almost as if he was talking just to be talking. Or he enjoyed listening to himself yell at other mates. I have a feeling that very soon shipmates may get annoying of Moby dick and the little stunts he pulls. Like the revenge he strives for against Moby Dick, or the five mysterious phantoms he had on board the whole time.

A second connection that i made was in chapter 52- The Albatross. As i mentioned in previous blogs my family used to travel to cape cod annually. One of our rainy day activities would be to go deep sea fishing on a boat called, the Albatross. I can remember these trips being a lot of fun, and really exciting. The fish that we would try to catch were flounder.  Of course though when you put a fishing line in the water anything on the end of the line can latch on. I can remember this one trip exactly. I threw my line in the water and just waiting for a while for something to bite… When i did finally feel a tug i go excited and started to reel in my line. then it got really hard, too hard to be a flounder. I had to have the crew come over and help me. Although it will never be for sure known, the man suggested that i had actually caught a shark. We had to cut my line no one was going to be able to pull this one up. The boat ride is also one of the best parts of the day. The wind rushes in your face. Everything is wet, and everyone is having a good time. My experiences on the Albatross boat remind me of some of the adventures in Moby Dick. Mine was much less dangerous, but the thrill of being out on the sea was still present.

    I thought that this section was pretty borning to read. In chapter 43- Hark two shipmates have a conversation and one says that he can hear human noises in the cargo area. The other says he hears nothing. I think that this is defeintley some foreshawdowing. In The Chart, i thought that Ahab seemed crazy at first, however following eating patterns does make sense. In The Affidavit, the main thing i took out of that chapter was that Ishmael wants people to read his book with “human reasoning” rather than reading it as a “hideous and intolerable agnoy” I find that in a way ironic because at some points during the reading i feel like the book is hideous and intolerable. It’s almost as if he knows his book at some points can be tedious, but you have to find the real message in each chapter. Also it makes me think that sometimes all of the random chapters are so that you can feel like you’re on the ship, and they also lead up to bigger, better, exciting chapters. In Surmises, Ahab realizes that he needs to treat his men well, and keep their motovation up via money. He also discovers that although his only goal is to get revenge on Moby Dick, the other shipmates want to catch as many spermwhales possible to earn money. In chapter 47-the most exciting of the night was finally Tashteego spots a whale. And just as everyone starts to get busy, “5 dusky phantoms” emerge around Ahab. I wonder if these five phantoms are shipmates who want to make it clear to Ahab about their goal or whether they are pirates? I’m not even sure if they had pirates back then.

Leaving off at chapter 47 i’m hoping there is a real whale. Or maybe Tashteego just called out whale in order to destract Ahab…