Race in Moby Dick
As with many of Melville’s stories, race plays a significant role in Moby Dick. First with the introduction of Queequeg, Ishmael is enamored by the differences of him. He behaves much like Tommo in Typee. While there is a respect for Queequeg and an admiration for him, he still has to be classified as “an other”. He can’t be described as being like George Washington he has to be described as a “cannibalistic” George Washington. Race comes further into play with the introduction of Ahab’s secret crew. When the five of them emerge, four black and one ambiguously Asian, they are described as devils. They likely would not have been trusted regardless of their race, but it is interesting to think of what the reaction of the sailors would have been to five white men emerging. They most likely would not have been compared to Satan. The exoticness of the men seems to make them more mysterious. It is harder to quite place them.
Another issue where race was brought up in class was in the whiteness of the whale chapter. Some people argued that the whiteness of the whale was a comment on race. The argument was that the white being ominous was an inversion of the stereotypical “white is good, dark is bad”. I do think that that is a part of what Melville is discussing, but I don’t really know what I think about the whale itself being a comment on race.
I think the interpretations for the white whale and how it is “evil” are endless, which is a great part of Melville’s writing. He tends to drift toward the question of racism and why even himself places these different people into a category in his head. But the most interesting or maybe the most frustrating part is we have no idea what position Melville stands at. He comments on the situation of race and ponders but never speaks toward one side or the other.
I think that Melville’s ambiguous dealing of race in all of his works are confusing but fascinating. We saw its prominence in Benito Cereno, we saw it in Typee, and we see it here. In all three, Melville never makes it clear how he feels about race, but reading Moby Dick made me see Melville as a racially sympathetic author. Ishmael changes his xenophobic ways and him and Queequeg form a very deep relationship and have a strong respect for each other – including the cultures of each other. Reading Moby Dick makes the transition from Typee to Benito Cereno makes more sense. It has been so interesting to see how Moby Dick fits in to the before and after snapshots we saw of Melville’s work.