Too Much Tequila, Too Little Sunscreen

Call me Ishmael. I spent the spring of my 71st year reading Moby Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville, and why he couldn’t decide on just one name for this epic story is beyond me. Melville used stylized language, symbolism, and metaphors to dig into some heavy themes, like class and social status, good and evil, and the existence of God. I’m okay with all of that, as I am with his use of soliloquies (speaking to himself), and asides (speaking to the reader). I had to look both of those terms up as I did hundreds of other unfamiliar words. Fortunately I read this huge book on a Kindle, and Kindles have a built in dictionary that follows you through the text. You don’t “look words up,” you just click on them.

Melville was a surveyor, a teacher, a sailor and a deserter before he became an author. But it was his desertion that caught my attention. He deserted the Acushnet in the Marquesas Islands and lived among the native cannibals for a short time, and he actually had a love affair with a beautiful native girl. Wow!

As I slugged through all 556 pages, I kept telling myself that this classic tale, which many consider to be one of the great American novels, was published in 1851, and that Melville was a “preppie,” educated at the New York Male School (Columbia Preparatory School) and went on to study the classics at the Albany Academy, so he was probably well versed in Latin and Middle English. His use of unfamiliar, archaic and nautical terms kept my finger on the dictionary clicker.

In chapter 104 Melville argues that a big subject, such as whales, requires the use of big words. I highlighted the words I had to look up in his paragraph on page 452. It reads:

Since I have undertaken to manhandle this Leviathan, it behoves me to approve myself omnisciently exhaustive in the enterprise; not overlooking the minutest seminal germs of his blood, and spinning him out to the uttermost coil of his bowels. Having already described him in most of his present habitatory and anatomical peculiarities, it now remains to magnify him in an archaeological, fossiliferous, and antediluvian point of view. Applied to any other creature than the Leviathan – to an ant or a flea – such portly terms might justly be deemed unwarrantably grandiloquent. But when Leviathan is the text, the case is altered. Fain am I to stagger to this emprise under the weightiest words of the dictionary. And here be it said, that whenever it has been convenient to consult one in the course of these dissertations, I have invariably used a huge quarto edition of Johnson, expressly purchased for that purpose; because that famous lexicographer’s uncommon personal bulk more fitted him to compile a lexicon to be used by a whale author like me.

Here are some of the other useless words I looked up reading Moby Dick: or, The Whale:

antediluvian – of or belonging to the time before the biblical flood
antiscorbutic – having the effect of preventing or curing scurvy
arrant – complete, utter
Belshazzar – last king of Babylon
binnacle – a built-in housing for a ship’s compass
bruit – spread (a report or a rumor) widely
bulwark – a defensive wall
bumper – a generous glassful of an alcoholic drink
burton – light two-block tackle for hoisting
cabalistic – relating to mystical interpretation or esoteric doctrine
cachalot – another term for sperm whale
cambric – a lightweight, closely woven white linen or cotton fabric
capstan – a revolving cylinder used for winding a rope
conflagration – an extensive fire that destroys a great deal of land or property
cozen – trick or deceive
crupper – a strap buckled in the back of a saddle looped under the tail
demijohn – a bulbous narrow necked bottle typically enclosed in wicker
descry – catch sight of
doxology – a liturgical formula of praise to God
effulgent – shining brightly; radiant
emetic – causing vomiting
evanescent – soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence
fain – pleased or willing under the circumstances
ferrule – a ring or cap that strengthens the end of a handle, stick, or tube
filial – of or due from a son or daughter
furkin – a unit of liquid volume equal to half a kilderkin
gam – a social meeting or informal conversation among whalers at sea
Giaconda – a source of wealth, advantage, or happiness
gunwale – the upper edge of the side of a boat or ship
hartshorn – aqueous ammonia solution used as smelling salts
hawser – a thick rope or cable for mooring or towing a ship
Hindoo – archaic spelling of Hindu
hoe-cake – a coarse cake made of cornmeal, baked on the blade of a hoe
imprecate – utter a curse or invoke evil against someone
kelson – or keelson, a centerline structure running the length of a ship
lancet – a small two-edged surgical knife with a sharp point
leviathan – a sea monster, a large aquatic creature especially a whale
marl – a loose or crumbling earthy deposit, as of sand, silt, or clay
misanthrope – a person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society
Mogul – a member of the Muslim dynasty of Mongol origin
moidore – a Portuguese coin
moulder – or molder, slowly decay or disintegrate, esp. because of neglect
mummery – performance by mummers
oakum – loose fiber obtained by untwisting old rope
orison – a prayer
osseous – consisting of or turned into bone
pennon – a long triangular or swallow-tailed flag
pertinacious – holding firmly to an opinion or a course of action
pitchpole – somersault
primogeniture – the state of being first born
puncheon – a short post used for supporting the roof in a coal mine
recondite – of a subject or knowledge little known
sinecure – a position requiring little or no work but giving status
snatch – a fragment of song or talk
somnambulism – sleepwalking
sooth – in truth; reality
spavin – a disorder of a horse’s hock
spermaceti – a white waxy substance produced by the sperm whale
spiracle – an external respiratory opening
stolid – (of a personal) calm, dependable and showing little emotion
surcoat – a loose robe worn over armor
surtout – a man’s overcoat similar to a frock coat
tarpaulin – a sailor’s tarred or oilskin hat
Tartarus – a primeval Greek god, the offspring of Chaos
taffrail – a rail and ornamentation around a ship’s stern
tither – to or toward that place
unvitiated – pure and uncorrupted
verdigris – a bright bluish-green encrustation or patina formed on copper
verdure – lush green vegetation
vertu – or virtu – knowledge of or expertise in the fine arts
windlass – a type of winch used to hoist anchors

Melville dedicated Moby Dick to Nathaniel Hawthorne: “In token of my admiration for his genius, this book is inscribed to Nathaniel Hawthorne.” And in a letter to Hawthorne written shortly after Moby Dick’s publication, Melville said in part:

… for not one man in five cycles, who is wise, will expect appreciative recognition from his fellows, or any one of them. Appreciation! Recognition! Is Jove appreciated? Why, ever since Adam, who has got to the meaning of his great allegory—the world? Then we pigmies must be content to have our paper allegories but ill comprehended. I say your appreciation is my glorious gratuity.

It seems that Melville wrote Moby Dick for Hawthorne and was thrilled when Hawthorn gave him a thumbs-up (or whatever they did in 1851).

I enjoyed the story, the characters, all of the messages he wedged into this adventure story, along with the wonderful detail that he immerses us in. If you’ve ever wondered about the hundreds of baleen plates in the mouths of Right Whales—Melville’s your guy.