Moby Dick and September 11th

[exeverything]

While reading the final chapters of Moby Dick, I could not help being reminded at several points of the September 11th attacks.

The first thing that made me think of this was the description that opens Ch. 132, preceding the initial attack of Moby Dick: "It was a clear steel-blue day. The firmaments of air and sea were hardly separable in that all-pervading azure." A similar idea is found in Ch. 119: "In these resplendent Japanese seas the mariner encounters the direst of all storms, the Typhoon. It will
sometimes burst from out that cloudless sky, like an exploding bomb upon a dazed and sleepy town." In this section there are also ruminations by the characters (incl. Ahab) on the sheer beauty of the day, as well as descriptions of the grace and peacefulness of Moby Dick swimming accompanied by birds. On September 11th, having been in New York City at the time I can attest that it was indeed a beautiful, "steel blue" day such as that. 81 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. All a prelude to an unthinkable, colossal disaster, just as in Moby Dick.

Something else that made me think of it is when Moby Dick, after decimating the whaling boats, takes aim at the Pequod: that excruciating period of time as Moby Dick approaches, when everyone is aware of the impending disaster (e.g. Starbuck panics that he is about to die), yet is completely powerless to do anything about it and can only watch it unfold. This reminded me so much of watching the video of the attacks, seeing the planes in the sky a mile or so from the buildings, making their inevitable, deadly approach. And the feeling of powerlessness, awe, and horror while watching it all transpire.

While this book is perhaps best-known for its big ideas and broad strokes, what I liked most about it was just these kinds of incisive details and subtle truths, relevant as much today as then and before.

PS - Some have compared George W. Bush's quest to democratize the Middle East to that of Captain Ahab. Interesting, though I think Don Quixote is the more apt metaphor in that case.

[Etienne]

All this is centered around the fact that both "events" happened on a nice day? That's quite shallow...

[exeverything]

No, I wouldn't say "all" this. First off, the obvious: the latter half of my post had nothing to do with the weather. Secondly, Melville goes out of his way to describe the setting before the disaster as preternaturally pleasant and peaceful. The point is made in several different places, as described before. The setting preceding arguably the biggest disaster in modern history could be described in exactly the same way, which I find to be an eerie parallel. I guess your point is that the setting of September 11th is completely meaningless and coincidental with respect to the event itself. Perhaps, though I seem to have Melville on my side, not to mention the time immemorial "calm before the storm" proverb, which while a similar idea lacks the specific exact parallels that Melville's version has (e.g. "steel blue", "all-pervading azure").

[chasestalling]

All this is centered around the fact that both "events" happened on a nice day? That's quite shallow...

what are you hoping for? a detailed analysis which irrefutably proves that the two events are indeed one and the same?

take it for what it is. a passing observation that is rather interesting in the most abstract sense.

[Logos]

Please see Forum Rule #6

http://www.online-literature.com/for...cement.php?f=9

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