incorrect-mobydick-quotes-blog - Tumblr blog

[incorrect-mobydick-quotes-blog]

listen i get the urge to write off captain ahab as just an entitled / privileged asshole, i do, but i really think that doing so is such a huge disservice to his character? at the very least it… it’s not the most interesting way to read him; imo it’s a pretty lazy reading as far as interpretations go. there’s… so much more to work with there? 

like, i’m not saying that he’s a good person, but he is a complicated one, and he deserves more nuance than the “ahab is (white) privilege” take that so many people seem to give him. he’s trauma and desperation and confusion and his whole thing is trying to rationalize just how unbearable he perceives his existence as being & he pins it all on this whale because at least that’s something tangible that he can fight, and yes, he hurts people, and I am not trying to excuse his actions, but he really? isn’t this horrible conniving villain who seeks out the suffering of others that he gets painted as. he’s ultimately just a person, with very human trappings and fears—and with very human qualities, too.

a lot of things in the text point to that—his relationship w/ pip is the biggest one! here’s this crew member, this literal child, who is actually a victim of white supremacy, left to die alone at sea and only saved by chance (or fate, as it may be), and literally no one else on the ship seems to care. except for Ahab. and that is something. it’s both a) showing us that there’s more to Ahab as a character and as a person, that he can be sympathetic and loving and even kind, and b) is just another example of how, like… legitimately awful the world he lives in is. ahab is right to be afraid and angry and dissatisfied with his lot and, hell, i’d go so far as to say that he’s even right to be a little vengeful about it.

ahab’s not just some privileged guy complaining abt the state of things and foolishly thinking he can fix them; he’s not some holier-than-thou clueless old man. he’s also not just a helpless victim without agency or culpability in the tragedy. he’s… so much more than either of those things and it’s really tiring to see people fit him into either one of those boxes (usually, it’s the former). he’s just. more.

(Also a loooong while back I read this essay called the question of race in moby dick by fred v bernard, shoutout to my friend for showing it to me, but it makes a very convincing case for reading ahab (and ishmael tho I’m not focusing on him rn) as Black/mixed, and the inherent trauma of his story that can be tied to that, and since then I literally haven’t been able to view Ahab any other way… uhh good essay if you wanna check it out; I think it’s on JSTOR)

[incorrect-mobydick-quotes-blog]

sea shanties are gay. why are sea shanties gay, you ask? well, you see, there are sea shanties in moby dick, and moby dick is gay. why is moby dick gay, you ask? well, you s–

[incorrect-mobydick-quotes-blog]

Ahab: I hope I get run over.

Stubb: Oh, come on, captain, it's Christmas! Get in the spirit!

Ahab: I hope I get run over by a reindeer.

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Starbuck: I'm claustrophobic.

Flask: What does that mean?

Stubb: It means he's afraid of Santa Claus!

Starbuck: That's not--

Flask: HO HO HO!

Stubb: Stop, you're scaring him!

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Ishmael: ♪He's making a list, he's checking it twice, he's gonna find out who's on thin fucking ice♪

Tashtego: ♪Santa Claus is calling you out♪

Ishmael & Tashtego: ♪He sees what you have tweeted! He knows your facebook likes! He heard that shit you said last month and he says fuckin' YIKES♪

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Stubb: Ok. Here's the idea; we hang mistletoe--

Flask: But instead of kissing whoever else is under it, you gotta to FIGHT them!

Starbuck: We are not doing that.

Stubb: Mistlefoe!

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radio: ♪I don't want a lot for Christmas...♪

Ishmael, kicking the door down: ♪THERE IS JUST ONE THING I NEED♪

The whole crew: ♪I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE PRESENTS UNDERNEATH THE CHRISTMAS TREE♪

Ahab: What the fuck.

[incorrect-mobydick-quotes-blog]

Don't F-word with me right now,

Mr. Starbuck

[incorrect-mobydick-quotes-blog]

Flask: Pass the salt.

Dough-boy: What's the magic word?

Flask: Or else.

Dough-boy: That's two words, but point taken.

[incorrect-mobydick-quotes-blog]

Stubb: What are you staring at?

Starbuck, pointing to Ishmael: He's been tying his shoes for the past 5 minutes.

Stubb: I don't think he knows how.

Starbuck: He's crying.

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Starbuck: Do you want to know how I actually hurt my wrist? I was hula-hooping. Mary and I attend a class for fitness and fun.

Ishmael: Oh my God.

Starbuck: I've mastered all the moves. The pizza toss, the tornado, the scorpion, the oopsie-doodle.

Ishmael: Why are you telling me this?

Starbuck: Because no-one will ever believe you...

Ishmael: You sick son of a bitch.

[incorrect-mobydick-quotes-blog]

Pip: I made a marshmallow Ahab. See? His arms are crossed because he's mad at all the other marshmallows for interrupting his existential crisis-induced monologuing. Do you like it?

Ahab, tearing up: It's okay.

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Ahab: Starbuck, how do I get revenge on those who have forsaken me?

Starbuck: The best revenge is letting go and living well.

Ahab: ...

Ahab: Fedallah, how do I--

[incorrect-mobydick-quotes-blog]

Ishmael: Come on, Queequeg. We have more productive things to do.

Elijah: Do you, really?

Queequeg: No. We just don't want to be around you.

[incorrect-mobydick-quotes-blog]

Tashtego: Get in the Halloween spirit and MAKE A GHOST.

Daggoo: I think that's called murder, which I heard somewhere is illegal.

[incorrect-mobydick-quotes-blog]

I swear to God, if ONE more diseased weirdo with delusions of being a biblical figure tries to foretell my doom--

Captain Ahab after chapter 71: the Jeroboam’s story

[incorrect-mobydick-quotes-blog]

Listen, you don't control me. I don't even control me.

Captain Ahab