I think the introduction in Moby Dick had some very important points regarding the link to
today’s digital culture. Here are a few quotes from the intro that I would like
to expound upon a little bit.
“‘[Moby Dick] is the
world of mind; wherein the wanderer may gaze around…’ In Moby Dick Melville gazes and roves—and hunts and plays—in that
world even to its furthest reaches” (vii). In the novel, Melville has laid out
a world that very few people have known. However, by means of this novel, and
the digital culture of today, people are able to experience a world other than
their own. Someone who searches the internet is able to go virtually anywhere
and virtually do anything.
“Melville wants the whole world in—particularly the human
world; hence the slightly improbable spectrum of the crew of the Pequod” (ix). This quote, like the previous one, is
speculating the wideness of the world, but it is also commenting on the variety
of its cultures and people. In the introduction, it continues by listing the races
of the crew. Melville brought the crew
together with a common element, the Pequod. Online networks do similar things; they give people from all over the world a shared
interest or problem, thereby creating a community online.
“Melville himself
certainly believed that all men are united by the bond of reciprocal
dependence, by a community of function and responsibility” (xv). By creating or
joining a community, a person takes on a responsibility to be regularly
involved with the work that takes place. In
Moby Dick the crew has an obligation to the ship as well as other members
of the crew, and therefore they work toward a common goal; there is a strong
sense of comradery or loyalty to the crew. It works with online communities as
well. For example, when you are a member of a forum you are expected to give
any advice or opinions with knowledge you have, and in return, others will help you with the
knowledge that they have. For the most part, it is a symbiotic relationship.
I think it's pretty interesting how the seemingly disconnected individuals in the beginning of the story start to come together as the voyage gets on its way. They in some sense become a single organism with Ahab as both the heart and mind (and perhaps with Ishmael as the conscience).
ReplyDeleteI like how you've brought out ideas about internationalism and unity in both Moby Dick and in digital culture. More could be done with that. Do surfers of the internet have reasons to become unified the way that sailors on a common whale voyage do? If not, what conditions make that sort of thing happen?
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