Final+Product-Narrative+Structure

Argument

Melville used digression in his narrative structure to force the audience to have a broader perspective. By not only having Ishmael as a narrator, he let other characters share their perspective.

Analysis

In the novel of Moby Dick by Herman Melville used digression in his narrative structure to give the reader a broader perspective. During the nineteenth century, in the time that Melville wrote his book the mindset of the society was a very narrow perspective. The purpose of digression was to show people there was more than one way of thinking. He digressed through people in the book showing their different views and backgrounds yet coming together for the same goal and purpose. Out of the entire chapters in the novel, there were three chapters that stood out the most. The chapters were nine, thirty-eight, and ninety-four.

Throughout the novel the digression that is used is some times obvious and sometimes it is not. In chapter 9, The Sermon, Melville tells the story of Jonah. The chapter begins with a visit to the church. Father Maple begins to talk about the story of Jonah and what God did to him. Digression is used in this chapter because it begins with father Maple and then it goes to the story of Jonah. Instead of telling the reader about the journey to Moby Dick, Melville wrote about the sins that Jonah had done and the punishment that he received from god. The story of Jonah in the novel of Moby Dick is an example of the many digressions that Melville incorporated into his book.

Melville wanted to show another character’s point of view aside from Ishmael’s. In chapter thirty-eight he did this. He digressed for a while into the inner thoughts of Starbuck. Here, Starbuck speaks out his inner thoughts on the whole situation with Moby dick and Ahab. We get a brake from everything else and get a glimpse of someone else’s thoughts for a while. Starbucks discusses how much he’s against the expedition for the whale and his dislike of Ahab. We see how he wishes for Ahab’s end and wishes to have a hand in it. Starbuck was able to get a little of the limelight as he is another one of the characters. Digression was used as a tool to show more point of views of various characters and not just one. We get a broader understanding of what is going on.

In chapter ninety-four, it talks about the blubber of the whale. It starts by Stubb bringing tub full of blubber for the crew to squeeze the oil out of it. Then, Ishmael starts to talk how they make the oil and what part of the whale has oil. Also in this chapter, it talks a little of how the oil was used during that time. Melville wrote in details about blubber not just to give information about the whale, but encouraging readers to find out more about different things in order to understand situation. Also, finding out information can make people accept things easier than accepting with lack of knowledge.

Digression was used in Moby Dick to show the audience during those times that people can still come together to achieve a similar goal. Unlike other novels that were written in those times, Moby Dick used digression to show hidden meanings about the world around them. In today's society, Melville's lesson is used as a moral. The lesson that Melville shows the readers are still the same, but does not have a bigger impact because the society has adopted and accepted different race and culture.

Video

[|Narrative Structure in Moby Dick]