August 14, 2019 - Chapters One Hundred Eleven and One Hundred Twelve

These two chapters are both on single subjects: the first on the Pacific and the second on the blacksmith of the Pequod, named Perth. Taking the second chapter first, it seeks merely to tell us how Perth came to be on the ship in the first place, which is that alcoholism destroyed his former life, including his marriage.

Regarding the first chapter, although I’d thought we’d reached the Pacific already, I was apparently wrong. One line from the narrator summarizes the feeling the sailors have perfectly: “And meet it is, that over these sea-pastures, wide-rolling watery prairies and Potters' Fields of all four continents, the waves should rise and fall, and ebb and flow unceasingly.” Two points are notable. The first is the use of the word “meet” to mean “appropriate” – surely a usage we would consider archaic today.

The second is the notion of four continents: are these Eurasia, the Americas, Australia, and Africa? Is it North America, South America, Africa, and Australia, i.e., the four that border the Pacific? It isn’t clear, since we now consider ourselves to have seven continents, although it should be noted that what we really have are three land masses: the Americas; Europe-Asia-Africa, and Australia. Divisions into smaller units are more cultural that geographic.