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Giant whales are people’s fear and awe of nature
Abdullah 2021-11-28 08:01:20
I learned about whaling when I watched "The Adventures of Hal Roger" in elementary school, but I haven't read "Moby Dick". It's very touching to be able to see the history of the struggle between tiny humans and giant sea beasts in the industrial age on the screen. Although the size of the huge sperm whale in the movie is exaggerated, it feels like this when facing a whale when driving a small wooden boat with an iron harpoon to hunt whales. Giant whales are a nightmare for crew members, and people's fear and awe of nature. The capitalists on land only saw barrels of whale oil and gold exchanged in the trading houses before them. Today, people who have forgotten the fear of being dominated by nature greedily demand and squander the ready-made materials that are readily available. The awe of nature has long been forgotten by us, until one day it turns into a tangible and intangible monster to give back to us. I think of Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke. Then one day, when the other party is about to be destroyed, will humans and nature let each other go? I also remembered the rare parasitic beasts. Humans are natural parasitic beasts, so we must live together.
Extended Reading
In the Heart of the Sea quotes
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[first lines]
Herman Melville: [in his letter] How does one come to know the unknowable? What faculties must a man possess? Since it was discovered that whale oil could light our cities in ways never achieved before, it created global demand. It has pushed man to venture further and further into the deep blue unknown. We know not its depths, nor the host of creatures that live there. Monsters. Are they real?
[a huge whale passes]
Herman Melville: Or do the stories exist only to make us respect the sea's dark secrets?
Title Card: NANTUCKET ISLAND Massachusetts February 1850
Herman Melville: The question both vexes and excites me, and is the reason I've written you a second time to request a meeting. A conversation with you, sir, I believe will serve me well for the novel I intend to write, currently entitled: Moby Dick. I hope you will reconsider my offer. The unknown. That is where my imagination yearns to venture. And so the question plagues me still: How does a man come to know the unknowable? Sincerely, Herman Melville.
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Paul Mason: Blood, Mr. Chase. You can have all the voyages under your belt you want, but blood will always win out.
Owen Coffin: Yes, well, blood is not gonna fill a ship with oil, Mr. Mason.