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Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
Chapter 65: The Whale as a Dish
Explanation and Analysis—Hypocrisy of Reader :
When describing how Stubb eats a whale steak, Melville uses logos to highlight the hypocrisy of the anticipated outrage of the reader. In a direct address to the reader, Melville uses reason to demonstrate how even the readers probably engage in similar acts without scrutiny. He writes:
But Stubb, he eats the whale by its own light, does he? and that is adding insult to injury, is it? Look at your knife-handle, there, my civilized and enlightened gourmand dining off that roast beef, what is that handle made of?—what but the bones of the brother of the very ox you are eating? [...] And with what quill did the Secretary of the Society for the Suppression of Cruelty to Ganders formally indite his circulars? It is only within the last month or two that that society passed a resolution to patronize nothing but steel pens.
Chapter 88: Schools and Schoolmasters
Explanation and Analysis:
In Moby-Dick, whales are consistently anthropomorphized in ways that highlight the fine line that divides human from animal. In particular, Melville’s passages detailing the domestic lives of whales draw parallels with human behaviors in a way that can be read as a playful satire on the trivialities and animal instincts that dictate civil society.
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Chapter 89: Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish
Explanation and Analysis—Fast-Fish, Loose-Fish:
In Moby-Dick, Melville uses the “formal whaling code” of "Fast-Fish" and "Loose-Fish" as a satirical metaphor for colonialism and slavery that aims to expose the absurdity of politics at the time. Ishmael explains that the whole whaling code can be boiled down to two principles, and he goes on to argue that in these two laws can “be found the fundamentals of all human jurisprudence” (that is, the fundamentals of the law). These laws are:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I. A Fast-Fish belongs to the party fast to it.
II. A Loose-Fish is fair game for anybody who can soonest catch it.
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