Deferral Signification: Melville’s Wrestle with the Immeasurable in Moby-Dick; or The Whale

Abstract

In Moby-Dick, Melville seeks to measure something immeasurable, grappling with the murkiness of language and the de-centered state of things. The white whale exemplifies the thing which can never be domesticated either by language or by any human endeavors. As such, “Moby-Dick” is not a name, not a trope, but a materiality that exists prior to linguistic exchanges and anthropomorphism. Chapters in Moby-Dick, such as “Etymology,” “Extracts,” “Nightgown,” “Cetology,” “The Affidavit,” “The Whiteness of the Whale” and “The Chart,” prove that the whale seals himself off from any epistemological quest. The elusive, cunning state of reality figures prominently throughout the novel, underscoring Melville’s idea of the absurdity of universe and writing. Melville’s greatness, however, makes us realize his confrontation with a perplexing reality through adroit handling of language, narrative frames, fragments, complex temporality, topology, stylistic juxtapositions, and multiple perspectives. Moby-Dick embodies Melville’s ongoing linguistic metamorphosis.