i think it's only right to have my first real analysis post discuss the chapter this blog is named after (cetology). i feel like many people write this chapter off as "ishmael yaps about whales for 6 hours straight and calls them fish," but i believe it's far more than that. in the chapter, ishmael denies the claims of cetology experts (such ish's infamous rebuttal of the "whales are mammals" argument), and gives his own theories on the topic (ex. "whales are fish"). at first glance, this may seem like pure ignorance reflective of ishmael's lack of experience and his 19th century knowledge base. but i believe that the opposite is true, and this entire chapter is societal commentary with elements of satire. ishmael is not insistent that he is 100% correct, instead admitting that no one truly knows all the facts, and making what i believe to be intentional factual errors throughout, the primary example being that whales are fish. his reasoning for this claim is that, within the sperm whale fishery, as well as the bible/the story of jonah, the general agreement is that whales are fish. he is aware of, but intentionally dismisses, the claims by scientists and cetology experts that whales are in fact mammals. i believe he is satirizing the idea that anyone believes they can fully classify whales -- or nature as a whole, for that matter -- by both directly and indirectly pointing out the holes in both arguments. he directly points out that the "whales are mammals" argument of modern scientists goes against the traditional beliefs of both whalers and religion -- while it's apparent to the reader that the idea is logical and factually correct, ishmael also manages to point out that it is not entirely culturally acceptable (for the time), as it is difficult to instantly change the classification of an animal that has been declared a fish by society for hundreds of years. at the same time, he is able to indirectly point out, via his own factually incorrect argument that "whales are fish," that his classification is also flawed -- it is inherently obvious to the reader that he is denying claims made by experts in favor of his own, inexperienced opinion. the inability of either argument to be entirely successful supports what i believe to be the main thesis of this chapter, that whales, and therefore nature, cannot be neatly organized and logically classified -- humanity cannot sort the untamable force that is nature into clean, boxed classifications.
furthermore, in the chapter, ishmael groups whales into three main categories, then into smaller subcategories. i believe this is not just for organization's sake, but in order to comment on the human need to group everything into neat and clearly-defined categories. while the three main categories separate whales by their size, ishmael's method of classification fails to include many of the other important grouping systems, such as separating toothed whales and whales with baleen, which many argue to be the primary differentiating factor between classifications of whales. no matter how many subsections ishmael makes or how much detail he provides, whales are too complex to be classified in a neat and logical way.
i believe that further evidence for the theory that ch 32 is satire lies within ishmael's several jokes throughout -- i find it hard to believe that if he was attempting to be entirely genuine and serious about whale classification, he would suggest that the narwhale's horn would be a useful page-turner for pamphlets (lol). it makes more sense to me that this is a societal commentary, in which ishmael can discuss and almost mock the human attempt to group such an unclassifiable force like nature.
please let me know what you thought about this chapter -- i very infrequently find analysis on cetology beyond "factually incorrect and pointless whale yapping." i would love to know if you have similar thoughts to me, or if you had an entirely different take on this chapter!! :3
