(1967) (Eldridge) Careful Disorder - The Structure of Moby Dick

"Careful Disorder": The Structure of Moby-Dick
Author(s): Herbert G. Eldridge

Source: American Literature, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May, 1967), pp. 145-162
Published by: Duke University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2922946
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"CarefulDisorder":TheStructure
of
MO BY-DICK
HERBERT G. ELDRIDGE
North Carolina State University
A NYONE INTERESTED IN A STRUCTURAL APPROACH to Moby-Dickis

likelyto be puzzledwhenhe turnsto theestablished theories
concerning how thenovelis blockedout and how variousunits
and sequences of unitsarerelatedto a largerframework. We are
toldeitherthatno overallstructure is discernible
in a workwhose
growth was "organic" and spontaneous orthatanalogieswithplays
and epic poems can answerour questionsabout fundamental
structure.'Somehow,withwhatwe knowabouttheprofessional
novelistworking withthefamiliar problems oflength, proportion,
emphasis, unity,all thisringsfalse.We wantthemethods offiction
to explainthestructure offiction,
andwe searchthenovelforsigns
thattheyare there.
Supposewe startwiththesimplepointthatMoby-Dick repre-

sentsa fictional
voyagearoundtheworld,withthePequodcrossing
oceansand sailingalongcoastswhichMelvillehimself knewas a
seamanor as a readerof sea travels.Seekinga basicarrangement
forthiskindofnarrative,Melvillemightwellhaveusedhisartistic
common sense,settled
upontheobvious principle
ofspatialprogress,
and developedthe sequenceof chapters-however looselyand
'F. 0. Matthiessen, AmericanRenaissance(New York, I964), pp. 4I7-42I, and Charles
Olson, Call Me Ishmael (New York, 1947), pp. 66-67, both offera five-actstructure,
though their divisionsare somewhatdifferent.Newton Arvin, Herman Melville (New
York, 1950), pp. I56-I58, suggestsan epic "wave" patternsimilarto that underlying the
Iliad, the Odyssey,the Aeneid,and the Lusiads. He findsfourgeneralwave movements,
each with its climacticcrest,as well as a seriesof billows withinhis ninety-five-chapter
third wave. JamesE. Miller, Jr.,A Reader's Guide to Herman Melville (New York,
I962), pp. 8o-86, sees analogiesto boththe playand the symphony and ends witha struc-
ture of fivepartseach with a "single insistenttheme." In contrastis Walter Bezanson's
conclusionthatMoby-Dickhas no "over-reaching formalpattern":the "controlling
structure
. . . is an organic complex of rhetoric,symbols,and interfusedunits" ("Moby-Dick:
Work of Art,"Moby-DickCentennialEssays,ed. TyrusHillway and LutherS. Mansfield,
Dallas, I96I, p. 56).
146 AmericanLiterature
"organically"individualchapterswereadded-onthebasisofphases
in thejourney fromNew Bedford andNantucket to theequatorial
Pacific.One needhardlyinsistthatdivisionof Moby-Dickon a
spatialprinciple wouldfreeus fromstructural analogy.Melville
wasnotwriting a playorsymphony, buthe wasa-voyaging,andhis
organicexpression mightbe expectedto deriveits naturalform
fromthemovement ofshipandcrewoverthewatery worldofthe
novel-justas theformofA Weekon theConcordandMerrimack
Riversis basedon thedaysoftheweekandthatof Waldenon the
seasonalchangesof theyear.2
A justificationofthisapproachis thatbothRedburn and White-
Jacket,thenovelsimmediately preceding are
Moby-Dick, blocked
outon thissimplespatialpattern. The basicstructureoftheformer
reflects
Wellingborough Redburn'sjourneyto Liverpooland back:
specifically,
fromhishometo theNew Yorkdocks,outbound sea
voyageto England,shoreleavein Liverpool, homebound voyage
to New York,and epilogue.The samekindof arrangement gives
ordertoWhiteJacket's experiencesonboardthehomebound Never-
sink:CallaotoRio de Janeiro, anchordutyat Rio,andRio toNor-
folk. But Ishmael'svoyageon thePequodinvolvesa circumnavi-
gationwithout theportsof call whichhelpedstructure theearlier
if a
books.Hence, Melvillehad in mind spatialoutlineforMoby-
Dick similarto thosehe had usedforRedburnand White-Jacket,
the mostobviouspotential unitswouldbe the successive oceans
through whichthePequodwas to pass.
Whatarethesimplephasesofa fictional non-stop oceanvoyage
fromNantucket around the Cape of Good Hope to the central
Pacific?Variousrouteswouldbe possible, butMelvilletakesthe
Pequodirregularly acrossand downtheAtlanticto Good Hope,
acrosstheIndianOceanto Sumatraand through theSundaStrait,
through theJavaand Chinaseas,intothePacificto theJapanese
whalinggrounds, and east-southeast
to theequatorialgroundsfor
thefatalconfrontation withMobyDick. As Ishmaelremarks in
"The Chart,"itis a "deviouszig-zagworldcircle"-much different
fromthebeelinevoyagesin Rcdburnand White-Jacket; butthe
3 Bezanson (p. 56) supplies an importantsuggestionin his rejectionof plays and
epics as models for the novel. "In the last analysis,"he remarks,"if one must have a
prototype,here is an intensivelyheightenedrenditionof the logs, journals,and histories
of the Anglo-American whalingtradition."
"CarefulDisorder":The Structure
of Moby-Dick I47
majorsegments are clearenough:theAtlanticOcean,IndianOcean,

Easternseas,PacificOcean,and thecentralPacificwhalinggrounds
known as "On-the-Line."
But exactlywherein the novel are we giventhe factsnecessary
to plot the interoceantravelsof the Pequod? ChapterXLiV, "The
Chart,"merelynotesthatAhab has chosenthe Cape of Good Hope
routeand intendsto visitsundrywhalinggroundsbeforearriving
the next season "on the line." Geographicalphrasesoccasionally
appearat the beginningsof chapters:"Some days elapsed,and ice
and icebergsall astern,the Pequod now went rollingthroughthe
brightQuitospring"(Chapterxxix),3 "Steeringnortheastward from
the Crozetts,we fellin withvastmeadowsof brit"(LVIII), "Now,
fromtheSouthand WestthePequod was drawingnighto Formosa
and the Bashee Isles" (cix). These squibs keep the Pequod mov-
ing, but theyare crypticand sometimesambiguous,and so con-
tributelittleto what mightbe called the experientialquality of
our presenceon the fictionalvoyage.
On the otherhand, certaindistinctivechapters-fourin all-
providethe information necessaryfor chartingthe ship's course.
In fact,theydo more: theynot only give geographicaldetailsre-
lated to the ship'sitinerary and progressbut use specificmaritime
settingsfor reaffirmation of Ahab's "fixed and fearless,forward
dedication"to thequest,whichis theprimaryunifying forcein the
novel. From thesechapters-Li,"The Spirit-Spout"; LXXXVII, "The
GrandArmada"; cxi,"The Pacific";and cxxx,"The Hat"-we get
thefeelof movementaroundtheworldand, as well,the allegorical
undertonesof the voyage-howeverdifferently the meaningof the
allegorymight appear to each of us. Rememberingthe voyage-
blocksin Redburn and White-Jacket, we shouldnot be surprisedto
findthatall fourappear at pointswherethe Pequod movesfrom
one importantstage of circumnavigation to another.
"The Spirit-Spout" moves the ship around the Cape of Good
Hope fromthe Atlanticto the Indian Ocean, developingat some
lengththe distinctiveelementsnoted above. The chapteropens
with a summaryof progress:"Days, weekspassed,and undereasy
sail,theivoryPequod had slowlysweptacrossfourseveralcruising-
8 All quotationsare fromMoby-Dick,ed. L. S. Mansfieldand H. P. Vincent(Chicago,
1952.).
148 Literature
American
grounds;thatofftheAzores;offtheCape de Verdes;on thePlate

(so called),beingoffthemouthof theRio de la Plata; and the
CarrolGround,an unstaked, waterylocality,southerly fromSt.
Helena."Then theunitemphasizes withlivelydetailthespecific
geographical setting-theCape of Good Hope, wherethewinds
howl over"long troubledseas." Even moreimportant, Melville
focuseson Ahaband hisquestwithinthesetting.Sighting a mys-
teriouswhalespouton theCarrolGround,thePequodfollowsit
aroundthestormy cape. Here,in the faceof thewildestblasts,
Ahabstandssleepless on hisquarterdeck facingtheplunging bow,
thecrewstationed dayand nightin bowlinesalongthebulwarks.
Bydeveloping thefigurative parallelbetweentheship'sundeviating
courseamidstthecape storms and Ahab'smonomania amidstthe
torment of his emotions-both tempted onward by the mysterious
jet-Melvilleunderlines the progress towardcatastrophe.
In "The GrandArmada,"Melvilleoffers the accountof the
ship'sexperiences at SundaStraitas itmovesfromtheIndianOcean
intotheJavaand Chinaseas. First,he locatesthestraitand dis-
cussesitsstrategic importance to mariners andwhalesheadinginto
orientalwaters;thenhe carefully reviewstheitinerary, whichwill
takethePequodpast thePhilippinesto theJapanesegrounds,thence
to theLine,whereAhabis surehe willencounter MobyDick.
As in theGoodHope chapter at thebeginning ofthethirdstage
of thevoyage,thesituation of thePequodis madeexplicitly sug-
gestiveofAhab'sstateofmind.The ship,besetbyMalayan pirates
behind,hurries through the"greenwallsof thewaterydefile"in
hotpursuit of a pod ofwhales.Withviolencehowlingin therear
and themysterious leviathanahead,Ahab himself beginsto per-
ceivehisinsanity, and hisbrowis left"gauntand ribbed."When
thePequodat lastclearsCockatooPointand emerges intotheJava
Sea, Melvilleusesthepeaceful scene beyondto remind thereader
of Ishmael'smentalresponses, whichareoftenin contrast to those
of his monomaniacal captain.
In "The Pacific,"whichtakesthePequod into"themidmost
watersof theworld,"thespecific geographicallocale,thefactsof
spatialprogress, and therestatement of Ahab'squestare all pres-
ent,thoughin condensed form.The chapter openswithIshmael's
tributeto thePacificas thePequodpassestothenorthoftheBatan
"Careful Disorder": The Structureof Moby-Dick 149
Islands betweenthe Philippinesand Taiwan. But, as in the other

transitionalchapters,the reader'sattentionis directedto Ahab's
relationshipwith Moby Dick:
Launchedat lengthuponthesealmostfinalwaters, and glidingtowards
the old man'spurposeintensified
the Japanesecruising-ground, itself.
His firmlipsmetlikethelipsofa vice;theDeltaofhisforehead'sveins
swelledlike overladenbrooks;in his verysleep,his ringingcryran
throughthe vaultedhull, "Sternall! the WhiteWhale spoutsthick
blood!"
These are the last lines of a briefchapter,forthe dramaticaction

has now quickenedand thereare to be no long unitsuntilthefinal
narrativeof conflict with Moby Dick.
The geographicalcommentof the openingparagraphof "The
Hat," signalingthe arrivalof the Pequod at the centralPacific
whalinggrounds,is concisebutemphatic;and itsexplicitcomments
on thepast itinerary of the whalingvoyage,the significance of the
gams,and Ahab'sever-increasing
successive tensionannounceclearly
thatthefinalstageof thenarrative is at hand:
And now thatthepropertimeand place,afterso longand wide a
preliminary cruise,Ahab,-all otherwhalingwatersswept-seemedto
havechasedhisfoeintoan ocean-fold, toslayhimthemoresecurely there;
now,thathe foundhimself hardbytheverylatitude andlongitudewhere
his tormentingwoundhad beeninflicted; now thata vesselhad been
spokenwhichon theverydaypreceding encountered
had actually Moby
Dick;-and nowthatall hissuccessive meetings withvariousshipscon-
concurred
trastingly to showthedemoniacindifference withwhichthe
whitewhaletorehis hunters, whether sinningor sinnedagainst;now
it was thattherelurkeda something in theold man'seyes,whichit was
hardlysufferableforfeeblesoulsto see.
Melville,
Aftera long expositionof Ahab's ferociousdetermination,
as in the otherthreetransitionalchapters,dramatizesthe situation
theskillof thelookouts,the
in thecontextof thelocale. Distrusting
impatientAhab ordersthe crew to hoist him into the rigging,
whereupona Pacificsea fowl wheelsdown, snatcheshis hat,and,
flyingon ahead of the Pequod, dropsthe headpieceon the fatal
equatorialwaters,thehauntof MobyDick.
If thesefourchaptersmark the oceanicstagesof the voyage,a
I50 AmericanLiterature
unitequallycrucialto spatialprogress is "Merry Christmas," which
launches thePequodontothewintry sea. No transition novel
in the
is clearerthanthatwhenBildadand Pelegreluctantly leavein the
Nantucket pilotboat,thecrewoffers its"heavy-hearted cheers,"and
theshipplungesinto"theloneAtlantic."But"MerryChristmas"
is in substance different fromtheothertransitional chapters,forat
thispointthePequodis justbeginning itscruise,andAhabhasnot
yetcomeon deck. In his steadMelvillepresents Bulkington in
"The Lee Shore"as the silentpartnerof theIshmaelof "Loom-
ings,"the epitomeof the landlessness to whichbothAhab and
Ishmaelaspireand whichwill bringdeathto one and homeless
survival to theother.
Melvilleoffers conspicuous transitional then,as thePequod
units,
movesfromsegmentto segmentof theoceanictrip.Theirgeo-
graphicalemphasisis strengthened by theirdevelopment of the
captain'sstrange andcentral business.If thesechaptersare genuine
structural artifacts,theyindicatea divisionof thebookbasedon
thespatialprogress of thevoyage.
But,in itself,identificationofcertain uniquechapters at thesea
corners ofthenovel,dividingthewholeintosixparts,proveslittle
aboutMelville'scraft.The realquestionis whether Melvilleused
thegeographical divisions thus definedin controllingand ordering
thenovel.The evidenceis thathe did.
On thebasisof whathas beensaid so far,thenovelmightbe
tentatively outlinedas follows:I. NEW BEDFORD AND NANTUCKET -
twenty-two chapters, I, "Loomings," to xxii,"MerryChristmas";
xxiii,
ii. NANTUCKET TO CAPE OF GOODHOPE -twenty-eightchapters,
"TheLee Shore,"toL, "Ahab'sBoatandCrew.Fedallah";III. GOOD
HOPE TO SUNDA STRAIT - chapters,LI, "The Spirit-Spout,"
thirty-six
to LXXXVI, "The Tail"; IV. SUNDA STRAIT TO PACIFIC - twenty-four
chapters,LXXXVII, "The Grand Armada,"to cx, "Queequeg in his
Coffin";v. PACIFIC TO EQUATOR - nineteenchapters,cxi, "The
Pacific,"to cxxix, "The Cabin. Ahab and Pip"; VI. EQUATOR - six
chapters,cxxx,"The Hat," to cxxxv,"The Chase. ThirdDay";
Epilogue.Obviously, thisoutlinereflects
a reasonably
proportionate
of
allocation chapters, suggesting some management on Melville's
partbothbeforeandduringtheprocessofcomposition. But,more
important, a closelook withinthe voyageblocksof thisoutline
"Careful Disorder": The Structureof Moby-Dick I5I
bringsto lightwhat seemsto be repeatedand regularstructural ac-

tivity-inthiscase on a numericalratherthangeographicalprinci-
ple-so well definedthatone is temptedto insistthatwe are follow-
ing an authentic trail.For,at thenumericalcenterofall six divisions
are tracesof craftclearlyidentifiable throughpeculiaritiesof style,
technique,episode,and themeand suggestinga measuredsubdi-
visionof thevoyageoutline.
Let us considerthe evidence.Dividingthe firstsegment,some-
what beyond midpoint,is the chapterentitled"Wheelbarrow,"
whichdepictsIshmael'stripfromNew Bedfordto Nantucket,that
is, fromcontinentto island-allegorically,fromthe land "all over
dentedwith marks of slavishheels and hoofs" towardthe intel-
lectual and spiritualfreedomof the sea. In this centralchapter
Ishmaelalso symbolically movesaway fromterrestrial conventions
by explicitlyidentifying himselfwiththeheathenQueequeg when,
duringthe shortvoyage,the lattersavesthe lifeof a jeeringChris-
tian,foreshadowing, as any readerof Moby-Dickknows,the sal-
vationof Ishmaelat the end of thenovel. In otherwords,thereis
a transitional qualityto the centerof the division,supported,one
mightadd, by a spine-tingling change of narrativestylewhen the
Nantucketschoonerdashes down the AcushnetRiver and into
BuzzardsBay.
At the centerof the nextmajor segmentof thenovel,the Nan-
tucket-to-Good Hope unit,thereis even strongerevidenceof junc-
ture-in thiscase out-and-out "mechanical"structuring. The exact
numericalcenterofthissegmentfallsbetweentheimportant chapter
"The Quarter-Deck" and "Sunset,"in whichMelvilleshifts intostage
directions,soliloquy,and dialogue.4A set of fourchapters-"Sun-
set," "Dusk," "First Night-Watch,"and "Midnight,Forecastle"
(XXXVII to XL)-are presented as scenesin a play,each takingup
thecurrent statesofmindofmainparticipants in thetragedy:Ahab,
Starbuck,Stubb,and the crew. Moreover,the eightcentralchap-
tersof the Atlanticsectionare arrangedin an "envelope"pattern.
"The Mast-Head"(Ishmael'sunsteadiness of mindaloft) and "The
Quarter-Deck"(Ahab's monomaniacalquest) immediately precede
the fourstage-scene chapters; and "Moby-Dick"(what the Whale
' There is some suggestionof dramatictechniquein chaps. xxix, xxx, and xxxi at the
quarter-mark of this division,but the developmentof materialis basicallyin the usual
narrativestyle.
I52 American
Literature
meansto Ahab) and "The Whiteness of theWhale" (whatthe
Whalemeansto Ishmael)immediately followthem.' The effect
of thisdevice,as well as the groupingof thematically and dra-
matically important chapters,is a decidedstructuralemphasis,im-
plyingsubdivision of the Nantucket-to-Good Hope unit.
WhenthePequodleavestheenvirons oftheCapeofGoodHope
andmovesintotheheartoftheIndianOcean,Melvillecommences
hislongcetological discussionwith"The Line" and "StubbKillsa
Whale." Duringthe chasesand oil extraction, the Pequod,her
canvastakenin andhelm"lasheda'lee,"makesalmostno headway
on thejourney.Time movesslowly,theactionforsometwenty
chapters covering littlemorethantwenty-four hours-from Satur-
day to Sundayafternoon. Midwaythrough theSabbath,in "The
Funeral"(LXIX), thecarcassis castloose. This is midpoint in the
thirddivision of thebook. Withthewhitecadaverofthestripped
whaleslowlyfloating awaysurrounded by the"sea vultures" and
"airsharks," an important phaseof thecutting and balingprocess
has beencompleted, and all the crewmenon deckgo belowto
theirmiddaymeal.'
The secondhalfofthesegment commences with"The Sphinx"
(LXX), in whichAhabcomesup fromhiscabinin thenoonhushto
soliloquizeon thehugeheadof thespermwhale,stillhangingin
themainchainsat theship'swaist.Here,subdivision occursnot
onlyfroma shiftintodramatic techniqueas in theAtlanticseg-
mentbut fromthetermination of a majorstagein thewhaling
process.
The captain'sruminations havebeeninterrupted by thecryof
"SailHo!" fromaloft,andtheJeroboam bearsdownon thePequod
fora gam-stillanother episodein thisSabbathsequenceofevents.
In thischapterAhab,freshfromquestioning themeaningof the
spermwhale'shead in "The Sphinx,"confronts the demented
Shakerprophet, Gabriel,who has alreadyfoundthe answerand
warnsAhabof impending death.Withtwovividchapters in the
Leon Howard notesthe possible"tinkering"involvedhere,pointingout that,at the
beginningof chap. XLI, "Moby Dick," appearscommentfromIshmael connectinghimself
with the greatoath taken by the crew in chap. xxxvi,"The Quarter-Deck,"a transition
suggestingthatoriginallythe formerimmediately followedthe latterin sequence (Herman
Berkeley,
Melville, 1951, p. I67).
GNumerically,the centralpointcomesone chapterearlier-i.e., between"The Blanket"
and "The Funeral." However,the divisionof materialis clearlyas indicated.
of Moby-Dick I53
centerof thedivisionMelvillehas broughtback theAhab-Moby

Dick theme,a devicethathe willuseagainat midpoint
in thenext
phaseofthejourney.
The numericalcenterof theJava-China seasphasefallsat the
end of Chapterxcviii,"StowingDown and ClearingUp," which
beginswitha formalsummary, unmistakablymarkingtheend of
thetechnicalaccountofwhalingand oil extraction:
Alreadyhasitbeenrelatedhowthegreatleviathan is afaroffdescried
fromthe mast-head; how he is chasedover the waterymoors,and
in thevalleysof thedeep; how he is thentowedalongside
slaughtered
and beheaded;and how . . . his greatpadded surtoutbecomesthe prop-
ertyof hisexecutioner; to thepots,
how,in due time,he is condemned
and . . . his spermaceti,
oil,and bonepassunscathed thefire;-
through
but now it remainsto concludethe last chapterof this part of the de-
scriptionby rehearsing. . . the romanticproceedingof decantingoffhis
themdownintothehold.. ..
oil intothecasksand striking
Ishmaelgoeson to describethedecanting procedure and thenthe

energeticscrubbing,
swabbing, and stowingthatbringthewhaler
backto orderaftertheuntidy"affair of oil." Like "The Funeral"
thischapterproducesa natural
at thecenterof thelastdivision,
pausein thebusinessat hand.
parallelwith"The Sphinx"of the Indian
And the structural
Ocean divisionis "The Doubloon," which introducesthe second
part of this segmentby shiftingfromexpositionof the whaling
process to dramaticsoliloquy involvingseveral main characters
in solitarycontemplationof the "strangefiguresand inscriptions"
stampedon the gold coin.
Finally, to completethe pattern,the gam with the Samuel
Enderbyfollows"The Doubloon"-balancingthemeetingwiththe
Jeroboamin the Indian Ocean and portraying a captainwho is as
firmin mindas Gabrieland Ahab are infirm.
At thecenterof thePacificsegmentof thenovelcomesthegreat
typhoon,which,with its aftermath, is developedin six chapters
("The Candles" to "The Needle"). Like "The Quarter-Deck,"at
the same place in the Atlanticsegment,"The Candles" portrays
Ahab in histrionicviolencebeforethe whole crew. And, as in the
'Howard P. Vincentin The Trying-Outof Moby-Dick(Cambridge,Mass., I949) un-
accountablyomitsreferenceto this summary,and in factto the chapteras a whole.
I54 AmericanLiterature
earlierdivision,the numericalmidpointhere (cxx) is markedby a
shiftinto stagedirections, bare dialogue,and soliloquy,which are
carriedinto additionalchapters(cxxi and cxxii)-all threebeing
involvedin the typhoonepisode. These chaptersare developedas
a dramaticseriesshowingthe crew'sresponseto Ahab's defianceof
the corposants:Ahab-Starbuck(cxx), Stubb-Flask(cxxi), and
Tashtego in soliloquy (cxxii). They parallel the Atlanticseries,
whichis arrangedto show reactionsto the oath-taking.
Actuallythe time sequenceincludingthe six typhoonchapters
commenceswith"The Quadrant"(cxviii), in whichAhab smashes
his "vain toy"and ordersthe ship east-southeast towardthe Equa-
torand intothepathof thestorm,and endswiththelossof thelog
and line (cxxv) the morningafterthe typhoon.Thus the whole
centralsectionofthisdivision-eightchaptersin all-covers a period
of about twenty-four hours,fromnoon of the day of the stormto
about noon the next day, the three stage chaptersbeing "en-
veloped" in this time sequence by two chaptersof straightnar-
rativeon the one side and threeon the other-somewhatlike the
patternat the centerof the Atlanticsegment.All in all, the central
portionsof the Atlanticand Pacific divisionsshow resemblances
thatare too close to be coincidental.
The final segment,coveringthe catastrophe"on the line," is
constructed verysimply:threechaptersof ominousdevelopments-
"The Hat," "The Pequod MeetstheDelight,"and "The Symphony,"
-and the threechaptersof "The Chase." In "The Symphony,"
which closes the firsthalf of the segment,Melville manages a
dramaticpause beforethe finalactionas Starbuckand the landlike
beautiesof the centralPacificbring Ahab to the verge of relin-
quishingthe quest. As in the otherfivesegments, the flowof the
narrativealtersat midpoint-here,an excitingshiftinto action,
like thatin the firstdivision,with Ahab's unforgettable crynear
the beginning of "The Chase. First Day," "'There she blows!-
thereshe blows! A hump like a snow-hill!It is MobyDick!"'
In short,if the novel is blocked out on the basis of the six
segmentsof spatial progress,there is clear evidence of further
divisionat all six centerpointsin the numericalsequenceof chap-
ters,indicatedby singularly paralleldevices.The presenceof these
skeletalmanifestations temptsone to speculatethat Melville was
of Moby-Dick I55
workingwithan outline, maintaining a generalsymmetry despite

the"organic" addition ofchapters orgroupsofchapters as thenovel
grewin size and complexity.8
As forthesuspicion thatthetheory dependstooheavily on num-
bersand mechanics whereastheartisthimself described his struc-
turalmethods in theorganictermsof "branches and twigs,"9 one
need onlypointout thatMelvillecertainly did use mechanical
patterning in otherrespects. The gamsare spacedwithan eyeto
numbers, producing, as WalterBezansonputsit,"a stiffening ele-
mentin thestructure of thebook,a kindof counterforce, struc-
turally,to theorganicrelationship of parts."'"In fact,theseaman
Jackson material in Redburnand the"jacket"chapters in White-
Jacket are used in exactly thesame way and with the same struc-
turaleffect."Moreover, Melville's
architecturalarrangement ofthe
GrandBanksand Cape Clearepisodesin the secondand fourth
segments of Redburn'stravelsand the Cape Horn and Equator
sequencesin thefirstand thirddivisions of White-jacket suggests
evenmorestrongly thatMelvillewas working mechanically within
a basicspatialframework before
Moby-Dick.'2
In thiscontext, one is reminded of thefactthattheAmerican
romantics, in theirattempt to producein arttheharmony of na-
8The much-discussed revisionof the novel afterMelville'smeetingwith Hawthorne
need not concernus here,for we are tracinga blueprintof the final version,whatever
revisionsmighthave been made along the way withinor withoutthis hypothetical plan.
9"Out of the trunk,the branchesgrow; out of them,the twigs. So, in productive
subjects,grow the chapters"(beginningof chap. LXIII, "The Crotch").
10 Bezanson,p. 54.
11The misanthropic Jacksonis characterizedin five regularlyspaced chaptersin Red-
burn-two duringthe outboundvoyage(chaps. xii and xxii) and threeduringthe home-
bound trip (XLVIII, LV, and LIX). In White-jacketthe chaptersfocusedon the narrator's
distinctivejacket are arrangedat measuredintervalsthroughout the threesegmentsof the
voyage,mostbeingconcentrated in the Callao-to-Riodivision(chaps. I, ix, XV, XIX, xxv,and
xxix). It is interestingthatnot onlyare thesechaptersspacedlike the gams of Moby-Dick,
but also that thereare nine jacket chaptersand nine gams. In the arrangement I am
suggestingfor Moby-Dickthe gams appear in the last four segmentsof the voyage,dis-
tributed4, 2, 2, I.
"In Redburnthe Grand Banks fog and stormcover exactlythe thirdquarterof the
Highlander'soutboundtrip (chaps. xvii-xxii),and the ship's troublesoffCape Clear ex-
tend throughthe exactcentralportionof the homeboundstage (chaps. LI-LVIII). Halfway
throughthe Callao-to-Riodivision of White-jacketthe Neversinkreaches stormyCape
Horn waters,thereto remainfor eightcrucialchapters(chaps. xxi-xxvIII: almostexactly
the thirdquarterof the division) while Melville opens his firstheavy attack on naval
tyranny in the contextof cape weatherconditions.The centralsix chaptersof the Rio-to-
Norfolksegment(chaps. LXXVII-LXXXII) take the Neversinkover the Equator, a setting
used forfurther castigationof the navy when White Jacket'smessmatedies in the stifling
sick bay.
I56 Literature
American
ture,mademuchnotonlyof "thoseformsintowhichall matter
is inclinedto run,as foliageand fruit," as Thoreauphrasedit in
A Weekon the Concordand Merrimack Rivers,but also of the
regularitiesof naturalform-circles, spirals,ripples,the unitsof
timeandspace,thenumbers common in naturesuchas fives,threes,
and particularly twos. "The world looks like a multiplication
table,or a mathematical equation,"said Emersonin "Compensa-
tion,""which,turnithowyouwill,balancesitself."Although one
hesitatesto speakof Moby-Dick in mathematical terms,suchno-
tionsas theabovedo suggestthatwriters likeEmerson, Thoreau,
andMelvillehimself couldfindroomin theirartistic worldforthe
"geometry" of composition-repetition, proportion, balance,spac-
ing, and the like-especiallywhen theseprovidedsome plain
answers as towhattodo witha burgeoning essayornovelthathad
eventually to be put betweencovers.
As a matterof fact,the romanticattachment to numbers-
especiallythemystical harmony of pairs-suggests order
a further
withinthespatial-numerical framework of whichwe havefound
evidence inMoby-Dick. For,iftheevidence indicates thatthevoyage
of thePequod suppliedMelvillewiththe basicskeletonforthe
noveland thathis "lowerlevel"dependedon numerical division,
thesamekindofanalysis suggeststhathe arranged thesixdivisions
ofthevoyageas balancedpairs.The mostobvioussignsofthisar-
rangement are the structuralparallelsnotedabove,apparentat
midpoint of thesix sections:thesuddennarrative changeof pace
as Ishmaelsailsfromcontinent toislandandthePequodfrom"mild
blue days"intotornadic battlewithMobyDick in the firstand
sixthdivisions,thecarefullywrought "envelopes" in thesecondand
fifth,and the soliloquy-gam setsin thethirdand fourth.These
patterns in themselves are interesting enough,but theyare only
partof thestory.In themeas well as formthereare important
correspondences betweenthedivisions.
As forthefirst andsixthsections,thegamwiththeDelightand
thedisaster thatfollowsare an obviouscomment on FatherMap-
ple'ssermon on the"delights" ofChristian faith,13thesermonand
thegamcomingin approximately thesameplacein theirrespective
segments ofthenovel.The love-marriage imagery of"TheCounter-
18 See Mansfieldand Vincent,eds., Moby-Dick,p. 825.
"Careful Disorder": The Structureof Moby-Dick I57
pane,""A BosomFriend,"and "Nightgown," whichappearim-

mediately before thedashtoNantucket, is echoedand evenattimes
duplicated in "The Symphony," placedjustbeforethesighting of
MobyDick,as Ahab and Starbuck contemplate theseductive Pa-
cificseascapeandthemateis rejected inhisfinalattempt toturnhis
old friendfromthequest. Ishmael'ssurvival by meansof Quee-
queg'scoffin in theEpilogueis Melville'slogicalconclusion to the
friendly shenanigans in theSpouterInn,as Ishmael'snearlossof
life(and thePequod'sdisaster) is thefinalcomment on man's"itch
forthingsremote" voicedin "Loomings."
The secondand fifthdivisionsalso containsome additional
parallels.Admittedly, thenarrative pace in thePacificsegment is
lessleisurely thanin theAtlanticunit,in whichMelvillehas the
problemof introducing not onlythemajordramatic figuresand
theirmotivations butcetologicalthemesas well. But in both,the
mainbusiness is themovement ofAhabintothecenter ofthestage
-in theAtlantic outofthedarkhintsofPelegand Elijahbackat
Nantucket, in thePacificoutofthecetological foliageat thecenter
of thenovel.The pairofhistrionic chapters-"The Quarter-Deck"
and "The Candles,"'14appearingat the same architectural
point
climaxes
in thetwodivisions-represent in Ahab'stwoemergences,
aftersimilarseriesof chaptershave preparedthe way. On the
otherhand,thedramatic tensioncreatedatmidpoint oftheAtlantic
segmentdies down in the expository reachesof "MobyDick,"
"The Whitenessof theWhale,"and "The Chart"-chapters which
seta slowerpaceforthethirdand fourth whereasin the
sections,
finalhalfofthePacificdivision,thecyclonicexcitementgenerated
in "The Candles"is maintainedin preparationforthefinalchase,
nowonlya fewchapters away.
The correspondencesandbalancesbetween thethirdandfourth
segments arepronounced. As we haveseen,at thecenterof both
theIndianOcean and Java-China seasdivisionsarepairsof chap-
tersremarkablyalike,involving Ahab and thecrewin soliloquy
and in confrontationwith othermaritimetravelers. These ap-
pearancesofAhabat thecenterpoints areparticularlyimportantto
theongoingofthedrama,forin neither segment hasthepursuit of
theWhiteWhalebeenin sightsincetheopeningchapters, and in
3' Bezanson (p. 52) notesthe similarity
of thesetwo units,offering
themas examples
of Melville'suse of "balancingchaptcrs."
I58 American
Literature
bothsegments Melvillereturns to cetologicalmatters immediately
aftertheseinterludes. The twosections, of course,also correspond
in substance, beingMelville'sdisquisition on whalesandwhaling.'5
Thesegreatthemeshavebeenintroduced in theAtlanticdivision,
as thePequod cruisessouthward fromNantucket;but not until
thelong,tediousvoyageacrossthe IndianOcean,withall intro-
ductory material takencareof,is thereoccasionforamplification of
the"honorandgloryofwhaling."
Actually, therearetwobasicsubjects involved here-the"natural
philosophy" ofwhalesandthetechnology ofwhalingon thePequod
and through theages. Bothreceivecloseattention in eachof the
interior divisions-andthrough thesamelooseorganizational de-
vices.One of theseis a simpleassociation of ideas. For example,
parallelassociational sequencesare appendedto the transitional
Good Hope and SundaStraitunits.Whilestillin thebusyGood
Hope area ("muchlikesomenotedfourcorners of a greathigh-
way,"saysIshmaelin ChapterLIV), the Pequod meetsfirstthe
Albatross andthentheTown-Ho.The latter gamleadstoIshmael's
famoustaleofSteelkilt, Radney, andMobyDick,toldtoan audience
ofPeruvian friendswhodoubttheverity ofIshmael's portraitofthe
WhiteWhale. On thisslendertwigMelvilleleafsoutthreemore
chapters dealingwithrepresentations of leviathan:"Of theMon-
strousPictures of Whales"(LV), "Of theLess Erroneous Pictures
of Whales,and theTrue Pictures of WhalingScenes"(LVI), and
"Of Whalesin Paint;in Teeth;in Wood; in Sheet-Iron; in Stone;
in Mountains; in Stars"(LVII). Similarly, the"grandarmada"in
the Sunda Straitepisodeleads to "Schoolsand Schoolmasters"
(LXXXVIII), involvingcomment on waifsandwaif-poles, whichsug-
gests"Fast-Fish
andLoose-Fish"
(LXXXIX), certain
ofwhosedetails
in turnbud into"Headsor Tails" (xc). This concentration
ofre-
latedchaptersprovidesa kindof structural
emphasisto boththe
GoodHope and SundaStraitcorners ofthenovel.
The mostimportant organizationaldevicein theexpositionof
andwhalingis theuseofwhale-killings
cetology as,in thewordsof
Bezanson,"structuraloccasionsfor ordering. . . essaysand ser-
mons.'6 For example,
in thefirst
halfofthethirdsegment
Stubb
15The two divisionsfall withinthe seventy-four-chapter
"cetologicalcenter"described
in Vincent,The Trying-Outof Moby-Dick.
1 Bezanson,p. 53.
of Moby-Dick
"CarefulDisorder":The Structure I59
killsthefirstwhaleof thevoyage,in preparation forwhichMel-
villediscusses whalefood(LVIII, LIX) and thewhale-line (LX) and
following whichhe offers "The Dart,""The Crotch," "The Shark
Massacre,""CuttingIn," and "The Funeral"-all developing, in
generalchronological order,stagesof the whalingprocess.Like-
wise,whenin thefirstpartof theJava-China seasdivisionStubb
killsanother whale(XCIII, "The Castaway"), theeventleadsto "A
Squeezeof the Hand," "The Cassock,""The Try-Works," "The
Lamp,"and "StowingDown and ClearingUp"-variousstepsin
the trying-out phaseof whaling.The latterhalvesofferparallel
sequences dealingwiththenaturalhistory of whales.In thethird
division, the chapters on the head of leviathangrowout of the
dubiousaffair ofkillinga rightwhale(LXXIII) and suspending his
headacross-decks fromthatofthespermwhale.In thesameloca-
tionof thefourth, Melvillestrings out a sequenceon leviathan's
skeleton, thefinalcetological discourse of thenovel.Skeletons can
notbe studiedamidstthehecticoil extraction, as Ishmaelpointsout
at thebeginning ofChapterCII, butMelvilleproduces a deadwhale
for scientific consideration here by havingIshmaelrecall the
whitened remains ofa spermwhale,accidentally beachedon oneof
theSolomonIslands.The parallelwiththeotherwhale-killings is
closeenough.
All thisis notto say,ofcourse,thatthethirdandfourth, or the
otherpaireddivisions, havepreciselythesamedesign.The former
is moredensely packedwithcetological and technical chapters and
sequences, and it ends,appropriately enough,witha discourse on
the tail of leviathan.On the otherhand,with the Pequod ap-
proaching thefatalPacific,thelatterterminates withAhab back
on deckandQueequegin andoutofhiscoffin as cetologyand tech-
nologyrecede. But,grantedthe voyageframework of six seg-
ments,thestructure of one divisiongenerally balancesthatof its
opposite as thestory movesfrompointtopointarounda structural
hexagon,with"Loomings"and the Epilogueclosingthe figure.
A finalargument in supportof thesix-part structureis thatit
partitions the novelclearlyand logicallyin respectto Melville's
majorartistic problems.Each of thespatialsegments is well de-
finedbythelargerfictional issuesit settles.In theNew Bedford-
Nantucketphase Melvilleestablishes his pointof view through
i6o AmericanLiterature
Ishmael,whomovesstepbystepfromlifeon landto thelandless-
nessof thevoyage.As a partof thismomentous transition,Mel-
villeinvolvesIshmaelin a profound humanattachment, a friend-
shipfromwhichhe hascarefully removed all impuritiesofsexand
commoncultural tiesand bywhichhe intendstheyoungseaman,
in contrast to theprotagonist Ahab,to be saved.As theshipcriss-
crossesdownthe Atlantic, Melville'sproblemis introduction-of
theheterogeneous crew,theworldin microcosm; of theprincipal
"Isolato,"themonomaniacal captain,who rejectsall humanrela-
tionships forhis terrible attachment to MobyDick; oftheuniverse
of workand actionand thesenses,the"lordsof life,"which,if
Emersonwas right, spokeof thingsfinaland real;of thecetology
thatposestheultimate questions ofthebook.
All preliminaries attendedto,theeveryday businessof whale-
slaying begins, and the Indian Ocean segment takesus through the
whalingprocedure fromthesighting of thespoutto thebalingof
thetun,presenting, in addition, thewhalefromspoutto tail as a
subjectof scientificand philosophical disquisition.ChapterLXXXVI,
"The Tail,"thefinalunitof thedivision, offersan unsettling con-
to has
clusion what gonebefore, for,despitethisocean-long analysis,
Ishmaelcannotpenetrate leviathan'sambiguities: "Dissecthimhow
I may,then,I butgo skindeep;I knowhimnot,and neverwill."
The Java-China seassequence ofchapters endsonthesametheme,
though witha dramatic statement oftheidea,as Ahab,nowreturning
tothefore,turnsdespairingly fromthemysterious treatiseon truth,
tattooed on Queequeg'sbody.This conclusion takeson contextual
significance fromthefactthatthedivisionas a wholecontinues
and finallycompletes thecetological discourse ofthepreceding seg-
ment.One phaseofthediscourse, whalingtechnology, is takenup
at the pointit was set aside in the thirddivision, is developed
throughthe trying-out and decanting processes, and endsat the
halfwaymarkin "StowingDown and ClearingUp." The other
phase,thenatural philosophy ofwhales,extends almostthrough the
secondhalfofthesegment, assertingatthelastnotonlytheultimate
mystery of leviathan but,as in thefinalsentence of Chaptercv,
theendurance ofhischallenge: "theeternal whalewill. . . survive,
and rearinguponthetopmost crestof theequatorial flood,spout
hisfrothed defiance to theskies."
"Careful Disorder": The Structureof Moby-Dick i6i
In eachofthetwointerior ofthenovelMelvillebrings
divisions
Ahabforward onlyat thebeginning, midpoint,andend; butin the
Pacificsegment hisproblemis to refocus thestoryon thecaptain.
This is donein a seriesof chapters thatpresentAhabin dramatic
with
conflict: thecrew as a whole-in "The Forge,""The Candles,"
"The Needle,""The Life-Buoy"; withindividualmembers of the
crew-Perth,Starbuck, the Parsee,the Manxman,Pip, the car-
penter;and with his own ideals and aims-in "The Dying
Whale,""The Quadrant," "The Deck." In orderto pace thenar-
Melvillevariesthemoodthrough
rative, between
scenesalternating
serenity and violence,but he keepstensionmounting steadilyas
thePequod movestowardtheequator.
In thelastsegment of thevoyage,Melvillemanagesone final
omenin "The Hat,"onefinaldramatic pausein "The Symphony,"
and one lastironicgam beforehe sendsthePequodintocombat
withMobyDick. To thesailorstheWhiteWhale'sjet seems"the
samesilentspouttheyhad longago beheldin themoonlit Atlantic
and IndianOceans."The threechaseunitscomplete theever-nar-
rowingcircleof fate,and Ishmaelaloneis leftto contemplate the
vortex,clingingto hislostfriend's coffin.
While a radical summarylike this oversimplifies a com-
plexsetofartisticproblems, itssix-part
structure
doesseemtoiden-
tifythemainstratagems of composition.
II
If onelooksbackat thenovel'sprofile,
withthevariouschapter
sequencescreating itis understandable
a kindoffoliarcontour, that
somecritics Melville's
stress "trunk,
branches,twigs"metaphor as a
comprehensive statementofmethodandimply, in theend,thatthe
novelevolvedwithout muchpremeditated order.For othercritics
hasbeento turnto analogieswithotherforms
an alternative ofart
someformalarrangement.
to identify Bothapproaches lead to in-
terestingand sometimes usefulsuggestions
concerning Melville's
craftin Moby-Dick.But theydo notanswerour questions about
fundamental order.PerhapsMelvillehad no overallstrategy of
composition and needednone as chapterafterchapterbranched
outfromthatwhichhad comebefore.Butit is moreprobable that
he did. On Emerson's that
assertion hisown verse was an attempt
i62 AmericanLiterature
to imitatebirdsongsand bee flights, F. 0. Matthiessen comments
that,whatever thepoetsaysaboutderiving form
artistic from natural
soundsandpatterns, "thefactis nottheform," andthepoemis not
a partof nature.'7To Melville'sassertion of organicmethodsof
composition one is inclinedto makea similarreturn.Moby-Dick
is no morea treethanit is an epicpoemor a five-act tragedy.
The argument herehas been thatMelvilledevelopedMoby-
Dick through more practicalmethodsthananalogies
artistically
ormereassociation ofideas. Behindthechapter-clustersthatdefine
thenovel'sleafyconfiguration are solidtrunkand branches:the
interocean voyagedividedon thebasisof theship'sprogress from
to
wateryworld watery world and subdivided on a simple nu-
mericalprinciple.The artifacts of thisoverallframework are reg-
ularlyspaced transitional chapterswith uniquelygeographical
emphasis, setsof chapters at midpoint of each divisionwithun-
mistakable signsof juncture, a schemeemploying parallelsand
balancesbetweenpairsof thesix-part structure,and a logicalap-
portioning of the substance of the novelon the basisof spatial
units.
Once thesestructural principlesand factsare identified, one
understands the real meaningof anothermuch-quoted remark,
offeredat thebeginning ofChapterLXXXII: "Therearesomeenter-
prisesin whicha carefuldisorderliness is thetruemethod."Mel-
ville'sdisorderwas simplythatof the greatorganicartistwho is
necessary
carefulto providehis work of art with the architecture
fororderlygrowth.
"7Matthiessen,
p. 137.

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"Careful Disorder": The Structure of Moby-Dick

Author(s): Herbert G. Eldridge

A NYONE INTERESTED IN A STRUCTURAL APPROACH to Moby-Dickis

Supposewe startwiththesimplepointthatMoby-Dick repre-

majorsegments are clearenough:theAtlanticOcean,IndianOcean,

grounds;thatofftheAzores;offtheCape de Verdes;on thePlate

Islands betweenthe Philippinesand Taiwan. But, as in the other

These are the last lines of a briefchapter,forthe dramaticaction

bringsto lightwhat seemsto be repeatedand regularstructural ac-

centerof thedivisionMelvillehas broughtback theAhab-Moby

Ishmaelgoeson to describethedecanting procedure and thenthe

workingwithan outline, maintaining a generalsymmetry despite

pane,""A BosomFriend,"and "Nightgown," whichappearim-

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