fast fish loose fish essays

fast fish loose fish essays In chapter 89, Melville continues to provide more knowledge of the whaling industry, furthermore comparing it to certain things in life. The chapter deals with the definitions of a fast fish and a loose fish. These definitions have a double meaning because they are not only referred to in terms of whaling but also on a complex level with life. In the previous chapter, Schools and Schoolmasters, two types of schools are discussed, one, which is composed entirely of female whales and the other of young bull whales. Following Fast Fish Loose Fish is a chapter called Heads or Tails. This chapter is also another informative chapter in which Ishmael relates another law about the possession of whaling. The chapter suggests the impossibility of knowing the future like the heads and tails. In chapter 89, Melville for the very first time allows the reader to feel a part of the book. Melville asks continual questions about the readers life as a fast fish or a loose fish or even both, yet at th e same time, providing information related to the political laws of whaling of the world. Melville explains that the laws of whaling derived not from a formal code but from the customs, practices, and understandings of the whalers themselves. The only formal whaling code authorized was that of Holland. The laws were so tersely comprehensive that Melville states, they might be engraven on a Queen Annes farthing, or the barb of a harpoon, and worn round the neck, so small are they.(393) He then continues on discussing the peculiar cases about the possession of whales previously chased or killed by another party. Melville claims it is despicable and outrageous moral injustice in doing such acts. An England case is mentioned in which the possession of a whale is argued over, and is compared to a case about a lady being harpooned and abandoned becoming a loose fish. Melville is strongly against the laws of po...