The Science and Culture of the Sea Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Science and Culture of the Sea - Assignment Example Nowadays, most people are not as afraid of seafaring as they might have been in the mid-19th century. Without the aid of deep underwater equipment and scuba diving, there was really no way—back then—to know exactly what the deep dark sea did consist of exactly. This scared many people away from the water. However, there were a certain brave few who weathered the elements because they were so curious as to how the sea operated, even though the sea was considered a strange animal. There were â€Å"strange forms in the water†¦[and] sea-ravens†¦therefore fit roosting-place for their homeless selves. And heaved and heaved still unrestingly heaved the black sea, as if its vast tides were a conscience; and the great mundane soul was in anguish and remorse for the long sin and suffering it had bred.†1 Additionally, over time—but especially in Melville’s book—a case has been made that there is something very sacred about the sea which perhaps, he writes—lives within all of us. â€Å"Consider, once more, the universal cannibalism of the sea; all whose creatures prey upon each other, carrying on eternal war since the world began. Consider all this; and then turn to this green, gentle, and most docile earth; consider them both, the sea and the land, and do you not find a strange analogy to something in yourself?†2 Melville makes us attempt to draw a comparison between the sea and land and our respective souls. Where is it dry? What does the stability of land provide, and what do we give up when we go out to sea? In exchange for a salty, untamed coexistence, the sea beckons even as it threatens to revolt against its seafarers. Yes, it is the sea, that most wild of all natural elements, that nurtures, destroys. It is this sea inside (the mind) which Melville seeks to draw out, as he continues to dazzle readers with his linguistically rich and metaphorical prose. III. Deductions About Accurate and Inaccu rate Science in Moby Dick (450 words) Of course, water cannot be like air, which is apparent to everyone except the speaker here, even if only in jest, when he says, â€Å"Methinks that in looking at things spiritual, we are too much like oysters observing the sun through the water, and thinking that thick water the thinnest of air. Methinks my body is but the lees of my better being. In fact, take my body who will take it I say, it is not me.†3 These are not the only examples of historically scientific references—most of which were indeed accurate.