So... all of the questions above were addressed in class but we are to repeat them here, for some reason.

I knew very little of what to expect from Moby Dick. I had heard much hinting that it was not only a non-novel, but also that many other people didn't like it upon first reading it. This was my first hint that I would probably adore it. I go for the wounded, unconventional type.

As I suspected, I found myself enjoying the first part of the book immensely. I thought to myself, they don't know what they are talking about; this is certainly a novel if I have ever seen one. and a good one at that. But then, I hit the chapter about whale classification. It was then that I first understood the confusion concerning book classification. A 'normal' novel would never do this (supposedly). When I first got to the chapter using stage direction and third person, I immediately began to unlock the idea of the 'non-novel' Moby Dick. This was clearly not your average book.

As I said in class, I certainly enjoyed the subtle (and not-so-subtle) lines poking fun at religion (Christianity specifically). Melville certainly knows how to employ the use of subtle and almost invisible sarcasm. So subtle that I don't think that some of the people in the class even picked up on the fact that he was scrutinizing religion in the first place.

So I guess that's it about Moby Dick.

I became one with them and for an instant, as we came closer and closer to the mess hall where the feast would be held, I became them and it was I who was beating down on the ship and the captain and the sea. It was I who was angry at and scared of the world all at once. I was the clean water plummeting from the sky without a single inhibition; I was freefalling, weightless, and intent. They were beating on me, but in my mind and in my chest, I was beating right back. I would always be beating right back.