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Post by lsandthebooks on Sept 28, 2019 21:22:46 GMT -5
The author of Moby Dick is Herman Mellville. Klaus talks about how much he loves Herman Melville's books multiple times, in Book 11. Fiona's stepfather also said that makes her research the life of Herman Melville.
In Moby Dick, the narrator is named Ishmael. And he's the only survivor in Moby Dick, which makes him similar to how Ishmael in Lemony's books is in charge of an island filled with castaways.
Plus, whales actually use sonar. And in Book 11, Olaf says the Great Unknown has sonar.
And if you think about it the plot of the Wide Window is very similar to Moby Dick. Olaf is a captain who lost half his leg (just like the captain in Moby Dick). Josephine is the only survivor. The kids end up getting shipwrecked. The hurricane that destroyed Josephine's home was named Herman. And so it seems like Moby Dick is a recurring theme in the series.
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Post by Uncle Algernon on Sept 29, 2019 14:33:29 GMT -5
Yes, but half of those references show that "Moby Dick" exists as a work of fiction within the Averse, which kinda hurts the theory, no? Unless you assume that 'Herman Melville' is a nom de plume used by Ishmael and that just like ASoUE itself, "Moby Dick" is a VFD report masquerading as a work of fiction.
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Post by Dante on Sept 30, 2019 8:43:18 GMT -5
The Great Unknown can't be Moby-Dick because the sugar bowl is Moby-Dick.
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Sept 30, 2019 9:46:12 GMT -5
To me Beatrice is my Moby-Dick
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Post by Hermes on Sept 30, 2019 14:08:28 GMT -5
I don't think the GU can be Moby Dick, because a whale is not shaped like a question mark. It is, as Uncle Algernon says, a matter of literary allusion. The GU to some extent recalls Moby Dick, as it also recalls Chthulu, Leviathan and other sea-monsters.
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Post by Foxy on Oct 2, 2019 19:11:19 GMT -5
In Moby Dick, the narrator is named Ishmael. And he's the only survivor in Moby Dick, which makes him similar to how Ishmael in Lemony's books is in charge of an island filled with castaways. Hey now, thanks for the spoiler alert! Guess I'm never going to read that book, haha. Also, because I have never read the book, I don't understand what I am guessing are funny comments by Dante and Jean, or Uncle Algernon's comment either. Is the book actually not fiction, or is the whale a real whale in real life? I did not know whales use sonar. But like Hermes said, a whale isn't shaped like a question mark... although, it kind of is, the the tail is the dot. Like if you imagined a "?" roated 90 degrees counter clockwise, I could kind of see it. I think the hurricane being named Herman was probably just a tribute to Herman Melville. There is a lot of allegory in these books.
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Post by Dante on Oct 3, 2019 15:46:25 GMT -5
Also, because I have never read the book, I don't understand what I am guessing are funny comments by Dante and Jean, or Uncle Algernon's comment either. Is the book actually not fiction, or is the whale a real whale in real life? Put simply, the white whale is considered allegorical of an arbitrary but all-consuming objective, or of the search for meaning. You can probably see how the sugar bowl might play a similar role; or, to Jean Lucio, the figure of Beatrice.
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