In Nathaniel Philbrick's novel, In the Heart of the Sea (2000), Philbrick chronologically narrates the path of the men of the Essex after the ship was rammed by the sperm whale. First, the author tells how the Essex was destroyed, and the probable causes and interesting statistics about ship wrecks. Then, he describes Pollard's and Chase's plan to head toward South America, as opposed to sailing west to Tahiti, or the Society Islands; furthermore, he narrates their trip going south through the Pacific Ocean, and the agony that the men are forced to face. To conclude, the men reach an island, devour everything on it, and soon abandon it and three of the men choose to stay. Through the American tragedy of the sinking of the Essex, Philbrick conveys messages about the social lives of humans and our great ignorance toward the unknown, our strongly evident xenophobia. The author targets anyone who is interested in American history, ships, and survival stories and skills because he not only narrates the story of the Essex, but he provides statistical facts, and scientific facts about certain things they encountered. Philbrick also has separate paragraphs in which he lists conditional statements and the ironies of their strenuous journey.
Vocabulary
- elusive: (adj.) hard to explain, understand.
- proverbial: (adj.) commonly spoken of, well-known.
- tempestuous: (adj.) characteristic of a tempest; turbulent; violent; stormy.
- mutiny: (n.) an open rebellion against authority, especially by sailors or soldiers against their commanding officers.
- stoic: (n.) a person who is apparently indifferent to or unaffected by pain or pleasure.
- bilge: (n.) the lowest inner part of the hull of a ship.
- meager: (adj.) barely adequate in amount or quantity.
- exacerbate: (v.) to make more intense, severe, or bitter, as pain or feelings.
- iridescent: (adj.) displaying shimmering and changing colors.
- coagulate: (v.) to change something from a liquid into a thickened mass.
- voracious: (adj.) eating or craving large amounts of food; unable to be satisfied in some activity.
- stimulus: (n.) something that moves or incites to action or effort; anything that produces a response or influences the activity of the mind or body.
Tone: lamenting, subjective, and reflective.
Rhetorical Strategies:
- Allusion: "'...There is his home; there lies his business, which a Noah's flood would not interrupt, though it overwhelmed all the millions in China..." (pg. 99); "'...By Neptune I think you are afraid of a whale...'" (pg. 79); "'To an overruling Providence alone must be attributed to our salvation from the horrors of that terrible night...'" (pg. 121).
- Simile: "All around them, the unruffled ocean reached out to the curved horizon like the bottom of a shiny blue bown..." (pg. 131); "Like a whale dying in a slow-motion flurry, the Essex in dissolution made for a grim and disturbing sight..." (pg. 94).
- Telegraphic Sentences: "The Pacific is also deep." (pg. 75); "Then he hesitated." (pg. 82); "Then it began to blow." (pg. 90); "Night came on." (pg. 105).
- Foreshadowing: "When writing of this 'fatal error' later, the Essex's cabin boy asked, 'How many warm hearts have ceased to beat in consequence of it?'" (pg. 97).
- Dramatic Irony: "The men of the Essex did not know that they were within just a few hundred miles of saving themselves. Pollard and Chase were mistaken as to their whereabouts..." (pg. 140).
Discussion Questions:
- Why didn't the men just collect rainwater in their tin cups as opposed to using the salty sail?
- How is it that Philbrick manages to keep a reader interested in the story (through suspense) even though the reader mostly knows how what happened to the men on the Essex?
- Would we, modern-day people, be able to survive on an island? Would our more extensive knowledge truly help us in any way?
"The boats became unmanageable in the immense waves. 'The sea rose to a fearful height,' Chase remembered, 'and every wave that came looked as if it must be the last that would be necessary for our destruction.' There was nothing for the men to do but lie down in the bottoms of their fragile vessels and 'await the approaching issue with firmness and resignation...'" (pg. 121).
In Nathaniel Philbrick's novel In the Heart of the Sea (2000), Philbrick tells of the historic Nantucket Island, its social, economic, and religious customs, and of the strenuous journey of the whaleship Essex. Philbrick begins the novel by introducing the youngest male on the whaler, Thomas Nickerson and his aspirations for the voyage on the Essex, but the author also discusses the history (and the very odd customs) of Nantucket Island, off the coast of Massachusetts. Then, Philbrick explains details of the ships voyage in the second chapter, "Knockdown," and goes through the dangers of whaling and life out on the sea, as the Essex crew set out for the two-year voyage. To conclude, Philbrick summarizes the trip across the Falkland Islands, Cape Horn, and the Galapagos Islands. Philbrick's purpose is to tell the tragedy of the whaleship and bring back to life a vital part of American history, and teach all a little about the hardships of the 19th century, explain the different traditions, and expand on the environmental aspect of the world at that time. The author targets anyone who is interested in American history, sea life, animals, and/or survival techniques, because the novel expands on different parts of life and the lessons to be learned from events.
Vocabulary:
- consanguinity: (n.) relationship by blood or by a common ancestor
- rendezvous: (n.) meeting; meeting-place
- nadir: (n.) the lowest or deepest point.
- cajole: (v.) cheat by flattery
- scant: (a.) barely sufficient; not enough; put on short allowance; supply grudgingly
- staid: (adj.) characterized by sedate dignity and often a strait-lanced sense of propriety.
- ethereal: (adj.) highly refined, delicate.
- yore: (n.) time long past.
Tone: informative, suspenseful, and fascinated.
Rhetorical Strategies
- Simile: "Like children picking teams on a playground, the mate and second mate took turns choosing men who would serve in their watches..." (pp. 33)
- Allusion: "The honor of being a Roman citizen was not, in days of yore, so enviable a distinction, as it is on board one of these ships, to be a native of that sand bank, yclept Nantucket..." (pp. 33).
- Analogy: "Just as the skinned corpses of buffaloes would soon dot the prairies of the American West, so did the headless gray remains of sperm whales litter the Pacific Ocean in the early nineteenth century..." (pp. 65).
- Imagery: "When the lance finally found its mark, the whale would begin to choke on its own blood, its spout transformed into a fifteen-to twenty-foot geyser of gore that prompted the mate to shout, 'Chimney's afire!' As the blood rained down on them, the men took up the oars and backed furiously away, then paused to watch the whale went into what was known as its flurry. Beating the water with its tail, snapping at the air with its jaws--even as it regurgitated large chunk of fish and squid--the creature began to swim in an ever tightening circle...the whale fell motionless and silent, a giant black corpse floating fin-up in a slick of its own blood and vomit." (pp. 54).
- Jargon: "Going backward in a square-rigged ship was dangerous. The sails were plastered against the masts, making it almost impossible to furl them. The pressure placed an immense amount of strain on the stays and spars. Since the rigging had not been designed for loads coming from this direction, all three masts might come tumbling down, domino fashion, across the deck. Already the windows in the stern were threatening to burst open and flood the captain's cabin. There was also the danger of breaking the ship's tall, narrow rudder, which became useless as water pressed against it." (pp. 42).
Discussion Questions:
- Just out of curiosity, what was the average death age in Nantucket? Nickerson's parents both died in their late 20s, yet Nickerson was raised by his grandparents.
- Why would Philbrick include so many quotations from other people throughout the novel? Is it to make the story credible?
- Are there still many sperm whales around today? It seems that even in the earlier times of history we were ignorant savages, and did not care much for the environment and animal populations.
"There is little doubt that intimacy--physical as well as emotional--between a wife and a husband must have been difficult to establish under the tremendously compressed circumstances of the few months available between voyages. An island tradition claims that Nantucket women dealt with their husbands' long absences by relying on sexual aids known as "he's-at-homes." Although this claim, like that of drug use, seems to fly in the face of the island's staid Quaker reputation, in 1979 a six-inch plaster penis was discovered hidden in the chimney of a house in the island's historic district." (pp. 17) :)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The downfall of a great person is never a pleasurable one. Only great sadness is evoked as such a majestic person finally weakens and reaches an emotional, mental, or physical downfall, or perhaps even death. The Cuban fighter Paret was a great welterweight champion, but ultimately reached his downfall in the boxing ring. The author--and observer--of the passage detailing the boxing match expresses the effect of the tragedy. Through the use similes as imagery and an explanation to the seriousness of the match; telegraphic sentences that convey suspense; and the use of connotative diction to evoke a sense of sorrow and anger, the author creates a sense of sympathy for Paret because he died doing what he loved to do.
