I started looking for the answer to this question when I reread Chapter 36 (The Quarter-Deck). Moby Dick has "three holes punctured in his starboard fluke". I assumed that Ahab and Moby Dick were in parallel (Ahab's "ribbed and dented brow", Moby Dick's "wrinkled brow"). It makes sense to me that they are both injured on the right side. Thanks for researching and reporting!
This is very impressive sleuthing, Adam! In The Prosthetic Arts of Moby-Dick, I embrace the contradictory evidence about the injured leg, chalking it up less to a mystery than to Melville's notoriously inconsistent treatment of facts. I admire your tenacious reasoning!
It seems this line from The Key to It All “The key here was the wind, the one element in this scene which is unequivocally described as traveling in one direction: from west to east“ conflicts with the direction of the wind in Conclusion 1?
Adam link to my read aloud if you want a look. Most of the readers are new to Moby-Dick. Only knew the first line of the story. We are having fun. Once we get to meeting Ahab I will use your info about the leg. I did enjoy it such fun!!
I started looking for the answer to this question when I reread Chapter 36 (The Quarter-Deck). Moby Dick has "three holes punctured in his starboard fluke". I assumed that Ahab and Moby Dick were in parallel (Ahab's "ribbed and dented brow", Moby Dick's "wrinkled brow"). It makes sense to me that they are both injured on the right side. Thanks for researching and reporting!
This is very impressive sleuthing, Adam! In The Prosthetic Arts of Moby-Dick, I embrace the contradictory evidence about the injured leg, chalking it up less to a mystery than to Melville's notoriously inconsistent treatment of facts. I admire your tenacious reasoning!
Thank you David! Looking forward to reading your book!
It seems this line from The Key to It All “The key here was the wind, the one element in this scene which is unequivocally described as traveling in one direction: from west to east“ conflicts with the direction of the wind in Conclusion 1?
Ah, thanks for catching that typo! Should have read 'west to east' in Conclusion 1.
Adam link to my read aloud if you want a look. Most of the readers are new to Moby-Dick. Only knew the first line of the story. We are having fun. Once we get to meeting Ahab I will use your info about the leg. I did enjoy it such fun!!
https://open.substack.com/pub/annmarieritchie/p/reading-moby-dick-aloud?r=3cbusb&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web