Sharks And Stubb In The Great Gatsby By Herman Melville

Melville compares the sharks and Stubb as they begin to do the same things without being aware of it by the way they feast on the whale in a similar ways. There is an obvious passion in Stubb’s heart for hunting and killing whales which becomes apparent by the way he indulges on their first kill of the day. Stubb is passionately eager to indulge in his kill that he can not wait and begins to feast in the middle of the night along with the sharks. The text describe the level of enjoyment Stubb has as he eats, “Stubb heeded not the mumblings of the banquet that was going on so nigh him, no more than the sharks heeded the smacking of his own epicurean lips”(320). Stubb is wrapped up and focused on his own piece of the whale that he cares not for …show more content…
Melville creates another scenario where the men and sharks are physically mirroring each other's actions and thus further showing how they are the same in their nature. In chapter 64, Melville describes a scenario where the men are gazing down at the sharks, “peering over the side you could just see them...as they scoped out huge globular pieces of the whale of the bigness of a human head” and then the sharks gazing back up at the men,“sharks will be seen longingly gazing up to the ship’s decks, like hungry dogs round a table where red meat is being carved, ready to bolt down every killed man that is tossed to them.” In this scenario it is interesting how the men and the sharks gaze at each other, both in awe of what they do. The men make comment at how the sharks without hesitation chase at the whale and take pieces the size of a man’s head. No doubt that they are thinking the possibility that it could be them who the sharks eat. While from the sharks perceptive, they are gazing up at the men and thinking about their next feast. The similarity is not only physical but both are focused on being consumed or consuming the other. Which literally could mean they are concerned about death and being eaten or eating but metaphorically it could mean they are concerned about become …show more content…
Similarly the crew notices that Ahab is so obsessed with Moby Dick that he can not hear their warning about the sharks that want to consume him. First, Fleece notices that the sharks are never satisfied after getting what they want,“‘ Massa Stubb; dey don’t hear one word; no use a-preachin’ to such dam g’utton as you call ‘em, till dare bellies is full, and dare bellies is bottomless; and when they do get em full, dey wont hear you den; for den dey sink in de sea, go fast to sleep on de coral, and can’t hear not-ing at all, no more, for eber and eber” (322). Fleece is foreshadowing the death of Ahab and the destruction of these men who will follow him. Fleece is also acknowledging that they can’t be saved anymore because they are so consumed by their need to hunt and kill Moby Dick that they ignore all warning even as their pursuit brings them closer to death each time. This is exactly what happens with Ahab when he ignores all warnings in his mindless pursuit of Moby Dick. A sailor calls out “‘the sharks! the sharks!...O master, my master, come back!’...But Ahab heard nothing; for his own voice was high-lifted then; and the boat leaped on”(616). Even the crew attempts to get Ahab back on the ship, away from his obsession, away from the sharks that represent satan and their lustful desires. But Ahab is so far gone that he has become