most exciting and detailed portions of Melville’s Moby Dick was the killing of a whale. After the whale was spotted, the crew rows quietly out toward the animal. When they had come close to the whale, they had to manually throw a harpoon that was attached to the boat with a rope. The whale was outraged and tried to flee. The small rowboat was pulled and tugged by the animal and all the crew could do was hold on to the boat for their lives. From the vibrating line extending the entire length of the upper part of the boat, and from its now being more tight than a harpstring, you would have thought the craft had two keels – one cleaving the water, the other the air – as the boat churned on through both opposing elements at once (Melville 351).After the whale began to tire, and was close enough to touch, the crew repeatedly stabbed the creature until it bled to death. After the kill, the whale was tied to the ship with its head tied to the stern and its tail to the bow. The carcass then had to be watched twenty-four hours a day to keep sharks from eating it (Melville 350-354).In the early twentieth century the whaling industry began to change. Harpoons were now shot from a gun into the whale. The harpoon point broke into four prongs when it hit the animal to anchor the harpoon and cause more damage to the whale’s flesh and arteries. When the harpoon is secured to the whale, the boat’s engine was thrown into reverse to tire the whale. After the whale was exhausted from blood lose and pulling, it was shot and put out of its misery. Then the carcass was pumped with air to keep it afloat. Then a second ship pulled the carcass to a shore station where it was butchered. The first ship moved on for another kill (Murphy 152).The new methods of whaling made it easier, safer, and faster than the old methods. A single whaling ship could get four times more than in Me...
