Tahitian Island

I was particularly interested in a quote from the book on page 299:

"For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there lies on insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encompassed  by all the horrors of the half known life.  God keep thee!  Push not off from that isle, thou canst never return!"

I really liked this quote because I think it really shows that Ishmael truly thinks that whaling is life, at least life as he now knows it.  It seems to me that maybe a part of Ishmael is content with going whaling and another part is horrified at the dangers he has found.  It almost seems as if with these dangers he has found that he feels he can no longer return to his "Tahiti" because of how the horrors of this life have changed him.

This was confusing for me because we talked about at the beginning of the novel whether we thought that Ishmael's decision to go whaling was one that he was content with, really something he wanted.  We wondered if it was something that would bring him peace in the sense that it would clear the "drizzly November" in his soul.  Now I am coming to think that there is more significance in that first page than first meets the eye, maybe even some foreshadowing in it as well.  He describes this adventure as his version of "pistol and ball", so referring to suicide, and saying that instead he just takes to the sea.  Maybe the sea in this case is more of an escape than any other time, maybe it will be his last.  I may be reading too much into that but I just thought that it was interesting how these two kind of tied in together.

Another thing I want to say about this quote is that I think it is truly one that can be applicable to all of us.  I think it is a way that the author is trying to get us as readers to be able to connect the novel to our own lives.  Our Tahiti is like our comfort zone, our place where we feel we can truly be ourselves and we feel safe, and the ocean of horrors surrounding us is everything else.  I mean in that case it seems that maybe Ishmael suggests it is safer to stay in your comfort zone but I actually think that throughout the novel he shows us that he believes the opposite.  He is an adventurer, and we see that through each of his adventures he has made unexpected friends, and learned many new things.  I do not think that this quote is to be taken seriously but almost as a mockery to those who so not go to seek out things in life.  You have to face the oceans to truly experience life, and although you are peaceful in Tahiti you are not truly living.