Moby Dick Research Paper

The most interesting experience at Mystic can’t be consolidated into one specific event. For me, there were three revelations that became important in my understanding of adding real life context to Moby Dick. These experiences were: touring the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center and staying on the Joseph Conrad. Unfortunately, I never had heard the term “Pequot Tribe” before reading Moby Dick. In the novel, it seems to serve as a clever social statement Melville desires to convey. After all, he does mention the term constantly so a keen reader can deduce meaning can be found hidden somewhere. However, the rich and unsettling history of the Native American tribe is a thing to be experienced in real time. Being an admirer of cultures and human interactions within them, learning about the Pequot tribe …show more content…
I never had an opportunity to stay on a ship let alone water as a live in guest. The rich history of the Joseph Conrad was humbling to a 21st city slicker like me. Spending nights staring in awe out at the Connecticut water and enduring rainy weather was vivid as well. Activities Melville himself would have had to do numerous times over and rolled his eyes at our student grumblings. Another insight about Moby Dick relating to my time on the Joseph Conrad was using the experience of using the restrooms interestingly enough. Our facilities were humble in size and the calculations of when to take showers in a shared community upon a boat before our staffers turned off the shared lights was a new experience. The smaller space of those showers and the consistent whir of the ship as we brushed our teeth was an ever present awareness of what Ishmael and his crew would have experienced not for just 2 nights, but months at length. I enjoyed my time at Mystic. Making direct and indirect connections to Moby Dick and what Melville is trying to communicate was impressive and