[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.65,0:00:10.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A mountain separating two lakes.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.14,0:00:15.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A room papered floor to \Nceiling with bridal satins.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.12,0:00:19.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The lid of an immense snuffbox.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.09,0:00:24.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These seemingly unrelated images take \Nus on a tour of a sperm whale’s head
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.82,0:00:27.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.37,0:00:29.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the surface,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.02,0:00:34.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the book is the story of Captain Ahab’s \Nhunt for revenge against Moby Dick,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.22,0:00:37.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the white whale who bit off his leg.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.22,0:00:42.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But though the book features pirates,\Ntyphoons, high-speed chases,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.32,0:00:44.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and giant squid,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.09,0:00:48.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you shouldn’t expect a conventional \Nseafaring adventure.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.47,0:00:53.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instead, it’s a multilayered exploration \Nof not only the intimate details
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.89,0:00:56.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of life aboard a whaling ship,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.11,0:01:00.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but also subjects from across human \Nand natural history,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.29,0:01:06.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by turns playful and tragic, humorous \Nand urgent.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.42,0:01:09.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The narrator guiding us through these \Nexplorations
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.62,0:01:12.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is a common sailor called Ishmael.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.76,0:01:15.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ishmael starts out telling his own story
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.72,0:01:20.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as he prepares to escape the “damp and\Ndrizzly November in [his] soul”
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.41,0:01:22.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by going to sea.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.86,0:01:26.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But after he befriends the Pacific \NIslander Queequeg
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.86,0:01:30.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and joins Ahab’s crew aboard the Pequod,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.35,0:01:33.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ishmael becomes more of an omniscient \Nguide for the reader
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.65,0:01:35.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than a traditional character.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.91,0:01:41.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While Ahab obsesses over revenge and first\Nmate Starbuck tries to reason with him,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.82,0:01:45.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ishmael takes us on his own \Nquest for meaning
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.02,0:01:49.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,throughout “the whole universe, not \Nexcluding its suburbs.”
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.52,0:01:56.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In his telling, life’s biggest questions \Nloom large, even in the smallest details.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.23,0:02:00.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like his narrator, Melville was a \Nrestless and curious spirit,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.58,0:02:04.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who gained an unorthodox education\Nworking as a sailor
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.12,0:02:08.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on a series of grueling voyages around \Nthe world in his youth.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.17,0:02:11.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He published Moby-Dick in 1851,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.18,0:02:14.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when the United States’ whaling \Nindustry was at its height.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.98,0:02:18.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nantucket, where the Pequod sets sail,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.01,0:02:22.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was the epicenter of this lucrative \Nand bloody global industry
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.25,0:02:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which decimated the world’s \Nwhale populations.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.00,0:02:27.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Unusually for his time,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.97,0:02:31.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Melville doesn’t shy away from \Nthe ugly side of this industry,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.79,0:02:34.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even taking the whale’s \Nperspective at one point,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.93,0:02:39.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when he speculates on how terrifying \Nthe huge shadows of the ships must be
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.91,0:02:43.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the creature swimming below.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.23,0:02:48.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The author’s first-hand familiarity with \Nwhaling is evident over and over again
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.65,0:02:51.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in Ishmael’s vivid descriptions.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.58,0:02:54.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In one chapter, the skin \Nof a whale’s penis
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.75,0:02:57.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,becomes protective clothing \Nfor a crewman.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.98,0:03:03.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Chapters with titles as unpromising as \N“Cistern and Buckets”
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.20,0:03:05.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,become some of the novel’s most \Nrewarding
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.85,0:03:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as Ishmael compares bailing out a \Nsperm-whale’s head to midwifery,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.00,0:03:13.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which leads to reflections on Plato.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.96,0:03:17.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tangling whale-lines provoke witty \Nreflections
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.68,0:03:22.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the “ever-present perils” \Nentangling all mortals.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.83,0:03:30.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He draws on diverse branches of knowledge,\Nlike zoology, gastronomy, law, economics,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.18,0:03:37.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mythology, and teachings from a range \Nof religious and cultural traditions.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.11,0:03:42.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The book experiments with writing style \Nas much as subject matter.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.15,0:03:48.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In one monologue, Ahab challenges \NMoby Dick in Shakespearean style:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.12,0:03:54.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying \Nbut unconquering whale;
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.57,0:04:01.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the last I grapple with thee; \Nfrom hell’s heart I stab at thee;
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.11,0:04:05.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for hate’s sake I spit my last \Nbreath at thee.”
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.87,0:04:08.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One chapter is written as a playscript,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.67,0:04:15.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where members of the Pequod’s multi-ethnic\Ncrew chime in individually and in chorus.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.09,0:04:21.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,African and Spanish sailors trade insults \Nwhile a Tahitian seaman longs for home,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.93,0:04:25.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Chinese and Portuguese crewmembers \Ncall for a dance,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.65,0:04:29.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and one young boy prophesies disaster.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.33,0:04:30.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In another chapter,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.95,0:04:36.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ishmael sings the process of decanting \Nwhale oil in epic style,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.20,0:04:40.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as the ship pitches and rolls in the \Nmidnight sea
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.14,0:04:44.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the casks rumble like landslides.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.38,0:04:48.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A book so wide-ranging has something \Nfor everyone.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.80,0:04:54.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Readers have found religious and political\Nallegory, existential enquiry,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.75,0:04:57.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,social satire, economic analysis,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.80,0:05:00.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and representations of American \Nimperialism,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.85,0:05:04.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,industrial relations and racial conflict.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.85,0:05:09.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As Ishmael chases meaning and Ahab \Nchases the white whale,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.52,0:05:14.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the book explores the opposing forces \Nof optimism and uncertainty,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.73,0:05:19.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,curiosity and fear that characterize human\Nexistence
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.58,0:05:22.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,no matter what it is we’re chasing.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.96,0:05:25.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Through Moby Dick’s many pages,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.14,0:05:28.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Melville invites his readers to leap into \Nthe unknown,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.96,0:05:35.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to join him on the hunt for the \N“ungraspable phantom of life.”