Intro to Critical Reading

Friday, March 11, 2011

Ouroboros and Universal Cannibalism
The concept of the universal cannibalism of the sea is one discussed at length in class. Essentially, the
concept of universal cannibalism is the idea that everything in life is cyclic. It is best embodied by the
ancient Ouroboros, which is a widely-used image of a serpent eating its own tail. Melville confines this
concept to the sea in the physical realm of his novel, but it's clearly a concept that can be adopted on a
wider scale.
It is very clear that both Herman Melville and Herbert Marcuse have noted the presence of self-reference or
self-perpetuation. In fact, both authors take the concept so far as to deem it a necessary and constant
component in the machine of life. The major difference between the two lies in the fact that Melville
appears to express a level of discomfort with this idea. Marcuse seems to matter-of-factly believe that this
cyclical, universal cannibalism is necessary and a neutral force in the universe. He says, The ancient idea
of a state where Being attains fulfillment, where the tension between 'is' and 'ought' is resolved in the cycle
of an eternal return... (Marcuse 167). What he means by this is that there is an extant ideal of an ought
individual, deemed to be perfect and meant to be a goal for all individuals to achieve. He is stating that this
ought individual comes into existence through a constant cycle. This mention of a cycle is actually
reminiscent of the Hindu idea of reincarnation, brought into Melville's work in the form of Moby Dick being
referred to as Vishnu. Vishnu is the god of destruction, and he symbolizes the idea of reincarnation
because destruction is the first step in the cyclic reincarnation process.
Marcuse says on contemporary science, Nature, scientifically comprehended and mastered, reappears in
the technical apparatus of production and destruction which sustains and improves the life of the
individuals while subordinating them to the masters of the apparatus (Marcuse 166). Here he is stating that
even the study of nature itself is cyclical. The scientific method reincarnates and destroys ideas, in the form
of hypotheses, in the same cyclical way that Ouroboros consumes his own tail. Marcuse is not, however,
loading his references with emotion or accusation. He is simply stating the fact that life is cyclical.
Melville heavily references the concept Ouroboros. He spends an entire (although admittedly short)
chapter, Chapter 66 The Shark Massacre, on an image of a wounded and dying shark who frantically
consumes his own falling-out intestines over and over again by the same mouth, to be oppositely voided
by the gaping wound (Melville 320). This scene so blatantly draws on the Ouroboros that ignoring the
connection would simply be ignorant. This chapter is also placed directly after an actual philosophical
debate regarding the concept of eating a whale's meat by the light of its own oil. Melville almost points a
finger at his readers in this debate, saying Cannibals? Who is not a cannibal? I tell you it will be more
tolerable for the Fejee that salted down a lean missionary in his cellar against a coming famine; it will be
more tolerable for that provident Fejee, I say, in the day of judgment, than for thee, civilized and
enlightened gourmand, who nailest geese to the ground and feastest on their bloated livers in thy pat-de-
foie-gras (Melville 318).
Melville's highly emotional tone leads me to believe that the concept of the universal cannibalism of the
sea is one that he still struggles with, while Marcuse's cold-seeming, resigned, matter-of-fact statements
lead me to believe that he has faced the struggle and come to a logical conclusion. I as a reader am left
wondering if even the idea of life's cyclical nature can be seen cyclically; would Marcuse lose his
composure at some future point in his life? Would Melville eventually come to terms with what he struggles
with? Will Ouroboros ever be completely destroyed or completely reborn?
Posted by Kaeli