Moby Dick; Or, The Whale

Tail Power and Strength-Beauty Harmony

Tail Power and Strength-Beauty Harmony Beyond the tail’s local tendinous power, the entire Leviathan is covered with a warp and woof of muscular fibers and filaments that pass on either side of the loins and run down into the flukes, blending insensibly with them and contributing largely to their might. The confluent measureless force of the whole whale seems concentrated in the tail. This strength does not cripple the graceful flexion of the tail’s motions; instead, power bestows beauty and harmony. Real strength never impairs beauty but often bestows it, and in everything imposingly beautiful, strength has much to do with the magic.

Tail Strength Parallels in Art and Anatomy

Tail Strength Parallels in Art and Anatomy The chapter draws parallels between strength and beauty in art and anatomy. Removing the tied tendons bursting from the marble in carved Hercules would destroy its charm. When Eckerman lifted the linen sheet from Goethe’s corpse, he was overwhelmed by the massive chest that seemed a Roman triumphal arch. Even when Angelo paints God the Father in human form, mark what robustness appears there. Conversely, the soft, curled, hermaphroditical Italian pictures embodying Christ’s idea are so destitute of brawniness that they hint at no power beyond the mere negative, feminine virtue of submission and endurance.

First Great Tail Motion: Aquatic Propulsion

First Great Tail Motion: Aquatic Propulsion The first of five great motions is when the whale uses its tail as a fin for progression. Being horizontal in position, the Leviathan’s tail acts differently from all other sea creatures—it never wriggles. In man or fish, wriggling is a sign of inferiority. For the whale, the tail is the sole means of propulsion. Scroll-wise coiled forwards beneath the body and then rapidly sprung backwards, this mechanism creates the singular darting, leaping motion when the monster furiously swims. The side fins only serve to steer.