Not P but Moby-Dick (94)

[Michael Bailey]

nothing definite, but some thoughts

a) these eyes - common parlance would be Ahab meaning his own eyes- when
somebody is trying to wax poetic, I think they might refer to their own
eyes this way - “what a sight for these eyes to see” -  and maybe it’s
“too-favoring” because he feels like he might be getting overly charged up
about the sight - this would explain both incidences of “too-favoring”
Something like, “my eyes have been excessively focused on whales, ignoring
other important things” (“favoring” the whales) - and the sight itself is
“too-favoring” in that it rewards his unhealthy focus

b) but maybe Ahab has identified more closely with the dying whale so he
means the eyes of the whale are too-favoring (that its life has consisted
of excess enjoyment in its bulk and power and capacity so it looks out on
the world with an enjoyment greater than would be strictly kosher in this
vale of tears and soul-making) &, therefore, that its last glimpse of the
sun is a “too-favoring” gratuitous grace (strictly speaking, undeserved)
extended to the whale in its agony.

c) I haven’t found another incidence of the exact phrase “too-favoring” by
Googling.

d) alternatively, could “too” mean “also”? Hard to build a parseable
thought from that.

e) bottom line: I can’t claim to know what Mr Melville meant here (but Ahab
was a nutball so he was like atoms: you can’t trust them, because they make
up everything)


On Sat, Mar 23, 2024 at 12:36 AM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> From Chapter 116:
>
> “He turns and turns him to it,—how slowly, but how steadfastly, his
> homage-rendering and invoking brow, with his last dying motions. He too
> worships fire; most faithful, broad, baronial vassal of the sun!—Oh that
> these too-favoring eyes should see these too-favoring sights.
>
> What does "too-favoring" mean here?
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>