Reading Moby-Dick at 30,000 Feet Themes
Passivity
Our speaker sits. He looks, remembers, imagines, and thinks. He's just about the least active person you can imagine. Even the memory he drifts into is of watching planes. There's no doubt about it...
Exploration
What's the alternative to a passive, inactive life? Well, one option is to explore the open seas. Not only is there a lot to do physically, but it definitely stimulates you emotionally when you're...
Death
There are two big ways that we think mortality plays a role in "Reading Moby-Dick at 30,000 Feet." First, the only reason we worry about wasting time is that we only have so much of it. Our speaker...
Man and the Natural World
A big distinction between the life our speaker leads and the one he imagines when "Reading Moby-Dick at 30,000 Feet" seems to be a connection to the natural world. In his passive position reclining...