We Are Whale
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Reflections on a Beached Whale
What is it about the sight of a beached whale that reminds us of us?
There is something peculiarly disheartening about the sight of a beached whale. On August 26, 2011, a 50-foot sperm whale washed up on a northern Spanish shore and died. Despite desperate efforts to save the noble creature failed. The whale was still alive when it was discovered early in the morning, but it soon died.
The cause of the five year old whale’s death is unknown. Marine scientist, Enrique Franco stated, It almost certainly came here to die. It’s not uncommon for such animals to beach when they are very ill.
Why does this tragic image seem to resonate so strongly with humans? Is it simply our natural compassion for a noble, intelligent being in a fatal predicament? Or is it because we see ourselves and our world in the position of this doomed creature, so tragically out of its element and trapped by its own immensity?
Take a walk sometime around a city such as Los Angeles. Look at the bright, dazzling skyline: then, trace those glittering towers down to their bases. Let your eyes rest on the iron bars on the windows and doors, and the countless people lying on the sidewalks, or huddling under freeway overpasses, or stumbling down the street, cursing and shrieking and flailing their arms at everyone and at no one in particular.
See if you don’t get a sudden, panicked sense of vertigo—as if the entire massive structure were swaying and collapsing under its own weight, crushing all those that move within and beneath it. This is the view from the ground: solid images from a land self-enriched from the sale of illusions—dreams that have given way to long, sleepless nights.
I wish I could believe that our nation will soon throw off the dead weight of fear and depression to thrive once again in the world. I feel increasingly as if we are all in the belly of that hopelessly grounded leviathan—the mythic creature that, pursued to the point of exhaustion and driven to the brink of extinction by insatiable profiteers, finally surrendered to the harpoon.
With thanks to the Associated Press.
Are we whale?
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your analogy is apt, Wendy. One could fill volumes, describing how America at the height of its potential was beached by corporate greed and public complacency.
But, then, this is a story that has been repeated throughout history. The difference is that the stakes are higher now than ever before. Who was it that said, “We have met the enemy and they are us.”
Food for thought Wendy, a very well structured piece with a hopeful sentiment at the end – I wish I could believe that our nation will soon throw off the dead weight of fear – Believe. Believe. Believe.
Extraordinary piece. I’ve read it three times. Thanks Wendy.
Thank you, Mike! Your appreciation means a great deal to me.