The Color White and Thought Diving

white

Is it that by its indefiniteness it shadows forth the heartless voids and immensities of the universe, and thus stabs us from behind with the thought of annihilation, when beholding the white depths of the milky way? Or, is it , that absence of color, and at the same time the concrete of all colors; is it for these reasons that there is such a dumb blankness, full of meaning, in a wide landscape of snows – a colorless, an all-color of atheism from which we shrink? And when we consider that other theory of the natural philosophers, that all other earthly hues – every stately or lovely emblazoning – the sweet tinges of sunset skies and woods; yea, and the gilded velvets of butterflies and the butterfly cheeks of young girls; all these are but subtle deceits, not actually inherent in substances, but only laid on from without…”

…and consider that the mystical cosmetic which produces every one of her hues, the great principle of light , forever remains white or colorless in itself, and if operating without medium upon matter, would touch all objects, even tulips and roses, with its own blank tinge.


And of all these things the Albino Whale was the symbol. Wonder ye then at the fiery hunt?   from Moby-Dick by Herman Melville.

I'm reading Moby-Dick for the first time. Herman Melville wrote his masterpiece in 1851. He believed writers did "thought diving" to get their stories. In his belief that writing became the "great Art of Telling the Truth," he described writers as,  "The whole corps of thought-divers that have been diving and coming up again with blood-shot eyes since the world began."

White has never held my fascination until now.

Like Ahab's determination for the white whale, I feel a strange attraction these days.  White shines out to me from every corner and path.

My mother tried to dress me in white outfits.  She maintained patience as they turned into a palate of green grass, boysenberry juice and bark stains. Eventually, she relented and purchased colors for me to wear.  Instead of making up a story of "an event in a white room," or ways to torment my mother, I just admit to a love of colors.

Now, thanks to Melville and his pages of white descriptions, I'm tracking white..  He even gets into silver which I can appreciate more because I love sparkle.

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I have become curious for white in all its revelations.

Creative Write: Write about your notion of white, or tell a story about a color or what attracts you.