Extensions of the Self

In class on Monday, Dr. Wickman asked us to find something that seemed less meaningful and show how it supplemented the meaningful material. Our group decided to focus on the relationship between Pip and Captain Ahab. I wanted to expound on the concepts we talked about and relate it to digital culture.

First, the relationship between Ahab and Pip is solidified after the chapter when the Pequod meets the Rachel. The captain of the Rachel desperately asks that Ahab help him find his son, but Ahab refuses. He is convinced that he cannot waste any time. Right after, there is a scene where Pip is reluctant to let go of Ahab's hand, "...do ye but use poor me for your one lost leg; only tread upon me, sir; I ask no more, so I remain a part of ye." Here we see that Pip is serving as a stand in prosthetic for Ahab. He is willing Ahab to tread on him, if only for the reason to be part of Ahab. Since Pip is volunteering to become a part of Ahab, it is symbolic of Pip being a part of Ahab's machine, or an extension of himself. Dr. Wickman then furthered our conclusion by saying that the entire crew is an extension of Ahab, a prosthetic of sorts. This idea is very intriguing to me, that we as humans can function as machines and have extensions of ourselves. This led me to think, what are the various extensions of ourselves? My first thought was personal electronic devices.

Do our electronic devices become extensions of ourselves? I would say that they most certainly do, especially our phones, and especially our smart phones. How often are you found without your phone? Not very often, I would imagine. It is something that is uniquely ours. It keeps our schedules, our emails, the contact information for those we care about, the correspondence between us and others, access to our personal social media, and access to the world through the internet. Since identity is so often defined in terms of digital culture these days, our phones gives us access to creating our identity. Ahab, in one of his soliloquies, notes: "Now then, Pip, we'll talk this over; I do suck most wondrous philosophies from thee." He gains more insight about himself by being near Pip and talking with him. Ahab even invites Pip to live in his cabin because he has touched the inmost part of Ahab. Pip functions as an extension of Ahab, his support and also his outlet for discovering his identity. Our personal devices function as extensions of ourselves, a place to store personal information, and a portal to the external world.