People of the Whale

“We live on the ocean. The ocean is a great being. The tribe has songs about the ocean, songs to the ocean. It is a place where people’s eyes move horizontally because they watch the long, wide sea flow into infinity.”

Personification attributes human qualities to a non-human entity. Here, Hogan personifies the ocean as a “great being,” elevating the ocean to a sentient, sacred entity. This personification resonates with Indigenous cultures’ reverence for nature, suggesting a spiritual connection between the tribe and the ocean. The repetition of the phrase “songs about the ocean, songs to the ocean” emphasizes the tribe’s relationship with the sea. This repetition, a rhetorical device, reinforces the importance of the ocean in their lives, not just as a physical presence but as a source of inspiration and veneration.

“But place or time or season, it doesn’t matter to the man who turns his back to the sea. No one knows if he will turn toward life again. They wonder if it is hate he feels, or remorse, or merely human grief. After a while, some forget he is over there.”

The opening phrase “But place or time or season, it doesn’t matter” employs asyndeton, the omission of conjunctions between parts of a sentence. This device creates a sense of simplicity and directness, emphasizing the universality and timelessness of the man’s disconnection from his surroundings. This disconnection is further symbolized by the man turning his back to the sea, an action loaded with significance in a culture tied to the ocean. The sea traditionally symbolizes life, continuity, and sometimes the subconscious, so turning away from it suggests a rejection or disconnection from these fundamental aspects.