I'm reading Moby Dick for the first time, and I'm uncertain of what to think of the more historic/anatomical chapters. I know these parts come under a lot of fire, but I don't dislike them. I'm just unsure how to contextualize them, or what they're doing. For example, early on Ishmael tells us he thinks whales are fish, not mammals. Did Melville believe this? Or would this have been known as incorrect at this point in time, clueing us in on how uneducated of a character Ishmael is?

With further chapters, where the whales anatomy is explained at length, was this Melville directly trying to teach readers about whales who wouldn't know much about them? Should they be taken at face value? Or is it a method of showing Ishmael's own obsession and devotion to the whale? I'm not saying it has to be one or other either, it can be a mix I suppose. Many of the "facts" he tells us about whales are also simply not true- again making me wonder, would a contemporary reader know that? There are so many of these chapters, any insight that can be offered as to why Melville used them would be great!