A Whale for the Killing and the Politics of Culture and Ecology

• Published in: Journal of Canadian Studies
• Main Author: Overton, James
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) 1987
• Subjects: History; Cultural Studies; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/jcs.22.1.84; https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/jcs.22.1.84

Farley Mowat’s book, A Whale for the Killing (1972), describes the 1967 killing of a whale near Burgeo. Newfoundland. The story also dramatizes Mowat’s growing disillusionment with the rural Newfoundland he sought to defend against the intrusions of modem urban-industrial life and Joey Smallwood’s development schemes. Premiered in 1981 and shot in the wake of the seal hunt controversy of the late 1970s, the film was surrounded by a flurry of propaganda about the positive image given to Newfoundlanders in the script. This essay analyses both film and book. It argues that there are significant differences in the two narratives and that the film story is best understood within the context of the images and issues raised by the seal hunt. The film is not primarily the story of one individual’s disillusionment, but rather a simple morality story which presents Newfoundlanders in an unfavourable light.