There is a lot to discuss within our first chunk of reading for Moby Dick, but I want to focus on one passage and then try to expand.
Before I do this, I thought it was curious how our narrator uses the pseudonym of “Ishmael”. He asks us to call him this, which made me look into the significance this name. Turns out it was a biblical reference used. Ishmael was born unto Abraham with Sarah’s hand maid Hagar. After, Sarah gave birth to Isaac, and she asked Abraham to expel the hand maid and her child into the desert. Though blessed by God, Ishmael became an outcast. This can open up discussion about the word “outcast” and how “Ishmael” ventures to meet people aboard a ship who have a common goal: whaling.
“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off–then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.”
“This is my substitute for pistol and ball.”
This is a huge sentence. I could have paraphrased it lol. What he is saying is that instead of inviting suicidal and/or fatal temptations, the sea is where he can find respite. Only the ocean can provide him this. We get this passage literally on the first page, so you can see how important the ocean is to our “Ishmael”. Arguably, this is an early glimpse of the feelings that our protagonist portrays to the natural unknown world on the horizon.
These are good points– about “the pseudonym” and the “early glimpse of the feelings that our protagonist portrays to the natural unknown world on the horizon.” I would like to see you keep going– don’t stop by pointing it out but consider WHY your point matters. WHY does it matter that it is a pseudonym? Push towards interpretation!
Hi Marley, I like how you connected Ishmael’s name to the idea of being an outcast; it definitely sets the tone for how he frames himself before even stepping on the ship. What stood out to me in the passage you chose is how Ishmael treats the sea as both an escape and a form of self-preservation. Instead of giving in to violence or despair, he redirects that energy toward the ocean, which almost makes the sea feel like a lifeline. It’s interesting because while he calls himself an outcast, the sea gives him a kind of belonging or purpose, even if it’s temporary. That duality, alienation on land but possibility at sea, feels like something Melville is already hinting at from the very first chapter.