Near the end of chapter 17 titled “The Ramadan”, Ishmael takes a large step back from his accepting behavior and falls into his judgmental ways once again. Within this chapter, Queequeg participates in Ramadan, throughout the duration of Ramadan, Ishmael tries many things to get Queequeg to quit. However, once the sun rises, so does Ishmael’s hypocrisy. Through Ishmael’s use of condescending and hypocritical language, Melville uses Ishmael as a vessel to push forward a critique of Christianity.
The struggle of acceptance is prominent in Ishmael throughout the novel, however these pages push further into Melville’s use of language to drive this critique of Christianity. Ishmael begins his thoughts with “I have no objection to any person’s religion” (94). But he then follows that with “so long as that person does not kill or insult any other person, because that other person don’t believe it also” (94). Melville begins Ishmael’s thoughts with a strong declaration of “no objection”, these words are phrased confidently and imply that he is accepting of all religions. The main focus is on the word “no” here, because that would mean that nothing, no matter how different, could make Ishmael object to another religion. Melville creates this moment of open-mindedness to set a reasonable tone to begin this passage, which then makes Ishmael’s condescension even more striking. Directly after his first claim, he follows up with a complete contradiction, stating “so long as” (94). This makes Ishmael’s first claim useless, as this shows that he will be open-minded and respectful of another person’s religion, but only if it follows the guidelines to what he believes to be mortal and right. For Melville, Ishmael is the representation of Christianity here and when the phrase “So long as” is shared it decides that there are conditions and limits to Christian acceptance. This moment also puts Ishmael in the position of someone who gets to decide what is acceptable within a religion. With this small phrase Melville highlights Christians ideas that will claim they are inviting of all religions, until they encounter one that does not fit into their worldview. While he also pushes how comfortable they are with the idea that they get to make decisions that are seen as the only correct way. Within these words the idea of acceptance completely collapses into judgment, revealing how Melville uses Ishmael and his contradictory language to critique Christianity.
As Ishmael begins his attempt to put conditions on his acceptance of religion, his hypocritical and condescending language becomes even more obvious, as he says, “that person does not kill or insult any other person, because that other person don’t believe it also. But when a man’s religion becomes really frantic” (Melville 94). The use of the word “kill” here introduces Ishmael taking his thoughts to the extreme. By using this dramatic term, Ishmael is imagining the worst of others and puts out this idea of non Christian religions being dangerous. This word holds importance in Melville’s critique because it shows Ishmael, the representation of Christianity, being falsely accepting of other religions and casting his own biases onto those that he does not understand. Within these lines, the word “But” is the turning point that drives Ishmael’s hypocrisy completely over the edge. With this word alone, Melville is telling us that everything before it is unstable and now holds little to no meaning. When Ishmael says “But” it becomes apparent that he never meant his original claim of “no objection” and that he has completely hypocritical thoughts, as well as a feeling of superiority over the idea that he gets the right to judge for the simple reason that this is not something he would have done. Through this single word Melville, shows how quickly Ishmael’s accepting words fall into condescension that perfectly demonstrates the novel’s critique of Christianity.
The final part of this passage is where Ishmael’s true thoughts are completely released and the condescending language is the most prominent, “But when a man’s religion becomes really frantic; when it is a positive torment to him: and, in fine, makes this earth of ours an uncomfortable inn to lodge in: this I think it high time to take that individual aside and argue the point with him” (94). The line right before has Ishmael saying that he does not object to another’s religion and that one of the only reasons he would is if they were to insult someone else for the simple reason of not believing the same thing. With this Melville highlights Ishmael’s hypocritical nature, as he does exactly what he says should not be done by insulting Queequeg’s religion. The words “really frantic” are powerful in showing that right after he expresses that one should not judge another’s religion for the sole reason of not having the same beliefs, Ishmael describes Queequeg’s religion with a word that means wild, extreme, and uncontrolled. Through Ishmael’s words, Melville critiques the ways that Christianity can be seen imposing their own standards and actions on others while claiming that they are accepting of everything. As he continues Ishmael reflects on Ramadan as a “torment”, with this he is describing Queequeg’s devotion to his religion as something that is too extreme and punishing. With the use of this word, Ishmael creates his own reality where Queequeg’s faith is excessive and irrational, even though his friend was extremely happy after he had completed Ramadan. This word choice by Melville perfectly illustrates Ishmael’s hypocrisy and condescension by having him heavily criticize something that he earlier claimed to have “no objection” towards. By saying that Queequeg’s devotion to his religion is a “torment”, he is placing himself higher above Queequeg and giving himself the entitlement to judge something that he does not understand. Another phrase in this passage that holds such a powerful showing of Ishmael’s hypocrisy is, “makes this earth of ours an uncomfortable” (94). When reflecting on the words he uses together, the hypocrisy is extremely evident, the word “ours” implies that this earth is for everyone and once again brings up the feeling of acceptance for everyone. However he once again shows this idea that he has a superior idea of what is correct when he uses the word “uncomfortable”. Who would find this practice to be uncomfortable? The people of “our” earth? While that could not be true because that statement extends to many people that are also devoted to Ramadan and other religious practices. The practice of other religions here does not “makes this earth of ours an uncomfortable” (94) place to be, it feels that way to Ishmael because his religion has been seen as superior and he stands in the belief that his standards are correct. Melville uses Ishmael’s condescending language to demonstrate this idea of a conditional acceptance from Christianity.
In this passage, Melville shows how quickly Ishmael’s words of acceptance turn into judgment. The use of Ishmael’s language reveals that he is not truly open-minded, but that he believes he has the right to decide what is seen as wrong and right in someone else’s religion. Through Ishmael’s hypocritical and condescending language in this passage, Melville is able to push forward his critique of Christianity.