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. Through Ishmael’s use of condescending and hypocritical language, Melville uses Ishmael as a vessel to push forward a powerful critique of hypocrisy within 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 others 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 aspects of conditional acceptance from christianity.
The idea of Ishmael’s acceptance of Queequeg being conditional rather than a genuine result of their relationship is supported by scholar William Heath in his article “Melville’s Search for the Primitive”. Within Heath’s article he speaks on the collapse of Ishmael’s tolerance once he witnesses Queequeg’s religion no longer align with what he views as the correct way to demonstrate one’s devotion. Heath states, “Ishmael…loses his tolerance for Quequeg’s Yojo worship only at the point where he feels it is becoming fanatical… these interchanges between Ishmael and Queequeg dramatize the trajectory of culture shock, that is, learning to grow through an interaction with the radical other” (Heath 318-319). Heath’s observation further expresses Melville’s use of Ishmael to critique hypocrisy within Christianity. Even with Ishmael stating he has “no objection to any person’s religion” his language quickly changes once he does not believe Queequeg’s religion seems correct by his, and therefore Christian standards. When Melville decides to have Ishmael label Queequeg’s practices as “torment”, “frantic”, and “uncomfortable”, he is revealing that Ishmael’s acceptance only exists within the boundaries that he believes to be correct or reasonable. Melville critiques the hypocrisy within Christianity by highlighting how Ishmael imposes his own standards of religion onto Queequeg, presenting as someone open minded and being truthful about those ideas are completely different things that Ishmael has yet to understand. Heath brings an interesting point around the need to grow through interactions with the “radical other”, however Ishmael does not learn a new form of openness from this conversation he instead goes on to explain to Queequeg why he believes him to be wrong.
Within the following page, Ishmael’s hypocrisy continues as he explains his point of view with more condescending and hypocritical language right after having a conversation with Queenqueg about his religious ways. Ishmael states, “he somehow seemed dull of hearing on that important subject, unless considered from his own point of view… he no doubt thought he knew a good deal more about the true religion than I did” (Melville 95). This passage has endless layers that Melville used to push the readers towards this call out of hypocrisy within Christian ideas. Within this passage Ishmael is shown being irritated by Queequeg’s actions during their conversation, but doing the exact same thing as him. Melville constantly uses the word “he” within this passage instead of calling out Queequeg directly. This small choice demonstrates that Ishmael is projecting all of his own thoughts onto his friend. The notions that he finds to be irritating are all things that he himself is doing. With the constant use of the word “he” Melville shows the refusal to see the work that needs to be done within Ishmael and the superiority he feels over Queequeg based on his own ideas.
After their conversation, Ishmael feels Queequeg did not listen to him regarding his “important subject, unless considered from his point of view” (95), this wording again shows Ishmael’s hypocritical tendencies. Queequeg is more than happy after Ramadan and never asks for Ishmael’s opinion on the matter, however Ishmael says that Queegeug will not listen due to his own point of view and claims that he only considers things from his perspective. Queequeg never wanted an unsolicited opinion on his religion and Ishmael’s need to point out this distaste without any self awareness shows that he is the one who can not consider things from another’s point of view.
Following that statement Ishmael also explains his belief that Queequeg “ no doubt thought he knew a good deal more about the true religion than I did” (95). Ishmael explains that his conversation with Queequeg did not go as he planned and with this being his take away from their conversation it is obvious why. This is another prime example of Ishmael having a problem with something others are doing, then doing the same things himself. Constantly we see him pointing out what he views as flaws in Queequeg religion. Ishmael spends time dissecting Queequeg’s practice and goes so far as to feel the need to pull him aside and have a conversation about what he views as wrong. However, when Queequeg did not want to hear about the ideas Ishmael has regarding his religion, Ishmael turns this into a negative and judges him off of something Ishmael has been doing this entire time.
Within the article “Chaucerian Humor in Moby-Dick: Queequeg’s ‘Ramadan’” by James Duban and Solomon Sallfors Ishmael’s hypocrisy and condescension are shown. Duban and Sallfors point out that Ishmael and other figures like him, “would typically be rational, educated thinkers, open to diverse perspectives and unencumbered by dogma… be condescending toward persons who are traditional or religious” (Duban and Sallfors 75). Ishmael constantly puts himself in this position of power and as a voice of reason. Ishmael labels Queequeg’s devotion as being too excessive when he calls it “frantic” and a ”torment”, this language supports an irrationally and someone that is far from open to diverse cultures. Duban and Sallfors explain that narrators like this “parodically resemble proponents of scientific or scholastic learning” (Duban and Sallfors 75), Melville shows this by exposing the ways Ishmael claims to have an openness for others, but can not get past his idea of moral superiority that was instilled in him. Ishmael believes himself to have the answers when it comes to religious practices and has this need to make sure Queequeg does not go down a path Ishmael wouldn’t be able to handle. By highlighting how Ishmael puts his own standards on Queequeg while claiming he has an openness, Melville uses Ishmael as a vessel to expose the hypocrisy within Christianity. Showing that what can often be shown as acceptance can easily collapse into a judgment when beliefs that do not conform to Christian standards are involved.
Duban, James, and Solomon Sallfors . “Chaucerian Humor in Moby-Dick: Queequeg’s ‘Ramadan.’” Leviathan: A Journal of Melville Studies, vol. 5, no. 2, Oct. 2003, pp. 73–77
Heath, William. “Melville’s Search for the Primitive.” Dialectical Anthropology, vol. 3, no. 4, Nov. 1978, pp. 315-329