Tag Archives: Ishmael and Religion

Marley Arreola

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Moby Dick

Ch.17: Ramadan

An Awakening that Precedes Ishmael’s Christianity

“Heaven have mercy on us all–Presbyterians and Pagans alike–for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending” (pg. 90).

The above passage in Ch.17, titled “The Ramadan” displays a specific moment in time where Ishmael’ religious beliefs are slowly being questioned. From the moment he meets and becomes close to Queequeg, we see a gradual development in Ishmael’s character. For Ishmael, he grapples with his faith, and Queequeg as a character is a reference point for us to better define Ishmael. 

Ishmael, as a Christian, grew up thinking that his religion is superior. However, in this passage, there is no show of arrogant superiority. Instead, there is a display of the Christian “love thy neighbour”: “Heaven have mercy on us all–Presbyterians and Pagans alike…”. This is a shocking but still nice surprise to us, as Ishmael, having been with Queequeg for some time now, sees his Pagan counterpart as the caring, affectionate, and patient man that he is. He then goes on to say that “we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending.” The rest of this line is a clear and humble acknowledgement of both his and other people’s stubbornness and pride in their beliefs. This heady thought might come off as endearing, but there is still an underlying tone of the Christian man who was born a sinner and must work for the Lord’s forgiveness. 

This passage at the beginning of the chapter presents to us Ishmael’s honest effort to be open-minded to another’s religion, as we all gravitate towards different beliefs and ideologies. It is admirable for one man to be strong in his faith, but he will go crazy trying to persuade someone who doesn’t want to follow the same religion. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. The last half of the passage tells us that we all need some kind of help. Some kind of outward belief to make us better. This mustn’t be confused with strictly Christian faith as the only healer, but instead we must search for our own beliefs to find our own mending within them. 

It is crazy to think that a Christian is sharing a bed with a Pagan, but this worldly experience for Ishmael helps to gradually open his eyes beyond the Christian outlook, and in turn, we get some beautiful, introspective passages that clearly depict a development in our protagonist’s character. Queequeg is the mirror for Ishmael, and something inside of him begins to germinate (metaphorically and physically) as he interacts with Queequeg. The above passage is a result of spending time with Queequeg’s oxymoronic character: a tattooed, scruffy, Pagan cannibal. Beyond these labels, he is such a sweet person to Ishmael. Like it was mentioned above, Queequeg’s kind nature allows Ishmael to have these epiphanies about his religion, his feelings, and ultimately, a pure awakening of the soul. This is what it means to be human.

Queequeg’s Ramadan: A Still Ignorant Ishmael

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There is a lot that could be discussed in this week’s writing–as it is a big chunk–however, what I found important to note was Ishmael’s thoughts on this “alien” practice of Queequeg’s.

Traditionally. Ramadan is a focused act of fasting, prayer, and conscious acts of compassion towards others. What we see with Queequeg here though, is fasting and prayer as he sits on his hams in their cold and dark room–his wooden doll “Yojo” on top of his head. Ishmael is aware that Queequeg is practicing this in his room, and initially think of himself right to not disturb his comrade. Although, Ishmael becomes increasingly worried and anxious that maybe his comrade might have had a stroke or been overcome by apoplexy.

What I specifically want to point out is Ishmael’s conflicting ideology of religious practices, despite having “the greatest respect towards everybody’s religious obligations, never mind how comical, and could not find it in [his] heart to undervalue even a congregation of ants worshiping a toad-stool; or those other creatures in certain parts of our earth…bow down before a torso of a deceased landed proprietor…” On the whole, this chapter still presents somewhat of a condescending view towards “half-crazy” practices outside of Ishmael’s experience. On pg. 94, Ishmael is finally able to sit Queequeg down and express that “fasting makes the body cave in; hence the spirit caves in; and all thoughts born of a fast must necessarily be half-starved.” This shows me Ishmael’s still ignorant nature, and more importantly, maybe Melville’s dismissive nature towards practices outside Presbyterian Christianity (dismissive might be too of a strong word to use here).

Ishmael and Religion

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I would like to argue that Ishmael has become hypocritical in accepting religion as the book progresses. Ishmael states numerous times over, “I have no objection to any person’s religion…so long as that person does not kill or insult any other person, because that other person don’t believe it also” (94). With this, the reader would assume that as his and Queequeg’s relationship and bond progress over the course of the novel, Ishmael would become more accepting of the differences between his religion and others. But, directly following the quote above, Ishmael states, “But when a man’s religion becomes really frantic…makes this earth of ours an uncomfortable inn to lodge in; then I think it high time to take that individual aside and argue the point with him” (94).

All of this turmoil within Ishmael began because of Queequeg’s day of fasting – Ramadan. And because of Ishmael’s lack of understanding of how Queequeg goes about Ramadan (kneeling in silence for a day with no food), he chooses to argue with Queequeg and attempt to get him to stop (you could arguably call this a conversion of some sort, if not to Christianity, then away from his own religious practices). It is hypocritical to reiterate throughout the novel how we should remove certain prejudices from our ways of thinking, especially regarding different religions, and even more so concerning that Ishmael is letting his ignorance feed into his fear of losing Queequeg. One could argue that, based on ignorance and prejudice, the likelihood of losing Queequeg is even stronger by those means than by any other. The novel seemingly contradicts different comparable topics: comparing men as one thing alongside the complete opposite, or writing so that their speech does not reflect their internal monologue or thoughts.

I believe this to be hypocritical; while it could be seen as a reflection of Ishmael’s concern for Queequeg’s well-being, this moment in the novel directly reveals the boundaries between Ishmael’s radical openness towards different religious practices and the difference between mental/intellectual acceptance of these practices and Ishmael’s practical interaction with them.