In Chapter Three, “The Spouter-Inn”, Ishmael encounters this large painting when he first steps into Spouter-Inn. “On one side hung a very large oil-painting so thoroughly besmoked, and very defaced, it was only by diligent study and a series of systematic visits to it, and careful inquiry of the neighbors, that you could any way arrive at an understanding of its purpose.” (Melville 13)  He sits and observes it, leaves the painting, goes into his room, with the painting still on his mind, and comes back to the painting with a whole new perspective. As we readers see, Ishmael’s reading of the painting represents a mode of interpreting the canvas, a demonstration of how we read; Melville suggests that the audience do the same with the book. 

With this passage, Melville teaches us the importance of reading. As we are actively reading this book, we stop and read other markings throughout the book, such as the painting. Not only are the readers reading the literal text, but we are also reading landmarks that are being described throughout this book. We encounter this painting at the beginning of the book, a painting that is hung up for all to see. However, as we can see, the painting has been up for years, with neighbors passing by multiple times a day, and yet it remains overlooked and deemed unimportant. “It was only by diligent study and a series of systematic visits to it.” Only by showing care for the painting and making multiple visits to it, a new meaning come. The painting suggests to readers that it is a comparison to the book; only through careful studying of the painting can it bring a new outlook to the reader about the book. Studying is reading; the diligent study is to read your surroundings, think about the reading of what you’re observing, and repeat this process, a series of visits to this study. Just like the painting, the book is up for show, for years, for all to come and see, over and over again. Melville doesn’t want you to pick up the book, read it all in one go, and then never touch it again; he is suggesting to us to make multiple visits to the book and take diligent study of the book. He suggests we talk to our neighbors about what they see in and from the book, go back to the book just as Ishmael does with the painting.
This passage is giving the reader a picture in their head; it’s presenting this painting to us as if we are Ishmael, we are Ishmael’s eyes. Now that we have this painting that is in our head, we are trying to figure out what the besmoke and deface looks like. The passage tells us to inquire with our neighbors, and then we can come to some understanding of what the painting might mean. To come to an understanding of the painting, one needs to read said painting; you can’t come to any type of understanding without reading. This passage suggests that we have to paint this canvas in our head and make multiple visits to it, then maybe we can get an understanding of the painting. Melville is telling us how important it is to read and hold onto those first impressions, so then we come back to the book, the passages, and we, the readers, get to compare and contrast first impressions to what we see now. This is a crucial element of reading Moby Dick. 

This passage is essential because it starts the story. This passage shows the reader how and why it’s important to read and re-read. The things that can be displayed on a huge canvas are so often overlooked, like the painting in The Spouter-Inn, but if you take the time to sit and look, leave to your room, sleep, and make your rounds to it, then you can start to read the painting. It’s to read and then come back and re-read the passage, the painting, and the book.  “On one side hung a very large oil-painting so thoroughly besmoked, and very defaced.” We see Ishmael start to read this painting, getting an understanding of the canvas, the smudge, and the smoke that is on the painting. Then “it was only by diligent study and a series of systematic visits to it, and careful inquiry of the neighbors, that you could any way arrive at an understanding of its purpose.” Now we have Melville telling us to revisit the painting and take a careful study of it. The painting is the book; we must have that first initial reading of the book, revisit the book, and make careful observations of the revisit. 

Most people view Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” as a monumental work that shines in the literary world, often regarded as the great American novel, yet overlooked and deemed boring. The thing about this idea of the book is amusing because, despite all the negative theories about the big book, it remains a book that everyone knows now, not just in the past, but also in the present day, over the years. This book is the painting that Ishmael sees in “The Spouter Inn”, something so big and mysterious, hard to look away, but you manage to overlook it anyway. But when you take the time to sit with the idea of it and come back to it, then you can get a deeper understanding of what you’re looking at. You get to love the smoke and smudge on the painting the same way Ishmael does. Melville urges his readers to view his great American novel the same as a painting; this book is hanging up with a light on it, and this book has been hung up for the public for centuries. Over time, Moby Dick has collected the dust, the smoke, the scrapes; the book is defaced just like the painting. As said, only by diligent study and systematic visits to the book can you find somewhat of some understanding of it. This book is rough and beat up, but Melville wants us to come back to the text; he tells us in this passage.