Tag Archives: Week 7

Ishmael and Religion

Posted on by
1

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.

Captain Ahab through Captain Peleg and Bildad’s perspectives.

Posted on by
2

The reason why Ishmael was full of thoughts about Captain Ahab was because the mysteriousness oozing off of Captain Ahab attracts him. At the end of chapter 16, Ishmael was thinking about Captain Ahab after listening to the perspective of his other captains. He thought: “As I walked away…what had been incidentally revealed to me of Captain Ahab, filled me with a certain vagueness and painfulness concerning him. And somehow, at the same time, I felt sympathy and a sorrow for him, but for I don’t know what, unless it was the cruel loss of his leg. And yet I also felt a strange awe of him, but that sort of awe, which I cannot at all describe, was not exactly awe; I do not know what it was. But I felt it…Though I felt impatience at what seemed like a mystery in him, so imperfectly as he was known to me then.” (Melville 89). This feeling that Ishmael is having is probably not the first time he has ever felt because he had the same curiosity towards Queequeg, and it attracts him to it. In this case, the mysteriousness and vagueness that Captain Ahab gives spike Ishmael’s curiosity. We all know that for the first couple of chapters, Ishmael was keenly reading the room, the background, and its people. Everything that he read, he analyzed to the fullest. I believe that Melville purposefully locked us in Ishmael’s perspective mainly because Melville also wants us to read people’s movements, but through Ishmael. It almost felt like we were Ishmael himself trying to figure out everything that we encountered. The reason why Ishamel was attracted to Captain Ahab’s mysteriousness was because he had not seen Captain Ahab yet and was listening to other captains’ perspectives. Ishmael felt sympathy, sorrow, and awe for Captain Ahab, but at the same time, he was not sure about it, which tells us readers that he does not hand-on know who Captain Ahab really is, and therefore, Ishmael’s thoughts and feelings were not a hundred percent accurate. This is why Ishamel’s thoughts head in different directions while he kept thinking about Captain Ahab. In a way, I really like how we are forced to read people through Ishmael’s perspective because we are also attracted by it, and it makes us ponder the possibilities that this novel offers, and it prompts us to read more about it. Such a fascinating way to write a novel.

Chapter 13: People Watching Back in the 1860s

Posted on by
2

When I was reading the beginning of chapter 13, this line which Ishmael blessed us with made me curious. “As we were going along the people stared; not at Queequeg so much – for they were used to seeing cannibals like him in the street, – but at seeing him and me upon such confidential terms. But we heeded them not, going along, wheeling the barrel by turns,…” pg. 64. What could this mean for both men and how people view them both?

Was it so common in the US, during the 1830s or 40s, to see cannibals roaming the town streets? Were they minding their own business or were they sceaming and wanting to find their next victim to eat. The fact that the towns people were going about their days as normal seeing Queequeg if he was by himself strolling down the street. But then when both Ishmael and Queequeg were walking together down the road they stared and were most likely concerned for why Ishmael was with this cannibal.

Were cannibals known to be sole survivors of themselves and were not typically seen with other people or was it the fact that Ishmael was a normal looking man with this savage creature that was Queequeg. Were the people of the town racially profiling both men or were they just being cautious and wanting to make sure that Ishmael doesn’t end up being the next name in the obituary paper. From the time period which the book takes place I can see how this challeneged the norms of that time, especially seeing two men who are distincively different together like this.

Maybe people of the town had seen them both many times before walking around together or even eating together. The fact that they also shared a room at the inn would be skeptical too but both Ishmael and Queequeg just kept going through the streets of the town not caring what others might have been thinking of them. Their dynamic was not common and how close they had gotten so close, sleeping in the same bed and even Ishmael calling them “married” at one point. They have shared many moments together so far throughout the story and I wonder how thier dyamic will either stay the same or even change while being aboard the Pequod.

Chapter 6: The Dull Puritanic Sands of New Bedford

Posted on by
1

As I was closing out reading chapter 6, I came across the last paragraph, which stood out to me reguarding the land where Ishmael currently resides in New Bedford, Massachusetts, as well as those who inhabit the native land. As Melville is describing the streets of the town and more, he then addresses the people who reside there.

“And the women of New Bedford, they bloom like their own red roses. But roses only bloom in summer; whereas the fine carnation of their cheeks is perennial as sunlight in their seventh heavens. Elsewhere match that bloom of theirs, ye cannot, save in Salem, where they tell me, the young girls breathe such musk, their sailor sweethearts smell them miles offshore, as though they were drawing nigh the odorous Moluccas instead of the Puritanic sands.”

Reading this, I picture what Melville was making us imagine with these metaphors and similes and actual places reguarding where the story takes place, New Bedford, and what the people of that land must crave more of. The women who want their men to come back from sea might have been the only sweet thing to come home to in their dull and dreary hometown in Massachusetts. He describes the women as being sweet like the spices that could be found on the islands that are called Moluccas, “The Spice Islands”, and that was their main motivation to sail back to their native land. The people there must crave a new and more interesting land as they keep going back to what they are used to in their hometown. The Islands of Moluccas were known for colonization, as the land was fruitful for many spices and the variety of animals, and more, which were plentiful there. Many countries fought for control over the land once they realized how abundant a lot of spices and other exports were, which they could make a living off of. The women who had to stay back in their musky, most likely not the most pleasant town, drew their sailor men back to them.

Overall, I can see how this can be taken as they crave and would like a sweeter place to live rather than the basic old town where they currently live.