Throughout our readings so far we have witnessed a relationship build between Ishmael and Queequeg. As they grow closer Ishmael accepts Queequeg for who he is and even starts thinking of Christianity through a new lens. However, in chapter 17 Queequeg is participating in Ramadan, he sits in the middle of the room holding Yojo on top of his head all day until sunrise the next morning. Ishmael tries to get him to stand, eat, and sleep but none of those things are important to Queequeg because he is practicing his religion. This is when we see Ishmael take a step back from his accepting behavior and begin to feel as though he must save Queequeg, “I have no objection to any person’s religion…But when a man’s religion becomes really frantic;… then I think it high time to take that individual aside and argue the point with him” (94). The inclusion of this chapter by Melville is extremely important as a way of demonstrating the truth behind the thought process of people during this time. Christianity was not seen only as a religion, but rather as almost a fact and universal truth. The showing of pure hypocrisy during this passage was definitely a smart choice by Melville. The passage starting off with Ishmael saying he does not judge but then he goes straight into judging was possibly a way for Melville to show him as an unreliable narrator at times? To Ishmael, his thought process makes complete sense, but to readers his ideas being completely hypocritical is obvious. 

Ishmael even decides he must have a conversation with Queequeg simply because he believed it was, “bad for health;useless for the soul” (94). This again demonstrates how much any religion that was not christianity was seen as completely far fetched and ridiculous. Ishmael feels like he needs to teach Queequeg and explain religion to him, when Queequeg has his own beliefs and has not tried to force them onto Ishmael. Melville is asking readers to have an open mind and realize that just because someone has different beliefs does not mean they are wrong or ridiculous for their way of living. 

Another quote from these pages that stuck out to me was, “he no doubt thought he knew a good deal more about the true religion than I did” (95). This part of the passage definitely supports everything that I have noted earlier in this blog. However, it also got me thinking about everything Melville could be using this passage to convey to readers. One thing that came to mind is that he might be showing that change isn’t linear. Ishmael’s ideas about religion are not just his own, the majority of the people during this time thought this way as well. Maybe this is a way for Melville to show that changing those ideas takes time and true effort? This is something I found extremely interesting and I will keep this idea in mind as we read more of the novel.