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Moby Dick - February 2012
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS - May contain spoilers***The questions in this post address the entire book
1. Why does the novel's narrator begin his story with "Call me Ishmael"? (p. 3)
2. How does Ishmael's relationship to Queequeg change from the time they meet to the sailing of the Pequod?
3. Why does Melville include stage directions in some chapters (e.g., "The Quarter-Deck")?
4. Why does Ahab pursue Moby Dick so single-mindedly?
5. Why does Melville have Fedallah offer a prophesy that Ahab interprets in his favor, but which turns out otherwise? (p. 541-542)
6. Why does Starbuck decide against killing Ahab, despite believing that it is the only way to "survive to hug his wife and child again"? (p. 559) Why does Starbuck fail to convince Ahab to give up his pursuit of Moby Dick ("The Symphony")?
7. Why does Ahab offer the doubloon to the first member of the crew to spot Moby Dick?
8. Why does Ishmael digress from his story to meditate on the meaning of whiteness ("The Whiteness of the Whale")?
9. Why does Melville begin the novel by adhering to the conventions and limitations of a first-person narrator, but violate them later?
10. Why is Ishmael so concerned with past efforts to represent whales, in writing as well as other media, and the extent to which these efforts have succeeded or failed?
11. Why does Ishmael include in his story so many details about life and work aboard a whaling ship?
12. Does the novel support or undermine Ishmael's contention that "some certain significance lurks in all things, else all things are little worth"? (p. 470)
13. Why does the coffin prepared for Queequeg become Ishmael's life buoy once the Pequod sinks?
14. Who or what is primarily responsible for the destruction of the Pequod and, except for Ishmael, her crew?
15. Why does the Rachel rescue Ishmael?
16. How has his experience aboard the Pequod affected Ishmael?
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*** The following posts contain questions by chapter sections. So you are less likely to come upon a spoiler question.More discussion questions chapter 1-16
Reading Questions on Moby-Dick
(Page numbers refer to the Norton Critical Edition, Second Edition.)
1. What is the function of the extracts included prior to Chapter 1? What themes do they suggest for reading what follows? Why does Melville introduce the "pale consumptive usher" and the "poor devil of a sub-sub" librarian?
2. Why does the book begin with "Call me Ishmael"? What relationship to the reader does this introduction establish?
3. Explore the multiple meanings of "Loomings," the title of the first chapter. In what ways does the first chapter introduce the reader to key motifs that will resonate throughout the rest of the work? Think about these concepts, many of which will turn up later on:
* The "loom," weaving, and making mats.
* Imagery of lines, interconnectedness, community, and danger
* Water meditations and man's attraction to water
* Ishmael's curiosity about and tolerance for human motivation
* Ishmael as an actor in a drama not of his choosing; the stage as metaphor
* The white whale and foreshadowings of his presence
* Community and isolation; the "Isolato"; solitude
* The quest
* Interpretation, translation, and "reading" correctly
* Madness and monomania
* The nature of God and man
* Finding and losing the self (Narcissus)
* Irony, irreverence, obedience
* Parallels between land and sea
* Mechanical power (Ahab) versus (or as representing) the power of the natural world
* Traditional image of ship as both a factory and a microcosm of society--a "ship of fools"
* Civilization and "savagery"; cannibalism
* Biblical echoes and references: Jonah, Job, Ahab, Elijah, Ishmael, etc.
4. On p. 21 (ch. 1), Ismael asks, "Who aint [sic] a slave? Tell me that." How does his vision of obedience, power relationships, and the "universal thump" being "passed round" prepare the reader to understand Ahab?
5. What are the underlying values or attitudes Melville has attached to land and sea respectively in the first 16 chapters?
6. What's the significance of the picture that he finds at the Spouter Inn? What sort of fellowship does he find here? What sort of hospitality does Peter Coffin offer?
7. What is the function of the Whaleman's chapel sequence and the sermon? What is the message of Father Mapple's sermon? What is his text? How is it appropriate? In what ways does it reflect or refute the tenets of traditional Puritan ideology?
8. What is the nature of Ishmael's "heart's honeymoon" with Queequeg? What are we to understand by it? Why does he juxtapose the marriage with the recollection of his stepmother's punishment?
9. Why does Melville introduce Peleg and Bildad, and why does he make them Quakers? As you read further, compare this characterization of belief or religion with that displayed by other characters (Queequeg; Fedallah; Gabriel, the "Niskayuna Shaker; and so forth).
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amli...
Discussion questions for Chapters 17-361. What's the function of "The Lee Shore"? Why is this a memorial to Bulkington? In what ways does he serve as a foil for Ishmael? Why isn't his story told?
2. What function does Chapter 32, "Cetology," serve?
3. In what ways does Ishmael begin to establish a context of race and class in this section?
4. Interpret Stubb's dream.
5. In what ways does Ahab's entrance set the stage for what is to come? How does Melville create him as a larger-than-life figure? Why does he have an artifical leg of whalebone? With what mythic or historical figures is he associated? What does Melville's use of those figures establish about Ahab as a character?
6. This section introduces the first of the dramatic chapters in the novel (29, 36-40, 108, 119-22, 127, 129). Why does Melville temporarily abandon his use of first person in these sections? What function do they serve?
7. In what ways does Melville challenge or question American transcendentalism? See especially Chapter 35 ("The Mast-Head") and the first chapter of Emerson's Nature.
8. Why does Ahab throw away his pipe?
9. Starbuck, Stubb, and Flask, along with their "squires" Queequeg, Tashtego, and Daggoo, represent differing philosophies of life. What are those philosophies?
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amli...
Discussion questions Chapters 37-531. What reasons does Ahab give for seeking the White Whale? How rational or logical are they? How does he convince the crew? Do his stated reasons agree with those given in his soliloquy a chapter later?
2. Explain the ceremony in "The Quarter-Deck." What symbols does Ahab appropriate for his own purposes?
3. What is Ishmael's interpretation of the terror that Moby-Dick inspires?
4. By this point in the novel, Moby-Dick (the whale himself) has begun to be the subject of myth, legend, symbolism, and almost a kind of religious awe; he accumulates these as he accumulates harpoons. He strikes terror, yet he also represents beauty (155, ch.41)--two elements that Burke said were necessary for the sublime. Explore and explain the associations that Ishmael and others have toward the white whale.
5. What genre is Moby-Dick? Epic? Tragedy? Quest-Romance? Anatomy? Can you defend one of these more convincingly than another? Or is it all of them? Why does the point of view shift from first person to dramatic just after the communion scene?
6. Is Ahab crazy? Or is his monomania justifiable because of his experiences with Moby-Dick?
7. What purpose does the Egyptian theme serve here? For example, Ahab is said to have an "Egyptian chest" and several articles are said to have "hieroglyphics" inscribed upon them. How are we to read or interpret them?
8. What part do the root metaphors of earth, air, fire, water play here?
9. Ishmael interprets the activity of weaving a sword-mat as a commentary on "chance, free will, and necessity" (179, ch. 47). Are his observations borne out by what we've seen happening thus far?
10. Note the alliteration and poetic language on p. 192 (ch. 51, "The Spirit-Spout"). Is this another departure for Ishmael's narrative voice?
11. Note the instances of failed communication: the trumpet falling into the sea (195, ch. 52), the gam (198, ch. 53), and the moldy letter (254, ch. 71). How do these occurrences reflect on the themes of the book?
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amli...
Discussion questions Chapters 54-771. In what ways do the Town-Ho's story and the Jereboam's story reflect on the situation aboard the Pequod? What part does Moby-Dick play in this exchange? In what ways do the Dons' responses reflect on our own response to the larger work?
2. Chapter 58, "Brit," returns to the opposition between land and sea first seen in the first chapter of the book. How does this chapter relate not only to chapter 1 but to other chapters, such as "The Try-Works" and "The Mast-Head"?
3. Ishmael describes the "universal cannibalism of the sea" (225, ch. 58) and says "Cannibals? who is not a cannibal?" (242, ch. 65). Yet between these two descriptions Fleece gives a sermon to the sharks whose message is "govern the shark in you," a message that, to judge by the shark massacre, they fail to heed. In what way is the idea of cannibalism/savagery explored in this book? What cultural associations would it have had for sailors in Melville's time, especially given the circumstances surrounding the Essex? In what way does this (failed) sermon parallel Father Mapple's? How does it fit in with other instances of failed communication that we have discussed? What other associations with killing, cutting, and eating operate here?
4. When Stubb kills a whale, the line moves so fast around the loggerhead that blue smoke arises (231, ch. 61). In this set of chapters, Ishmael discourses on two differing and seemingly contradictory types of lines: the whale line ("All men live enveloped in whale-lines") (229, ch. 60) and the monkey-rope (255, ch. 72). Are these two images distinct? What do they suggest about the themes of community and isolation that occur elsewhere in the book? How does the ability to hold both in his mind (a kind of negative capability?) move Ishmael toward the revelations of a later chapter, "A Squeeze of the Hand"?
5. Ahab asks the whale's head to prophesy (249, ch. 70); in what other sections does the question of interpretation and prophecy become significant?
6. Ishmael concludes his "reading" of the hieroglyphs of the whale's skin with an admonition to live as the whale does: "Do thou, too, live in this world without being of it" (247, ch. 68). Compare this reading of the whale with other such readings of the whale's body parts: the head, eyes, and so forth.
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Discussion questions Chapters 78-971. What is the distinction between a "fast-fish" and a "loose-fish" (308, ch. 89)? In what ways does this distinction apply not only to whales but to the crew aboard the Pequod?
2. The chapters in this section rely frequently on sexual, obstetrical, and maternal images; "Cistern and Buckets," for example, tells of Tashtego's delivery from the head of the whale. In what ways do these concepts culminate in "A Squeeze of the Hand"?
3. The head of the whale, seen as embodying a mystery or set of undecipherable hieroglyphics in previous chapters, here becomes the site of great beauty yet great danger. Ishmael challenges the reader to "Read it if you can" (275, ch. 79). Can we?
4. The death of the old whale (p. 282, ch. 81) occurs before a sequence of historical chapters in which whaling is likened to elevated myths both classical (Perseus) and English (St. George and the Dragon). Comment on the juxtaposition of chapters here and justify the inclusion of the old whale's death scene. Could this be called sentimental?
5. "A Squeeze of the Hand" represents a turning point in Ishmael's quest. Examine how far he has traveled in his philosophy from the "I, Ishmael" who was "one of that crew" who vows to follow Ahab. What has he learned? How has he learned it? In what ways does this signal his rebirth?
6. Contrast Ishmael's pleasure in "A Squeeze of the Hand" with his dread of the same action (albeit "supernatural") in chapter 4.
7. How do the pictures of whales seen in this section differ from the "erroneous" pictures gathered previously? From what perspective are the whales viewed here? How does the experience of "The Grand Armada," with its peaceful inner circle and highly organized social order, change Ishmael's and our perspectives?
8. The encounters with two ships, the Jungfrau and the Rosebud, are filled with Ishmael's characteristic humor. What is his sense of humor, and how does it function in these chapters?
9. "The Try-Works" repeats some of the injunctions of "The Mast-Head," but this time the element involved (fire) is still more deadly. Explain Melville's ideas of enchantment, inversion, the confusion between false light and true. What is the "wisdom that is woe"? The "woe that is madness"? Does Ishmael negate or intensify the warning by his story of the Catskill eagle?
10. The necessity of but also the dangers of immersion--in fire, in water, in woe--unify these chapters. There is a sense in which man must be immersed (as we are in the information about whales) to comprehend but also a sense in which immersion can prove fatal--or, worse, can lead to insanity. In what ways is Pip's "wisdom" a culmination of these continuing ideas (321, ch. 93)?
Chapters 98-123
Discussion questions Chapters 98-1231. Chapter 99, "The Doubloon," addresses directly the questions of reading and interpretation raised in the book. How does each man interpret the doubloon? In what way does each interpretation epitomize or signify the character's personality? What are we to make of Pip's simple conjugation of the verb "look"? What does the chapter suggest about the possibility of multiple interpretations? about the possibility of interpreting Moby-Dick, the whale? and Moby-Dick, the book?
2. The gam with the Samuel Enderby, like those with the Jereboam and other ships, provides Ahab's crew and us as readers with an alternative to Ahab's actions. What is the captain's response to his own dismemberment by Moby-Dick?
3. "A Bower in the Arsacides" and the succeeding chapters give Ishmael the chance to measure the whale from a different perspective and to contemplate the paradox of life enfolding death/death caging life. What new information do these chapters provide?
4. Compare the section beginning "The weaver-god, he weaves" (345, ch. 102) with other meditations on looms, weaving, and understanding fate's workings.
5. "To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme" (349, ch. 104), says Ishmael before describing the fossil whale. Has Ishmael chosen a mighty theme? What is it--or perhaps more accurately, what are they?
6. What significance does Ahab's artificial leg have for the novel? Why does Melville make a point of having him splinter it at this point in the story? What does it mean that Ahab must depend upon the bone of a whale to stand upright as a human being? What is his colloquy with the carpenter designed to show about him? In what ways is the carpenter a foil for Ahab? How does this scene fit in with the book's exploration of interdependence? In what sense could you argue that Ahab is a "mechanical man"?
7. If in the previous section we saw Ishmael move toward a greater acceptance of the human community, in this section we see Ahab moving further away from it. Discuss this idea as it appears in chapters 111, 113, 114, and especially 118 ("The Quadrant").
8. This section sets up several elements that become critically important at the end of the novel: Queequeg's coffin, Starbuck's near-disobedience, Ahab's tempering of the lance in blood, and especially Fedallah's prophecy (377, ch. 117). What events can you predict based upon this degree of foreshadowing?
9. Why does Starbuck fail to act (388-389, ch. 123)?
10. In "The Candles," what is Ahab's response to the storm? In what ways does he manipulate the situation for his own benefit? Has he become a fire-worshipper?
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amli...
Discussion questions Chapters 124-1351. In what ways does Moby-Dick himself become the "weaver-god" here? How is the death of Ahab connected to the book's dualistic conception of lines and ropes, its metaphors of weaving, and its meditations on fate?
2. The idea of orphans also culminates in this section of the book, notably in the encounter with the Rachel but also in Ahab's and Starbuck's reflections on their families. In Ishmael's mind, is it possible for man to be other than an orphan? By what means would such a transformation be effected?
3. This section features a number of reversals, most notably that of the ship's needle. What other reversals occur here, and what is their purpose?
4. The relationship between Ahab and Starbuck, and also that between Pip and Ahab, deepens in this section. What kinds of changes does this signal in Ahab? Is there a point of no return past which Ahab cannot give up his quest?
5. Ahab asks, "Is Ahab, Ahab? Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm?" (406, ch. 132). Later, he says, "Ahab is forever Ahab" (418, ch. 134). Is he right to blame his own nature? Or is he merely evading the responsibility conferred by free will?
6. In what ways are the various portents and omens fulfilled in this section? What paradoxical events occur here?
7. Was the first picture of Moby-Dick what you expected? Why or why not? In what ways has his appearance been anticipated by other incidents and figures such as the squid (ch. 59)?
8. Why did Melville choose to save Ishmael instead of another member of the crew? In what way does his interpretive ability save him?
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amli...
Hello Everyone,I am planning on starting this book next week. Thank you Alias for all the disscussion questions. I am also debating on whether to buy a companion with this (one from NPR). I am hoping I have a little more time to read then the last few months. (My work is really picking up and taking my nights away!!).
I, too, hope to start next week. As it's a rereading for me, i have a sense of how much time i'll be immersed in some sections. Looking forward to this.deb
I am awed by the number of questions, scared too! :)Will try to join in but have lots on my plate currently...
This will be a re-read for me. It was a bit of a slog to get through 30 years ago, though I thought the language was amazingly beautiful. The questions have intrigued me enough that I want to give it a try.For an awesome blog by an artist who illustrated a page of the novel every day (with thanks to Ruth) click here:
http://everypageofmobydick.blogspot.c...
Elaine wrote: "Hello Everyone,I am planning on starting this book next week. Thank you Alias for all the disscussion questions. I am also debating on whether to buy a companion with this (one from NPR). I ..."
Depending on what you want, a lot of libraries have literary criticism and commentary databases available. For free.
Shay wrote: "Elaine wrote: "Hello Everyone,I am planning on starting this book next week. Thank you Alias for all the disscussion questions. I am also debating on whether to buy a companion with this (one..."
I am thinking of making a trip to the big NYC library and see what I can browse and find there on Moby Dick. I think it will be neat to have some reference books.
I'm going to try to join in this discussion too! Moby Dick is one of my favorites. (Also my sister bought me "Why Read Moby Dick" by Nathaniel Philbrick for Christmas...
Rosanne wrote: "I'm going to try to join in this discussion too! Moby Dick is one of my favorites. (Also my sister bought me "Why Read Moby Dick" by Nathaniel Philbrick for Christmas..."It's great to see others are interested in trying the book. It can be sloggy, as Bea pointed out, but it's worth the effort, imo. And thank you for the link to the drawings. It's not what i expected but appreciate them nonetheless. What an effort! And some are truly wonderful. Thanks.
Rosanne, elsewhere (when we first discussed reading this together) i mentioned that it was Nathaniel Philbrick's In The Heart Of The Sea: The Tragedy Of The Whaleship Essex which led me to want to reread the novel in the first place.
Elaine, i am envious of your trip to the Big NYC Library! Enjoy every minute. I look forward to reading about what you found.
deborah
Deborah, Hold your jealously....i think I will be bringing my three year old!!!UGH
I was looking through some papers that I had saved and serendipitously came across an article that I had filed away from October 28, 2001 from the NY Times.It's titled, Melville Has Never Looked Better. It's an essay by Andrew Delbanco.
SPOILER WARNING - Big plot spoiler in article !!!! Do not read the link if you do not want any spoilers
Here is the NY Times link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/28/boo...
Elaine wrote: "Deborah, Hold your jealously....i think I will be bringing my three year old!!!UGH"
Poor Elaine! Libraries are entirely different when a child is with you.
WARNING BELOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! A Warning about this article!!!!!!!!!Alias Reader wrote: "It's titled, Melville Has Never Looked Better. It's an essay by Andrew Delbanco.
Here is the NY Times link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/28/books/... ..."
Informative article but WARNING!!!! There is a BIG spoiler in there for Moby Dick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wouldn't like to know how the book turns out if this were my first reading, so want to warn anyone who is reading it for the first time & needs the "unknown outcome" motivation to continue.
deb
But it really is an informative article. I was most unaware of the fact that Melville didn't start out with Ahab as the Main Character. It seems such a natural. And so well presented. deb
That blog I wrote about has been made into a book, available for Kindle or in hard copy. When you put the pictures and the quotations together, it makes the whole story seem so intriguing and important that I can't wait. You can still see the whole thing on the internet for free through the above link.Be warned, this book contains only the one quotation from each page of the Signet edition and an illustration. It is not an illustrated version of the novel.
Moby-Dick in Pictures: One Drawing for Every Page
Madrano wrote: "WARNING BELOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! A Warning about this article!!!!!!!!!------------
Thanks, Deb. I amending my post to include the warning.
Alias, good idea, as mine would be after yours. Thanks.Bea, thank you for that clarification. Like many others, i suspect, i presumed it would be a sort of illustrated version.
Tania wrote: "I must confess:
...*Oh young immature self, you had no idea what you were missing out on.* ..."
I'm smiling in recognition, Tania. How i managed to graduate from high school is beyond me because i don't believe i ever read an assigned book there. I figured they could have my days (how else could i meet up with friends?) but i'd be darned if i would dedicate any post-school hours to studies. So, in addition to not reading books, i also didn't do homework.
Since then i've often wondered how my younger self would have felt about those novels, knowing that my older self sees them through old eyes, so to speak. At least i listened in class, so can recall some of the wider points made & discussed. Still, all i missed! *sigh*
deborah, sitting in the confessional with Tania
Moby Dick is one book I've always wanted to read but never got around to it. This is my first reading group experience so I expect I'll just be reading away and monitoring the discussion group as the time goes.. Thanks for the company, I'll enjoy the camaraderie as only my youngest daughter (13 yo) and I are genuine readers in my little family of 5.
Starting tonight. I did not clear my reading pallet...but oh well, its been the same book for the entire month and still 200 pages to go!!! On to Moby Dick!!!
Joie wrote: "Moby Dick is one book I've always wanted to read but never got around to it. This is my first reading group experience so I expect I'll just be reading away and monitoring the discussion group as ..."-------------
Welcome to Book Nook Cafe, Joie ! Thanks for joining our group. I hope you enjoy the group read experience.
Joie wrote: "Moby Dick is one book I've always wanted to read but never got around to it. This is my first reading group experience so I expect I'll just be reading away and monitoring the discussion group as ..."Joie, i hope you can contribute your thoughts as we read, too. Sometimes one person's confusion helps out others who think they understand. Or not! LOL!
deb
Chapter one started...I am on the right track. Not working tonight so I may acutally get some readinng done!!
Officially read to chapter three:The copy of Moby Dick I have I bought in college. It has amazing footnotes. I am not well versed in the Bible, especially the new testamnet, so I especially like the references to the Bible explained.
4. On p. 21 (ch. 1), Ismael asks, "Who aint [sic] a slave? Tell me that." How does his vision of obedience, power relationships, and the "universal thump" being "passed round" prepare the reader to understand Ahab?
THis question stood out to me. In the foot not it goes to explain that Melville was on the frontier of writing "American" English. AINT was written without the appostrophe.
However, I was thinkinkinng more of the question itself. Melville was an abolishonist, I was wondering if he was eluding into that here. That we are all slaves to making money.
Have now read/listened up to chapter 8 & I have to confess that hearing the language is making comprehending the book much easier. I struggled the first 3 chapters when I was just reading it but found when coupled with listening to the text, it came to life. Ishmael's "voice" became clearer & I can now appreciate Melville's brilliance. Can't wait til I get back to bed tonight to resuming listening/reading
I was struck with the modern American English in the novel, too. Sometimes, Ishmael almost sounds to me like a Yankee Huck Finn. I am thoroughly enjoying this read.
I keep making Ishmael's voice a pirate....I have to stop. Need to read another chapter tonight!
LOL, re. the pirate, Elaine. I'm up to Chapter 3 but i was immediately immersed in the book. If i knew Melville was on the frontier of writing "American" English, i didn't remember. Interesting fact to keep in mind, i think.My edition is an old Norton Critical one. I suspect there is a more updated version from them but since this one has notes from my first reading of the novel, i want to use it to compare what i liked the first go 'round.
The slave quote is one i noted the first time, too. I agree even more today but find the idea that it was suggested in the 19th century (& probably earlier, i'm just not familiar enough), is remarkable to me.
Joie, hearing the words sounds as though it might be a wonderful way to ease into the book. Getting the cadence "right" is one of my bigger problems when reading classics. (As well as reading novels from other countries, i'll add.)
deb
Finished Chapter 4 (this is serious headway as I am in a major reading slump)I feel as though I am in this book. I do not remember feeling this way the first time around.
The image of Queequeg is thrilling, especially with him jumping into the bed with Ishmael. I would have been afraid to catch him offgaurd as he did.
I look forward to the weekend to read more
Elaine, i know! One thing i like is the description of this sort of inn. Melville gives the reader of sense of the fear some must have had in sharing the very bed with a stranger. And who couldn't smile a the idea of waking up with Queequeg's arm on you? LOL!This morning one of my first thoughts was how long it is taking to get us on the water. Don't get me wrong, i like learning the details of this sort of life but i am surprised i'm through 7 chapters & still haven't "seen" the sea.
deb
"Call me Ishmael"What a way to start a story! It's almost as if he's chosen this name and willingly taken on all the bad luck that goes with it. Bad luck in Biblical proportions no less.
Why would he do that? There's nothing about him that's distasteful. From the first chapter, he has all our sympathy.
I don't think his mother named his Ishmael. I think it has something to do with choice. Oddly, the Biblical reference had so little to do with choice. For those without a Bible handy: Ishmael was the son of Abraham by the slave Hagar - little choice she had! Furthermore, Hagar is abused by Abraham's wife, Sarah (surprise, surprise...) and runs away into the wilderness (bad choice) And upon Ishmael is a prophecy which sounds suspiciously like a curse "he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him." Genesis 25:9-17 (no choice at all)
So why would he choose to be called Ishmael? OK, maybe it was a nickname that he couldn't escape, ha!ha! Still, it seems as if it was a conscious decision. As if Ishmael knows that the cards are stacked against him but is determined to take on anything the universe can dish out.
Anyway, I bet there are a lot of people out there that have never read the book but are familiar with this first line!
Isn't the narrator looking back at the events in the book? From his perspective at the the time he was telling the story, he likely had a very good reason for asking us to call him Ishmael. I never figured it was the sailor's name. He is maintaining anonymity.
Yes, I looked at "Call me Ishmael" as the narrator telling us that this is what he wished to be called. He did not say "I am Ishmael". I looked at the name as a name of bad luck. He is saying that I might as well have been called Ishmael.
Mohammed- yes, the prophet of Islam, traces his lineage from Ismael, through Hagar. After Abraham takes Ismael and Hagar to the desert and abandons them, Hagar runs through the desert between the hills of Safa and Marwah seven times. God produces water for them- I think the Muslims say from an angel's footprint- by bringing forth the Zamzam well. This is one of the things that Muslims do during the Hajj- the pilgrimage to Mecca. So, by asking to be called Ismael, he is saying that he is basically the ultimate "outsider".
Yes! That's a great point - the ultimate "outsider". I really feel there's a theme of alienation running through the whole book. Even to point that people are alienated from their best selves (after all, Melville pushes everything to it's limits :-)I like this take on it so much better than thinking of Ishmael as a "wild man with his hand against every man... and visa-versa!
Bea wrote: "Isn't the narrator looking back at the events in the book? From his perspective at the the time he was telling the story, he likely had a very good reason for asking us to call him Ishmael. I nev..."This is a point i intend to keep in mind with this reading of the book. The first time, i was there strictly for the story but i want to notice more now. And one is the fact he is writing as a survivor looking back at the events which led to this major voyage in his life. Who knows? meeting his bedmate at the inn might have just been an amusing story, told at a bar, without the subsequent shared voyage.
I hadn't earlier thought about the fact that the biblical Ishmael had no choice. He was just living the life given him. I'm going to keep that in mind as we progress, too.
deb
Good point, Bea! I've read further, up to the chapter where the men join Ahab's crew. Establishing the friendship between Ishmael and Queequeg has been interesting, including descriptions of the foreigner as Pagan. It begs more questions than are yet given. For instance, why was he at the church?
And what about that church scene? Readers today may be grateful for the retelling of the biblical Jonah tale (because many of us are unfamiliar with anything except the image of J in the whale) but did that seem like a redundant chapter to readers in Melville's time?
Is there too much foreshadowing going on? What is too much? Frankly, i cut Ishmael some slack because he may well be noticing many as he narrates the story. How much was real and does it matter? By that i mean, perhaps the framed art at the Spouter Inn wasn't really as he described but he now senses it may have been warnings to him. Again, does that matter?
Does it heighten the suspense? For me, i'm grateful for such details. As a high school student reading the book, i suspect i wouldn't.
deborah
I'm loving all the detail this time around. I think why it seemed such a slog before is because I was expecting a sea adventure novel, along the lines of the movies made from the book.This time, I'm looking at the sea adventure as a framework for a novel that is actually about a whole lot of things, primarily the human condition. I'm only to chapter 8 but there's so much about true and false religion, work, fate, money, just about everything. It's just so rich.
According to this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dic... - it received very poor notices at publication. I can understand why.
The book that this is reminding me most of at the moment is James Joyce's Ulysses. It's not as cryptic or difficult, but it is just about as dense in its own way. I'm sure that every word and description was very carefully chosen by the author.
Madrano wrote: "And what about that church scene? Readers today may be grateful for the retelling of the biblical Jonah tale (because many of us are unfamiliar with anything except the image of J in the whale) but did that seem like a redundant chapter to readers in Melville's time ..."I was thinking of this when I was reading it. I am so greatful to this since I am not familiar with the bible. However this was probably long winded to read if you are already familiar with the story of Jonah. It makese me want to find this passage to see if it is told differently in Mevilles point of view.
I found this passage in Chapter 7 interesting about Death:
"But what then? Methinks we have hugely mistaken this matter of Life and Death. Methinks that what they call my shadow here on earthis my tru substance. Methinks that in looking at things spiritual, we are too much like oysters observinng th sun though water ..."
I loved this imagery. Almost like we are in living in a mist...I underlined this passage and read it aloud.
Chapter 10The Bosom Friends, I thought this was an interesting passage and I want to mention the note in the book. Ishmael writes that "I was a good Christian". I instantly noted the past tense. He goes on to discuss that he participates in the Idol worshipping. Then you are reminded that Quequeg was in Church with him earlier (which I almost forgot).
In the foot note of my book on this passage I thought this was very interesting:
"Ishmael's questions are blasphemous, according to Exodus 20.3-5: Thou Shalt have no other gods before me.....With his first book, Typee (1846), in which he criticized missionaries in the SOuth Seas for all bu enslaving their converts, Melville had stirred up the wrath of Presbterians and other evagalistic Protestants. One of the harshest attacks on Typee appeared in the Presbyterian New York Evangelist. As Melville might have forseen, this passage in Moby DIck, infuriated many reviewers....More than any other single factor, melville's defiance of the repigious press cost him his career as a writer"
I wanted to add this foot note in. This was more then just a story about a voyage and a whale. I think when I first read it, I could not see this. I was way to young.
Di wrote: "There is an interesting connection to Melville in The Art of Fielding.The Art of Fielding
"Di, just reading the characters names could lead one to some MD connections, particularly "Starblind". Have you read the book? Did you like it?
deb
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Books mentioned in this topic
An Account of the Arctic Regions: With a History and Description of the Northern Whale-Fishery (other topics)The Art of Fielding (other topics)
The Art of Fielding (other topics)
Ulysses (other topics)
Moby-Dick in Pictures: One Drawing for Every Page (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
William Scoresby (other topics)Nathaniel Philbrick (other topics)
Herman Melville (other topics)
Book:
Author:
Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick
When: Discussion will begin around February 1, 2012. You don't have to finish the book by this date, just begin reading it by that date.
Where: The entire discussion will take place in this thread.
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Book Details:
# Paperback: 672 pages
# Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); 150 Anv edition (September 4, 2001)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0142000086
Synopsis:
Moby-Dick;' or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered to be one of the Great American Novels and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab. Ishmael soon learns that Ahab has one purpose on this voyage: to seek out a specific whale—Moby Dick, a ferocious, enigmatic white sperm whale. In a previous encounter, the whale destroyed Ahab's boat and bit off his leg, which now drives Ahab to take revenge.
Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Moby-Dick-Whale...