I've never read Moby Dick before, but, much like Dr. Wickman pointed out, it's always been on my radar because it's just one of those books everyone knows about. I'm actually really glad I've never picked it up before now, though, but I already see so much that I just would not have been able to appreciate before simply because being an English major for a year and a half has taught me so much about how to read and how to understand great literature. Thanks to my education, lines like "Ignorance is the parent of fear" (p. 19) and extended descriptions and musings on topics like whether our shadow is our true self and the body just a vehicle are so much more rich and intriguing simply because I have learned how to think literature as well as just read it.
Queequeg, and more, his relationship with Ishmael, fascinates me. It's so interesting how they can be such good friends, and still Ishmael off-handedly judges him at time for being a "pagan" and just dismisses his intelligence and/or his behavior as inferior. At the same time, though, I don't think Ishmael could or would become as fast of friends with anyone from his same religious/cultural background. So, ironically, the very thing that keep he and Queequeg forever at a kind of distance--their cultural and religious differences--is the very thing that excuses such a fast friendship. And this is all the more intriguing because this is often how it happens in our own lives. I remember making very fast and very strong friends on my mission for the LDS church in Argentina, yet always feeling a kind of insurmountable distance simply because of cultural differences. Melville plays with this phenomenon very precisely and it keeps me reading (despite the obvious and grueling lack of any plot whatsoever in these early pages).
I am fascinated by the relationship between Queequeg and Ishmael as well. I think that you have a more benign view of their friendship than I do. I think that the only reason that Ishmael befriends Queequeg is that he feels that he is so far above him he can condescend to be friends with the savage. I think that Queequeg does have some great qualities. However, I think that Ishmael is so focused on the strangeness of Queequeg that he doesn't really notice his strengths. Thus, I am a bit skeptical about how much of a friendship their relationship actually is.
ReplyDelete(Also, for the record, the deleted comment listed above was me trying to fix a typo. I didn't realize that it would show that a message had been deleted. :))
I think a lot of the talk of "heathen" and "pagan" is meant more so to be a critique of then contemporary views toward different races. Ishmael certainly does look down on Queequeg in some regards, but I feel like that is meant to be a reflection more so of the culture than of him as an individual.
ReplyDeleteI have loved thinking about this as well. Any time you start wanting to pat Ishmael on the back for being so accepting of someone from another culture, he starts thinking about Queequeg is inferior to him somehow (even by saying that it is impressive that he has managed to act so normally, being a heathen cannibal and all).
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you wrote about this because I found their initial meeting/friendship hilarious! I loved it. Ishmael certainly does seem to feel superior to Queequeg, and he seems to want to civilize Queequeg, at least in part. This is seen even in small comments such as on their first night, that Queequeg needs to be told not to smoke in bed because it's dangerous.
ReplyDelete"the very thing that keep he and Queequeg forever at a kind of distance--their cultural and religious differences--is the very thing that excuses such a fast friendship" -- Great insight. Also, I like how the theme of civilizing is coming up (thanks, Kelsey)
ReplyDelete