Queequeg

Posted on January 8, 2010 by | 2 Comments

Any thoughts on this character? In chapter 17

when he sits for “upwards of eight or ten hours,

going too without his regular meals” in his

“Ramadan” worship….amazing!

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2 Responses to Queequeg

  1. jbsfan | January 9, 2010 at 4:57 pm |

    I was captured by this: “…yet see how elastic our stiff prejudices grow when love once comes to bend them…I was only alive to the condensed confidential comfortableness of sharing a pipe and a blanket with a real friend.” Queequeg is the very different and frightening Other who has so much to teach Ishmael (and us). Ishmael learns that Queequeg is not a savage but, rather, devout in following his faith. And Queequeg is a faithful friend, more “Christian” in his faithfulness than Christians Ishmael has known.

  2. ericareynolds1020 | January 10, 2010 at 1:15 pm |

    Yes–that’s a great quote.

    I’m always a little curious about how much Melville is writing from his heart, how much is artistic clay-molding/character-building, and how much he is teasing the reader or prodding at 19th century assumptions. Queequeg is surely the most noble and only royal character in the book (isn’t he the only true royal?), but the way he is described by Ishmael, he’s the embodiment of the stereotypical noble savage, that I’m pretty sure most if not all of Ishmael’s thoughts about Queequeg are completely in character for Ishmael (who, we can be pretty sure is not really named Ishmael). Our buddy Ish is a great guy, to be sure, but just like all of us has his flaws, and while he gradually, hilariously comes to know and love Queequeg, much of his observations about Queequeg’s noble savageness definitely belie Ishmael’s background and culture. That said, Ishmael is a great observer, and once he puts his prejudges aside, I think Queequeg’s greatness as a person–regardless of stereotypes–shines through.