NCHS AP English Language

Ch. 10 Melting and Queequeg

"I had a melting in me" could possibly mean that his presumptions about the savageness of Queequeg melted or dissolved. Ishmael made rash judgments about the cannibal, and he discovers later that his judgments were misguided. Queequeg appears savage, rough, and mean but in reality he is pious, courteous, and now a friend of Ishmael. After discovering Queequeg's true nature, Ishmael claims that "the savage redeems it [the world]." Ishmael's previous assumptions about the way the world is and the way Presbyterian society taught him to accept is not always right.
This new bond, or "marriage", tells Ishmael that everything he believed in before meeting Queequeg doesn't have to be true. This marriage just means that they understand each other and can accept each other now. From this marriage, Ishmael can now accept that not everything is the way he initially perceived it. Ishmael initially perceived Queequeg as the opposite of how he truly is. The very person that Ishmael's society once shunned is now revealing to him how that society was misguided.
Ishmael is "redeemed" both ironically and oxymoronically by a pagan because of all the reasons stated above. Ishmael now has a new view of people in a new light. He now takes it with a grain of salt. This seems ironic and oxymoronic because normally the word "redeemed" is associated with Christianity and not paganism. It almost seems that one can't be redeemed by a pagan because that isn't possible. Obviously this is not true because Queequeg has caused a profound change in the way Ishmael thinks.


Written by: Caroline Ward and Amy Coates- B period

posted by Caroline Ward @ 2:04 PM