NCHS AP English Language

Daryan Green/Mark Francis Chap. 3 Analysis

In chapter 3, one of the first things which Ishmael encounters is an old painting. The painting's age only adds to its obscurity, and finally, after much deliberation, Ishmael concludes its main subject is probably either a fish (the leviathan) or a ship on which a whale is "impaling himself" . This is an interesting conclusion because it suggests a similarity between two apparently distinct objects, objects which in Ishmael's buisness, whaling, share nothing in common except the desire to kill the other before it kills you. Despite the fact that Ishmael himself is a whaler, he can't distinguish whether the paintng's subject is a ship, or a whale, both of which Ishmael would have seen many times before in his whaling career. The obvious question upon learning this information, is why? Why can't Ishmael distinguish between the whale and ship. The answer, in its literal sense, is that the painting has been "thoroughly besmoked, and every way defaced". This might possibly suggest that just as the painting is so obscure from years of mistreatment, and therfore can no longer distinguish btw. whale or ship, so a sailer, such as Ismael (whose very name means outcast), through years of rejection from society, might see a whale, who most people would view as a danger, similar to outcasts such as himself.
Another new object, or rather charcter found in chapter three is Queeqeg. Queeqeg is a "pagan" harpooner who collects heads and at first seems mean and most likely extremely dangerous. However, Queeqeg is in many ways similar to the painting. Just as a whaling ship and a whale appear to me enemies to most people who aren't whalers and don't understand thier relationship, Ishmael views Queeqeg as a dangerous enemy, as seen through his narrative. Queeqeg raveals that he believes Ishmael to be a danger by keeping his tomahawk by his side during the night. In the morning however, Ishmael says that he Queeqeg is very civilized and polite (though he still refers to him as a savage). Throughout chapter 3, we see the reuccruing theme of likeness dispite seeming opposition.

-http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/moby/section3.html

posted by Mark Francis @ 5:02 PM