NCHS AP English Language

Coffin - Patrick Colllins

During the novel Queequeg becomes angry because he feels that there is no god on the Pequod. He stops taking orders from Ahab and drops into a period of excessive meditation. He burns his little black statue and becomes sick. He insists that a coffin is made and fitted for him because he knows he will die. Lightning then strikes and he realizes that he must continue to follow Ahab no matter how crazy he is. He then has no use for his coffin. His coffin finds a use when a crew member falls overboard and drowns due to a faulty floatation device. The crew decides to use his coffin as a replacement. At the end of the book when the Peqoud sinks (goes to hell) a vortex brings Queequegs coffin to the surface where Ishmael has survived. He floats on the device before he is ultimately rescued. The coffin sybolizes both life and death. When Queequeg is ill and sure he is going to die he builds it for the purpose of death, but when he is better he uses it to store his belongings and as a floatation device, which are both symbols of life.

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 8:58 PM