NCHS AP English Language

QUESTION 4 QUEEQUEGS COFFIN BY CAILIN LOYD

Discuss Queequeg's coffin: its purpose, what it becomes symbolically.

Queequeg's coffin changes in purpose more than once.

Its first purpose, and also the purpose of why it was built, is to put Queequeg's body in it when he dies, because at the time when it was built he was mentally unstable and ill. In that purpose, the coffin symbolizes .
Its second purpose is to house Queequeg's belongings when he wants to live. This symbolizes life, not , and also symbolizes Queequeg's will to live. Also, Queequeg carves the designs of his s on the coffin lid, symbolizes knowledge and life. The next purpose of the coffin is to be the Pequod's life buoy, which is a symbol of life and the will not to die. After the Pequod is destroyed, Queequeg's coffin becomes Ishmael's life boat, saving him from certain . The coffin transforms throughout the chapters from being a symbol of to a saver of life.


BY CAILIN LOYD

posted by Lisa @ 8:00 AM