NCHS AP English Language

#3 Moby Dick hannah robinson

3. Rework your notes and research on the numinous into a coherent argument that demonstrates how Ishmael was touched by the numinous and what the implications of this might be.

Numinous inspires awe from humans. Numinous sometimes implies or suggests the presence of a godly spirit or transparent being. This word relates to Moby Dick in Chapter four in the flashback to Ishmael's childhood. In this flashback Ishmael remembers once when he was sent to bed early by his mother, he drifted into a deep slumber and when he woke up felt a presence of something on his hand. This phantom or spirit awed him making him unable to move in fear that the spirit might hurt him. This particular experience is brought back to memory when Ishmael wakes up and discovers that Queequeg has his arm tightly around him whole experience should be described as numinous because of the supernatural experience Ishmael had and remembered. This numinous experience implies that Ishmael has the ability to experience the supernatural. Ishmael believes this experience to be real and concrete; he does not try to make excuses for it.

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 8:26 AM