NCHS AP English Language

Ishmael Archetype- Patrick Collins

According to Jungian Philosophy an archetype is something that is in innate or genetically inherited that is universally present in individual psyches. The human mind usually becomes aware of them through dreams, fantasies, mythology, or religion. According to Jung there are almost “as many archetypes as there are typical situations in human life”, and the “task of specifically defining the archetypes is nearly impossible”. Archetypes are only present in our collective unconscious and we may be aware they are there, but we can never truly understand them or identify what they are or how they got there. This idea that a person can be aware but not truly know about their archetype is best illustrated when Jung says that archetypes “are a set of formal invariants which, like the stereo metric system of crystals, give form to molecules attracted to them, but are in themselves undiscoverable”.
The word Ishmael in Hebrew means to be an outsider. This definition is the best explanation of the protagonist’s archetype. Although Ishmael is an outsider to the world of whaling, and is mostly inexperienced when it comes to working on a boat, he finds in himself an unexplainable urge to go to sea. In the opening lines of the book Ishmael explains his feelings toward the ocean when he says that “almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me”. This awareness that he shows without a true understanding is a prime example of a Jungian archetype. Another example is illustrated when he is introduced to Queequeg. Ishmael shows prejudice towards the cannibal because he does not talk, look, or act like any other man he has ever met. Ishmael is aware of the negative feelings he is having towards Queequeg, but does not know why he is having them or where he feelings are coming from. It takes Ishmael some time to understand and accept Queequeg. When Ishmael wakes up the morning after sleeping with the cannibalistic harpooner, he finds Queequeg’s massive arm around his. This feeling brings back a memory Ishmael has of an incident when he was a child one morning when he woke up to the feeling that a hand was holding him. This “hand” that Ishmael keeps feeling is an archetype of the feeling he has that he needs to be held and helped in his life. He does not know why he feels this way, but he is aware that he is having these feelings. This loneliness and want of support refers back to his main archetype that refers to him being and outsider.

Patrick Collins

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 12:27 AM