NCHS AP English Language

ishmaelian archy-type

Carl Jung describes archetypes as "innate, universal prototypes for ideas and may be used to interpret observations". In other words, an archetype is a certain ‘complex’ a person has that can be used to understand someone’s behavior. For example, if a person had a hero complex, they would always act heroic and thus you could understand their actions. Archetypes appear often in literature, and they can be used to predict a characters thoughts and actions.
Moby Dick is no exception, Ishmael, the protagonist, illustrates his complex from the very beginning of the novel. From the first of the book, Ishmael establishes himself first and foremost an outsider. As the story progresses the reader finds that Ishmael is also cautious, reflective, inexperienced, and judgmental. Because of this archetype, Ishmael reacts to stimuli differently than, say, Queequeg would. One would think Queegueg would also be an outsider, because of his strange looks and actions. On the whaling ship however, Queequeg fits in much better than Ishmael ever could. A person who had an Ishmaelian archetype would also be cautious, reflective, inexperienced, and judgmental, but above all an outsider. They would seek new experiences and groups, but would never be able to really fit in. Also because of his being on the outside, he would be able to see things objectively, and therefore be able to critique others. Since people often don’t like to be critiqued, this would only serve to ostracize him even further.

posted by Ellen @ 2:07 PM