vivehodie’s Blog

What stood out most to me in Chapters 10-15 of  Moby Dick was the growing bond of friendship between Queequeg and Ishmael. Instead of viewing Queequeg as “hideously marred” he grows instead to view him as a sort of “George Washington cannibalistically developed”. Indeed Ishmael comes to have a deep respect of sorts for Queequeg saying “[you] cannot hide the soul” underneath a exterior/facade of tattoos and cannibalism. Ishmael finds Queequeg’s sincerity and lack of “civilized hypocrisies” refreshing, finding him to be a genuinely kind person, as opposed to Christian kindness, which he states was “hollow courtesy”. Soon enough, as Ishmael states, the two of them are ” a cosy loving pair”, with a genuine friendship founded on respect and sharing, as evidenced by Ishmael participating in Queequeg’s “idol worship” and Queequeg giving Ishmael half of his money. There is something interesting to note about Ishmael’s participating in Queequeg’s idolatry. Ishmael claims that he is just participating in the idolatry just because he hopes Queequeg would join in Christian worship with him. Although Ishmael says he is Presbyterian, he never talks about the correctness/benefits of his own religion as opposed to Queequeg’s, hence making it obvious that he is concentrating on the unity of religion and human brotherhood as opposed to “converting” Queequeg.