Jan 28 2010
Ishmael the Shape Shifter
Melville’s narration in Moby Dick can be described as moody. Ishmael is presented as such a believable character because he exhibits the unpredictable highs and lows of the author. While Ishmael is a believable character, the question of his reliability as a narrator is another issue. Starting with the line “Call me Ishmael”, the reader can’t help but wonder who the person that we are commanded to refer to as Ishmael actually is. The narrator called Ishmael takes many shapes, which I will now explore.
I believe that Ishmael’s narration takes the shape of and is characterized by those he comes in contact with. This is exemplified by the simple narration that Queequeg always seems to inspire. Needless to say, Queequeg’s speech is extremely basic, but what is interesting is how Ishmael answers his child-like presence with a simplicity of his own:
But Queequeg, do you see, was a creature in the transition state-neither caterpillar nor butterfly. He was just enough civilized to show off his outlandishness in the strangest possible manner. His education was not yet completed. He was an undergraduate.(27)
Notice how Ishmael addresses the reader, adopting a colloquial tone that distinguishes itself from much of the rest of the narration. This tone is furthered by the short, elementary sentences that follow. This tone is juxtaposed by another one of Ishmael’s forms, which is that of Melville himself. Quite often Melville blatantly takes over the narration in the form of deep philosophical musings. The following is one of my favorite examples of this so far:
But what then? Methinks we have hugely mistaken this matter of Life and Death. Methinks that what they call my shadow here on earth is my true substance. Methinks that in looking at things spiritual, we are too much like oysters observing the sun through the water, and thinking that thick water the thinnest of air. Methinks my body is but the lees of my better being. In fact take my body who will, take it I say, it is not me . (35-36)
What caught my eye about this passage first was the skill and beauty of the language itself. What indicates that we are no longer understanding the world through the eyes of Ishmael but through the eyes of Melville is the use and repetition of the word “Methinks” which is uncommon in the novel, and is used tactfully by Melville to emphasize the passage to the reader as one of personal worth.
One Response to “Ishmael the Shape Shifter”
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James, this is a fine close reading of the passages you chose, representing the slipperiness of Melville’s language. At times, Ishmael seems to be addressing the reader simply, directly, almost boyishly, and at other times, he seems to be a consummate artist/poet/philosopher. Once could say this is Melville shining through Ishmael’s thin skin, or one could say that this is Ishmael in all his complexity. You are right to say this slipperiness makes Ishmael an unreliable narrator — we’ll continue to examine this linguistic complexity throughout the novel, and keep paying attention to it, it’s good!