Pip, as the only major African-American character in the novel, provides a unique commentary on racial issues of 19th century America. Melville, or rather, Ishmael presents Pip as “the most insignificant of the Pequod’s crew” who merely serves as the Pequod’s ship-keeper, a sailor who stays on the ship while the whaleboats go out (Melville … Continue reading “a whale would sell for thirty times what you would, Pip”