Ishmael In Moby Dick

In Herman Melville’s iconic work, Moby Dick, Ishmael tells of how he always goes sailing as a “simple sailor.” This blatant example of litotes is used to bring Ishmael’s personality into contrast with the picture the narrator has portrayed himself as fitting in. Ishmael portrays himself as a simple-minded sailor looking for fresh air, exercise, to not be in the spotlight, and to make money. While telling of his role on a sailing voyage, the character Ishmael is seen to have been written with many techniques to give the reader a sense that the character is not quite as simple as first seen. Through Melville’s use of academic satire, learned vocabulary, and far-reaching historical and mythological knowledge, the idea of Ishmael being a purely

Such word choice as “circumambulate,” “cataracts,” “metaphysical,” “reveries,” “philosophical flourish,” and “perdition” (Melville) can only come from an educated mind. Each examples shows the education level of the speaker. Such obscure words would have been more common in the 1800s than currently among the educated, but, even then, the ease at which Ishmael uses the words speaks highly of his education. Would it truly be accurate to have an educated man call himself “simple” (Melville), a word that can mean uneducated, unless as a dramatic effect as an

In his explanation he tells of how he would take to his ship as “Cato throws himself upon his sword” (Melville). This connections tells of how he would sacrifice himself in a heroic way as had Cato done in Rome as to not be under Caesar’s rule. To accurately use a historical situation to help explain a situation alone is impressive, let alone using it as easily as Ishmael had (he mentioned it as if it were common knowledge). This intelligence is not limited to history, but also has a grasp in the mythologies of historical cultures. This is shown when he states that the Fates were the only reasons for him to go whaling. The Fates were the mythological “stage managers” (Melville) of people’s lives; for Ishmael to portray the idea of the Fates as a euphemism shows a familiarity to Greek mythology. For a man to be so familiar with ancient Roman history and ancient Greek mythology to use them to explain his mentality shows he truly has a complex mind—one which to call it simple is an understatement.
The understatement of Ishmael intelligence is the litotes of the first chapter in Moby Dick. Melville shows the understatement to be false in the very same way he shows the statement to be an understatement—through the intelligence of the speaker. Melville’s character is a complicated one: an analyst cannot look lightly. Such depth to the