Ishmael: The Narrator Of Melville

411 Words2 Pages
The narrator is an observant young man from Manhattan, perhaps even as young as Melville was (twenty-one) when he first sailed as a crew member on the American whaler Acushnet. Ishmael tells us that he often seeks a sea voyage when he gets to feeling glum. Four times he has sailed in the merchant service (so he may well be in his mid-twenties or older). This time he has a yearning for a voyage on a whaling ship. Thus we have a story — because of Ishmael's desire for a whaling venture, his keen observation, his ability to spin a yarn, his ability to grow and learn, and his unique survival. If Ishmael doesn't live, we have no story. Ishmael probably is a more interesting narrator because he is a loner by nature. This allows him further objectivity