Why is ishmael an appropriate name for the main character

He would not have been able to go wherever he wanted to with a wife and family, so the reader assumes that he actually has none. Therefore for him to remain neutral is not an easy task. In the first 21 chapters of the novel it is clearly Ishmael the character that dominates. This Ishmael describes the many experiences he has had on shore up until he leaves on the Pequod in chapter He has made friends with the pagan harpooner Queequeg, and faced the mad prohet Elijah.

Ishmael the character obviously gives the plot in the implied chapters a more obtimistic atmosphere. S P Susanne Pirner Author. Add to cart. Contents 1. Introduction 2. Self-Presentation of the Narrator 3. Critical Opinions about the Narrator 4. The Crew 5. The Narrator as Observer 6. Conclusion Bibliography 1. Self-Presentation of the Narrator The reader is introduced to the narrator in the first chapter where he reveals a few pieces of information about himself. What could be simpler than a story of exploration from an ordinary young sailor?

If we think of a narrator as a lens through which we view the events of a story, then Ishmael, as a first person narrator, is the one lens that we can actually see. Is he a telescope, a microscope, a kaleidoscope, a clear piece of glass, a dirty and scratched lens? Is he exaggerating, omitting, minimizing, distorting? And can we trust him? Critics love it, too, and for lots of reasons.

He gets all buddy-buddy with you right away. Second, you may also have noticed that this sentence is a bit ambiguous. Maybe his name is Ishmael, and we do know it. Melville, you're a sadistic genius! The name "Ishmael" means "God hears," if you were wondering. Later, Sarah does manage miraculously to get pregnant in her old age, and she bears Isaac.

Themes Motifs Symbols. Important Quotes Explained. Characters Ishmael. 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.