Journal 1

Lucas Lorimer                                                              Ch. 1-27 July 30, 2019 Journal #1

            A very dense and philosophical beginning. Melville talks about the innate desires of man to go to the sea. He gives us an introduction into his life as a sailor. As I go reading through this book I notice how detailed it is and how philosophical it is. Probably the most challenging piece of literature I have ever had to read. The time frame allows for a lot of racism and Ishmael seems to think his Christian faith makes him a million times better than Queequeg. It really is sickening to realize how mean humans can be. Queequeg is seen as a savage and is talked about derogatively of.

            What becomes evident the more I read of Melville’s Moby Dick is the seemingly unnecessary description which he puts into simple aspects of the book. For example, in chapter 3, Melville goes on to intensely describe some of the paintings he sees at the spouters inn.  However, I doubt that this description has no purpose. The paintings are all f whaling voyages and this description is probably a way of Melville telling readers what a whaling voyage consists of.

There is a lot of talk about religion and it is talked about in both negative and positive lights. Through these initial chapters it is possible to see the changing faith of Ishmael. From the very beginning it would be foolish to say that Ishmael showed signs of being a devout Christian, however much he says that Christianity is right and savagery is wrong. We see Ishmaels faith wane as he prays to yojo, Queequeg’s god.

What’s more, religion wise Ishmael and Queequeg go to a chapel and listen to a Christian sermon on Jonah and the whale. This is very interesting because all of the details talked about in the sermon are immensely exaggerated to be more in sync with sailors.