Character
Queequeg
Also called Queequeg's.
6 chapters in narrative order
- Chapter 4 The Counterpane
Ishmael wakes beside Queequeg and connects the moment to childhood memories of fear, touch, and comfort.
- Chapter 12 Biographical
Ishmael sketches Queequeg's royal background and his decision to leave home for whaling.
- Chapter 18 His Mark
Queequeg signs onto the Pequod, and his skill unsettles the owners' assumptions.
Close reading “his mark”Queequeg's signature turns friendship, religion, literacy, and labor contract into one scene. The chapter asks who gets recognized as trustworthy in a commercial world.
- Chapter 47 The Mat-Maker
While weaving with Queequeg, Ishmael turns the work into a meditation on fate before whales are sighted.
- Chapter 72 The Monkey-Rope
Ishmael is tied to Queequeg by a monkey-rope while Queequeg works on the whale's back.
- Chapter 110 Queequeg in His Coffin
Queequeg falls gravely ill, orders a coffin, then recovers and turns the coffin toward another purpose.
Close reading “coffin”Queequeg's coffin begins as preparation for death, but it will not keep a single meaning. The object gathers friendship, craft, mortality, and future survival.