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Queequeg is a character in the 1851 novel ''
Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
'' by American author
Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...
. The story outlines his royal, Polynesian descent, as well as his desire to "visit Christendom" that led him to leave his homeland. Queequeg is visually distinguished by his striking facial tattoos and tan skin.
Ishmael In the Bible, biblical Book of Genesis, Ishmael (; ; ; ) is the first son of Abraham. His mother was Hagar, the handmaiden of Abraham's wife Sarah. He died at the age of 137. Traditionally, he is seen as the ancestor of the Arabs. Within Isla ...
encounters Queequeg in Chapter Three and they become unlikely friends. Once aboard the whaling ship the ''Pequod'', Queequeg becomes the harpooner for the mate Starbuck.


Familial and cultural history

Queequeg is native to the fictional island of Kokovoko (also known as Rokovoko), an "island far away to the West and South", or more specifically in the
South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
. He was the son of High Chief, King as well various other well-respected individuals of his community. Queequeg's culture is referenced to be cannibalistic. The narration of the book makes it clear that cannibalism was not universally accepted at this time. In the novel, Queequeg is described as having an "ambitious soul" who had a strong "desire to visit Christendom". Queequeg left home when he snuck onto a Sag Harbor ship that was passing by his father's land. At first rejected by the whaler that landed on his island, he skillfully jumped from a canoe and clamped to the side of the boat as it was leaving for the open sea, at which point the captain relented. He was trained as a whaleman during this time and continued in this profession going forward. Despite his interest in "Christendom", Queequeg practiced a pagan religion. Queequeg practices a form of
animism Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...
using a small idol named Yojo, for whom he builds small ceremonial fires. As part of his religion, he practices a prolonged period of fasting and silence (which Ishmael calls his "
Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
"). In chapter seventeen, Queequeg locks himself in his room in Nantucket to keep his fast and silence. Even after Ishmael enters the room, Queequeg is unbothered and does not acknowledge Ishmael's presence.


Queequeg's tattoos

In her book ''Tattooing the World'', author Juniper Ellis contemplates the significance of Queequeg's face and bodily markings. Ellis claims that Melville was inspired by a representation of the
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
Chief Te Pēhi Kupe in
George Lillie Craik George Lillie Craik (1798–1866) was a Scottish writer and literary critic. Life Born at Kennoway, Fife, he was the eldest of three illustrious brothers to the local schoolmaster, his younger brothers including Henry Craik and James Craik. ...
's book, ''The New Zealanders''. Records indicate that Melville's encounter with Craik's book in 1850 caused him to replace Bulkington (the originally intended companion of Ishmael) with a new character: Queequeg. While the descriptions of Queequeg's tattoos are dissimilar to those of the Māori Chief, Ellis claims that Melville took inspiration from Te Pēhi Kupe. The parallels and distinctions between his source of inspiration are important to Ellis's interpretation of Queequeg. Although they are similar, Queequeg's tattoos are described in the text as more geometric and square-shaped than the Māori tattoos that are often "rounded into spirals". Because the historical evidence points to Craik's book as an inspiration for Melville, Ellis argues that these tattoos similarly indicate genealogy, family, and individual identities. Additionally, she believes that these parallels create a stronger link between Queequeg and Pacific origin cultures.


Relationship with Ishmael

Queequeg and Ishmael first meet in
New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. At the 2020 census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-l ...
when Ishmael and he are placed in the same room of The Spouter-Inn. At this moment, Queequeg had just returned from a whaling voyage and Ishmael was staying the night on the way towards a voyage as well. Queequeg returns late to the inn, not knowing that Ishmael has been booked into the same room with him. Ishmael is at first afraid of this unfamiliar person who he must share a bed with, however, he keeps an open mind. He quickly comes to the conclusion that "for all his tattooings he ueequegwas on the whole a clean, comely-looking cannibal." Chapter Four begins with Queequeg's arm "thrown over" Ishmael in his sleep. This scene is an abrupt, striking contrast to the previous chapter in which Queequeg threatens to kill Ishmael. Ishmael states that "You had almost thought I had been his wife." Soon after, in Chapter 10, Queequeg proclaims that they are married, which in his country implies that they are "bosom friends". Steven B. Herrmann analyzes this relationship in his journal article "Melville's Portrait of Same-Sex Marriage in Moby-Dick." Herrmann believes that the "Ishmael-Queequeg 'marriage'...is the first portrait of same-sex marriage in American literature." He sees the physical affection between the two characters as Melville moving beyond the "cultural imprints of homophobia" in literature. Regardless of Herrmann's beliefs, it cannot be confirmed whether Melville intended for this to be a homosexual relationship; Melville leaves this interpretation to the reader.


Queequeg's coffin

Toward the end of the novel Queequeg falls ill and is presumed to die. In chapter 110, Queequeg expresses his desire to not be buried in his hammock, "according to the usual sea-custom", but rather that a canoe-like coffin be made for him when he dies. Sickness does not overtake Queequeg. While he recovers from his illness, he does die by other means in the end. He does not survive the Pequod's wreck as Ishmael is the only survivor. Still, he is ultimately responsible for saving Ishmael's life from beyond the grave. Ishmael survives the wreck by clinging to the coffin that had been made for Queequeg. Michael C. Berthold's journal article titled "Moby-Dick and American Slave Narrative" from the ''Massachusetts Review'' outlines one idea regarding the symbolic meaning of Queequeg's coffin. When Queequeg heals and is no longer presumed to die in chapter 110, the book mentions how he spent many hours "carving the lid with all manner of grotesque figures and drawings...to copy parts of the twisted tattooing on his body." In his article, Berthold says that because of the tattoos carved into it, the coffin is "Queequeg's sacred text and co-extensive with his own body." Berthold sees this moment as in contrast to chapter 18 when
Captain Peleg ''Moby-Dick'' (1851) is a novel by Herman Melville. While some characters only appear in the shore-based chapters at the beginning of the book, and others are captains and crewmembers of other ships, the majority of the characters are officers or ...
mislabels him as Quohog in the forms enrolling him to work on the ship. Queequeg is unable to correct Peleg's mistake because he cannot read or write. He is only able to sign the document with a mark that replicates one tattoo on his right arm. Dissimilarly, Berthold mentions that the coffin allows for Queequeg to "reproduce his entire body" in terms of tattoos. Berthold sees this full representation of Queequeg's tattoos on the coffin as a reclamation of "the wholeness that the official discourse of a Peleg denies him" previously in chapter 18.


Race through Queequeg

In her journal article "'Defamiliarization' and the Ideology of Race in 'Moby Dick'", Martha Vick states that the "use of language to acknowledge equality pecifically in descriptions of Queequegbestows the highest dignity possible on a nonwhite character at the same time that it calls into question the use of racial characteristics as criteria for determining identity." For example, Ishmael initially describes Queequeg as a cannibal and a savage, but soon realizes that his appearances are misleading. Vick believes that Ishmael's consideration of Queequeg that contrasts the "illusion of his darkness" with the "reality of his goodness" promotes questioning of the traditional ideas of the racial hierarchy. Vick mentions how Ishmael then states that "a man can be honest in any sort of skin", which contributes to her argument that Melville's language encourages a new and just way of thinking. At one point in chapter 10, Ishmael describes Queequeg as having "large, deep eyes, fiery black and bold... He looked like a man who had never cringed and never had had a creditor... His ueequeg'sforehead was drawn out in freer and brighter relief, and looked more expansive than it otherwise would." Ishmael goes on to equate this description of Queequeg to George Washington's head. Ishmael states: "It had the same long regularly graded retreating, like two long promontories thickly wooded on top. Queequeg was George Washington cannibalistically developed."


Skills and interests

In Chapter Three, Queequeg stays out late selling human heads from New Zealand. He is an extraordinary harpooner, demonstrating his skill for the money-tight owners of the ''Pequod'' by striking a small drop of tar floating on the water with one throw. The owners are so impressed that they immediately offer him a 90th lay ( of the ship's profit) in exchange for his signing on with the crew. By contrast, Ishmael (who has experience in the merchant marine but none as a whaler) is initially offered a 777th lay but eventually secures a 300th. In port, Queequeg carries his sharpened harpoon with him at all times, unless prevented from doing so. He shaves with his harpoon as well and smokes regularly from a
tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Native Americans in the United States, Indian peoples and nations of North America, traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. Etymology The name comes from Powhatan langu ...
that he carries with him.


Cultural references

* Sam Baker's most memorable role was Queequeg in '' The Sea Beast'' (1926). * A version of Queequeg appears as a character in the ''
Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...
'' episode "
The Day the Earth Stood Stupid ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
". * On ''
The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...
'', Special Agent
Dana Scully Dana Katherine Scully, M.D., is a fictional character and one of the two protagonists in the Fox science-fiction, supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by Gillian Anderson. Scully is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Spe ...
named her dog Queequeg (last appearance Season 3 Episode 22) after the ''Moby-Dick'' character. The name was also taken as an email handle by Scully. In Season 11 Episode 7, Scully tells a security company representative her password to reset her home alarm is Queequeg. * Queequeg's is the name of a coffee chain in the video game universe of '' Deus Ex: Invisible War''. Its supposed in-game rival chain is named Pequod's. * An alien species called Weequay is introduced in ''
Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. The sequel to '' The Empire ...
'', whose denomination and physical appearance is a clear nod to Melville's Queequeg. * In the eleventh book of Lemony Snicket's ''
A Series of Unfortunate Events ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' is a series of thirteen Children's literature, children's novels written by American author Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket. The books follow the turbulent lives of orphaned siblings List of A ...
'', the main characters, the Baudelaires, board a submarine named the ''Queequeg'', operated by a crew who wear portraits of Herman Melville on their uniforms. * In the South Korean indie horror gacha game ''
Limbus Company ''Limbus Company'' is an indie gacha strategy video game for Microsoft Windows and mobile devices using iOS or Android, developed and published by South Korean studio Project Moon. It was released worldwide on February 26, 2023. The game is se ...
'', one of the 12 playable characters is a young woman named Ishmael. Her backstory, like that of every protagonist in the game, mirrors that of her literary counterpart. Queequeg is an important figure in Ishmael's backstory, and is depicted as an intimidating, muscular woman who had taken Ishmael under her wing, and with whom Ishmael had formed a deeper bond.


Notes


References

* * Leiter, Louis. "Queequeg's Coffin." ''Nineteenth-Century Fiction'', vol. 13, no. 3, 1958, pp. 249–54, https://doi.org/10.2307/3044383. Accessed 14 Dec. 2023. * Manguel, Alberto. "QUEEQUEG." ''Fabulous Monsters: Dracula, Alice, Superman, and Other Literary Friends'', Yale University Press, 2019, pp. 93–98, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvnwbztx.20. Accessed 14 Dec. 2023. * * STRAUCH, CARL F. "ISHMAEL: TIME AND PERSONALITY IN 'MOBY-DICK.'" ''Studies in the Novel'', vol. 1, no. 4, 1969, pp. 468–83, . Accessed 14 Dec. 2023. * ZOELLNER, ROBERT. "QUEEQUEG: The Well-Governed Shark." ''The Salt-Sea Mastodon: A Reading of Moby-Dick'', 1st ed., University of California Press, 1973, pp. 215–38, https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.8085324.14. Accessed 14 Dec. 2023. {{Moby-Dick Fictional cannibals Fictional indigenous Oceanian people Fictional pagans Fictional sailors Male characters in literature Literary characters introduced in 1851 Characters in Moby-Dick