Call Me Ishmael - A Critical Analysis of the Narrator in Moby Dick

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,7, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 4 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville is an epic tale of the voyage of the Pequod and the ship's captain, Ahab, who relentlessly hunts the white Sperm Whale Moby-Dick during a journey around the world. Ever since the whale took his leg, Ahab has been seeking revenge. However the hunt ends fatally for Ahab and his crew: Moby-Dick kills them all. The whole story is narrated by Ishmael, one of the sailors on the Pequod and the only survivor of the disaster. In a detailed and impressive way Ishmael describes the things he experienced and witnessed, the different characters he met, the friendships he formed. This paper deals with an analysis of Ishmael, the first-person narrator in Moby-Dick. Next to concentrating on several aspects, it shall give an answer to the basic question: Is Ishmael is a reliable narrator ?