narrator

Relationships

• interacts_withLandlord

  description

  The narrator engages in a lengthy and initially frustrating conversation with the landlord about the harpooneer.

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  What sort of a bamboozingly story is this you are telling me?”

• is_intended_to_shareShared Bed

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  The narrator is informed that he must share the bed in the room with the harpooneer.

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  you tell me you can only give me half a one; that the other half belongs to a certain harpooneer.

• tries_onHarpooneer's Garment (Door Mat)

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  The narrator picks up and tries on the mysterious door mat-like garment, attempting to understand its purpose.

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  I put it on, to try it, and it weighed me down like a hamper, being uncommonly shaggy and thick, and I thought a little damp, as though this mysterious harpooneer had been wearing it of a rainy day.

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  2026-03-02T00:01:53.876Z

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• travels_withQueequeg

  description

  The narrator and Queequeg are traveling companions, often observed together on 'confidential terms'.

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  But we heeded them not, going along wheeling the barrow by turns

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  2026-03-02T00:02:02.714Z

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• objects_tohint from Queequeg

  description

  The narrator initially felt a disagreeable revulsion and did not object to Queequeg's hint to strike a light in the darkness.

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  Nor did I at all object to the hint from Queequeg that perhaps it were best to strike a light

• sharesTomahawk (pipe)

  description

  The narrator and Queequeg passed the Tomahawk pipe between them, sharing it.

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  we now passed the Tomahawk from one to the other

• intends_to_sail_fromNantucket

  description

  The narrator informed Queequeg of his intention to sail out of Nantucket, considering it the most promising port for whaling.

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  informed him of my intention to sail out of Nantucket, as being the most promising port for an adventurous whaleman to embark from

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  2026-03-02T00:02:02.628Z

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• interviewsStubb

  description

  The narrator asks Stubb questions about whaling discretion and practices after their harrowing experience.

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  Mr. Stubb,” said I, turning to that worthy, who, buttoned up in his oil-jacket, was now calmly smoking his pipe in the rain; “Mr. Stubb, I think I have heard you say that of all whalemen you ever met, our chief mate, Mr. Starbuck, is by far the most careful and prudent.

• interviewsFlask

  description

  The narrator asks Flask about the unalterable laws and perils inherent in the whaling fishery.

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  Mr. Flask,” said I, turning to little King-Post, who was standing close by; “you are experienced in these things, and I am not. Will you tell me whether it is an unalterable law in this fishery, Mr. Flask, for an oarsman to break his own back pulling himself back-foremost into death’s jaws?”

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  2026-03-02T00:02:04.477Z

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• attempts_to_openDoor to Queequeg's Room

  description

  The narrator tries to force open the door to Queequeg's room after it remains bolted.

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  Have to burst it open,” said I, and was running down the entry a little, for a good start, when the landlady caught at me, again vowing I should not break down her premises; but I tore from her, and with a sudden bodily rush dashed myself full against the mark.

• bursts_openDoor to Queequeg's Room

  description

  The narrator uses bodily force to open the door to Queequeg's room.

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  with a sudden bodily rush dashed myself full against the mark. With a prodigious noise the door flew open

• inquires_aboutQueequeg

  description

  The narrator asks Queequeg what is the matter with him due to his unusual behavior.

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  Queequeg,” said I, going up to him, “Queequeg, what’s the matter with you?”

• informsMrs. Hussey

  description

  The narrator assures Mrs. Hussey that Queequeg is alive, asking her to leave them.

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  Mrs. Hussey,” said I, “he’s _alive_ at all events; so leave us, if you please, and I will see to this strange affair myself.”

• attempts_to_persuadeQueequeg

  description

  The narrator tries to convince Queequeg to change his position or speak, using polite arts and blandishments.

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  endeavored to prevail upon Queequeg to take a chair; but in vain. There he sat; and all he could do—for all my polite arts and blandishments—he would not move a peg, nor say a single word, nor even look at me, nor notice my presence in the slightest way.

• listens_toSailor (Island Visitor)

  description

  The narrator listens to stories from sailors, including one who visited Queequeg's island.

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  listening to the long stories of some sailors who had just come from a plum-pudding voyage

• placesBearskin Jacket

  description

  The narrator throws his heavy bearskin jacket over Queequeg to keep him warm.

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  I took my heavy bearskin jacket, and threw it over him

• argues_withQueequeg

  description

  The narrator tries to reason with Queequeg about the 'nonsense' of his religious practices.

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• comparesLents

  description

  The narrator compares Lents to Ramadans as examples of prolonged fasting practices.

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  all these Lents, Ramadans, and prolonged ham-squattings

• discussesPrimitive Religions

  description

  The narrator begins his argument with Queequeg by discussing the rise and progress of primitive religions.

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  beginning with the rise and progress of the primitive religions

• advocatesHygiene

  description

  The narrator argues that practices like prolonged fasting are opposed to the laws of Hygiene.

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  opposed, in short, to the obvious laws of Hygiene and common sense.

• linksDyspepsia

  description

  The narrator connects dyspepsia to fasting and the melancholy notions of religionists.

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  most dyspeptic religionists cherish such melancholy notions about their hereafters. In one word, Queequeg, said I, rather digressively; hell is an idea first born on an undigested apple-dumpling; and since then perpetuated through the hereditary dyspepsias nurtured by Ramadans.

• boards_withQueequeg

  description

  The narrator and Queequeg prepare to board the Pequod after breakfast.

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  we sallied out to board the Pequod

• boardsPequod

  description

  The narrator and Queequeg leave to board the whaling ship Pequod.

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  we sallied out to board the Pequod

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  2026-03-02T00:02:08.237Z

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• calls_forPeter Coffin

  description

  The narrator desperately shouts for the landlord, Peter Coffin, when threatened by Queequeg in the dark.

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  Landlord, for God’s sake, Peter Coffin!” shouted I. “Landlord! Watch! Coffin! Angels! save me!”

• sleeps_inBed

  description

  The narrator is initially reluctant but eventually sleeps in the same bed as Queequeg in the inn room.

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• experiencedChildhood Nightmare

  description

  The narrator recounts a profound and terrifying childhood nightmare that left a lasting impression on him.

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• compares_sensation_toSupernatural Hand

  description

  The narrator explicitly compares the strangeness of waking up next to Queequeg's arm to the sensations he felt during his childhood nightmare involving a supernatural hand.

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  Now, take away the awful fear, and my sensations at feeling the supernatural hand in mine were very similar, in their strangeness, to those which I experienced on waking up and seeing Queequeg’s pagan arm thrown round me

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  2026-03-02T00:02:42.133Z

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• interviews_withCaptain Peleg

  description

  The narrator is interviewed by Captain Peleg regarding his interest in whaling and his suitability for the Pequod's crew.

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  I protested my innocence of these things. I saw that under the mask of these half humorous innuendoes, this old seaman, as an insulated Quakerish Nantucketer, was full of his insular prejudices, and rather distrustful of all aliens, unless they hailed from Cape Cod or the Vineyard. “But what takes thee a-whaling? I want to know that before I think of shipping ye.”

• desires_to_experienceWhaling

  description

  The narrator expresses a strong desire to learn what whaling is and to go on a whaling voyage.

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  Well, sir, I want to see what whaling is. I want to see the world.” “Want to see what whaling is,

• desires_to_seeCape Horn

  description

  The narrator's desire to 'see the world' is specifically linked to the prospect of rounding Cape Horn on a whaling voyage.

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  Do ye wish to go round Cape Horn to see any more of it,

• previously_worked_inMerchant Service

  description

  The narrator states that he has previous seafaring experience from four voyages in the merchant service.

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  I told you that I had been four voyages in the merchant—

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• wants_to_ship_onPequod

  description

  The narrator expresses his desire to sign on and join the crew of the whaling ship Pequod.

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  He says he’s our man, Bildad,” said Peleg, “he wants to ship

• anticipates275th Lay

  description

  The narrator, considering his experience, expects to be offered at least the 275th lay as his share of the voyage's profits.

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  I should be offered at least the 275th lay

• evaluates_payment_systemLays

  description

  The narrator understands and evaluates the 'lays' system as the method of payment in the whaling business, where shares of profit replace wages.

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  I was already aware that in the whaling business they paid no wages; but all hands, including the captain, received certain shares of the profits called _lays_

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  2026-03-02T00:07:25.889Z

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• interrogatesFlask

  description

  The narrator, seeking understanding of whaling practices, asks Flask about the unalterable laws of the fishery.

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  Mr. Flask,” said I, turning to little King-Post, who was standing close by; “you are experienced in these things, and I am not. Will you tell me whether it is an unalterable law in this fishery, Mr. Flask, for an oarsman to break his own back pulling himself back-foremost into death’s jaws?”

• attributes_disaster_toStarbuck

  description

  The narrator considers a particular boat disaster to have been caused primarily by Starbuck's decision to drive his boat towards a whale during a squall.

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  the particular disaster to our own particular boat was chiefly to be imputed to Starbuck’s driving on to his whale almost in the teeth of a squall

• is_implicated_inWhite Whale

  description

  The narrator acknowledges his involvement in the dangerous and obsessive pursuit of the White Whale.

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  considering in what a devil’s chase I was implicated, touching the White Whale

• appointsQueequeg

  description

  The narrator asks Queequeg to take on the roles of his lawyer, executor, and legatee in his last will and testament.

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  Queequeg,” said I, “come along, you shall be my lawyer, executor, and legatee.”

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  2026-03-02T00:08:12.366Z

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• squeezesSperm (whale product)

  description

  The narrator describes his experience of manually squeezing the crystallized whale sperm back into a fluid state.

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  It was our business to squeeze these lumps back into fluid. A sweet and unctuous duty!

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• dislikes_plan_byYojo

  description

  The narrator expresses his strong disapproval of Yojo's plan for choosing their ship.

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  I did not like that plan at all.

• selectsPequod

  description

  After inspecting several vessels, the narrator ultimately decides that the Pequod is the most suitable ship for their voyage.

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  going on board the Pequod, looked around her for a moment, and then decided that this was the very ship for us.

• encountersCaptain Peleg

  description

  The narrator finds Captain Peleg, an elderly man with authority, resting in the wigwam on the Pequod's quarter-deck, and later identifies him.

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• has_experience_inMerchant service

  description

  The narrator informs Captain Peleg that he has prior seafaring experience in the merchant service.

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  I’ve been several voyages in the merchant service

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• is struck byGeometry

  description

  The narrator indirectly observes a remarkable fact about geometry while polishing a try-pot.

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  I was first indirectly struck by the remarkable fact, that in geometry all bodies gliding along the cycloid, my soapstone for example, will descend from any point in precisely the same time.

• stands atJaw-bone Tiller

  description

  The narrator describes convulsively grasping the jaw-bone tiller while at the helm.

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  Convulsively my hands grasped the tiller

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• narrated_story_atLima

  description

  The narrator explicitly states that he once narrated the story in Lima.

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  I shall preserve the style in which I once narrated it at Lima

• narrated_story_toSpanish friends

  description

  The narrator told the story to a lounging circle of his Spanish friends.

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  to a lounging circle of my Spanish friends

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  2026-03-02T00:08:19.077Z

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• referenced_byQueequeg

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  is_companion_to

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  At last we rose and dressed; and Queequeg, taking a prodigiously hearty breakfast of chowders of all sorts, so that the landlady should not make much profit by reason of his Ramadan, we sallied out to board the Pequod

• referenced_byCaptain Peleg

  context

  hails

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  Captain Peleg in his gruff voice loudly hailed us from his wigwam

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  2026-03-02T00:08:20.178Z

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• becomes_loyal_toQueequeg

  description

  Following Queequeg's heroic rescue, the narrator developed an intense and lasting loyalty to him.

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  From that hour I clove to Queequeg like a barnacle; yea, till poor Queequeg took his last long dive.

• arrived_onMoss

  description

  The narrator arrived in Nantucket aboard the ship named Moss.

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  when the little Moss came snugly to anchor, and Queequeg and I went ashore

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  2026-03-02T00:10:39.829Z

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