A Squeez Of The Hand Rhetorical Analysis

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Raffaele Saposhnik Feb 16th 2012 English III Honors B Block Ms. Bunch Some good ol’ fashioned Homoeroticism One of the most pressing matters in American society today is gay rights. The right for a gay couple to marry, perhaps, stands as one of the most controversial laws that our countries has ever faced. Apparently, in the eyes of thousands of Americans, this unification of two people goes against our Christian-founded nation and takes away from the true holiness of marriage. Our country feels the need to treat someone with a different sexual preference as a completely different person who, apparently, doesn’t deserve the same specific rights as others do. However, nowadays it can be seen as frowned upon to be “gay” while about 150…show more content…
The title of this chapter alone alludes to sexual nature that appears along side the deep metaphorical aspect of the scene. If we dive deeper into Ishmael’s mind as he meditates, he becomes induced into a semi-transcendental moment while he squeezes the sperm. He even begins to truly feel his other shipmates’ hands which gives him a “abounding, affectionate, friendly, loving feeling” that can only be explained by genuine brotherhood. Melville further demonstrates the necessity for emotional connection when Ismael looks “up into their eyes sentimentally” (323). This scene is so important because Ishmael connects to the other men in ways unimaginable through eye contact, which some believe is the window into another man’s…show more content…
What “real” man looks into another man’s eyes while covered in slippery sperm oil and feels a kind of intimacy in the 21st century? As a male race, some fear of being judged and forced into the class with other homosexuals that are looked down upon. This fear promotes a reluctant attitude to the type of closeness that Ishmael and Queequeg shared. These two polar extremes of opinion, whether it be acceptance and understanding or rejection and mockery, are different interpretations of the story that rely heavily upon what the gender expectations are at the
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