Moby Dick Narration

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Narrator / Narration Chart Moby Dick has an inside dramatized narrator for most of the novel, however for a few parts it does use the inside restricted narrator. Ishmael narrates the novel, this is evident because he is a character in the story and because he generally speaks in the first and second person. The following chart will show specific examples from the novel, indicating how Ishmael is the inside dramatized narrator. Explanation Evidence from Novel Identity The narrator is a character within the novel. In this case Ishmael acts as this person. “Call me Ishmael.” (11) “…I then testified of the whale…” ( 350) Voice Ishmael speaks in the first and second person within the novel. First person is used when he is talking about his own thoughts and actions, and second when he is describing what happened in the story and speculating about other characters. “…I am taught thee a green simple boy, how to splice a rope.”(395) “And yet I say again, and swear it how, that there’s something all glorious and gracious in the wind.”(511) “Queequeg removed himself to just beyond the head of the sleeper, and lighted his tomahawk pipe.”(99) “…Ahab did not hear to this till grey dawn…”(475) “Captain Mayhew began a dark story concerning Moby Dick;…”(295) Access to Character’s Minds Since Ishmael is a character within the novel he does not have full access to any of the others thoughts and ideas, he only has his own perspective of these individuals. However, the reader has direct admission to how Ishmael is feeling and what he is thinking. “Through in overseeing the pursuit of this whale, Captain Ahab had evinced…”(273) “Nevertheless, a man like Queequeg you don’t see every day, he and his ways were well worth unusual regarding.” (35) “…he was full forty old did Ahab become that way branded, and then it came upon him…” (119) “But it was not this night in

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