Queequeg's Essential Role in the Final Design of Moby-Dick

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Abstract

First, a brief survey of the criticism related to the composition process of Moby-Dick is presented in order to show that Queequeg, along with Ahab, was a late addition to the novel's structure; and then, a detailed argument for Queequeg's essential role in the novel's final design is provided, demonstrating how Melville paired Queequeg with Ahab in some ways, and paired him with the white whale itself in others, in order to create a symphonic condemnation of Ahab and his quest. Queequeg's presence is indispensible to Melville as he develops three themes: 1) the savage, the cannibal, and the "other"; 2) deep "diving" that risks life; and 3) the masculine, the feminine, and the values of the New Testament. Finally, Moby-Dick insists on Queequeg's own insistence on overcoming anger, on forgiving, and on placing more value on securing life than securing revenge

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