/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.20513274]

Was he gay for Queequeg?

[Anonymous No.20513283]

[Anonymous No.20514602]

Im sorry that fag ruined your thread OP

[Anonymous No.20514609]

yes, all other interpretations are cope and also boring

[Anonymous No.20514639]

>>20513274
>He was gay, Ishmael?

[Anonymous No.20514769]

>>20513274
no, it was normal for sailors at the time to express their male camaraderie by sleeping in one bed, embracing one another, and having anal intercourse

[Anonymous No.20514861]

>>20513274
On a surface level I'm sure you could make the argument that they were gay but I always read their relationship in a metaphorical sense. That Ishmael represents the Anglo-American and Queequeg the Native American, forced to share their surroundings with one another and bond over commonalities instead of differences.

[Anonymous No.20515210]

[Anonymous No.20515273]

Ishmael
>immediately describes himself as the wife in his bunking scenario
>lambasts Christianity at every opportunity despite claiming to be Christian
>lambasts Whites at every opportunity despite claiming to be White
>worships shitskins and describes their features and strengths as though outright praising them
>Ishmael, the name: Hebrew origin
I think he was a secret Jew.

[Anonymous No.20515282]

>>20515273
>takes up worship of some idol and says he's actually just being a good citizen of the world
Genuinely, I don't think anyone can convince me he wasn't a (((liar)))

[Anonymous No.20515285]

>>20515273
>lambasts Christianity at every opportunity despite claiming to be Christian
>lambasts Whites at every opportunity despite claiming to be White
didn't happen
>ishmeal is of hebrew origin
so is christianity you stupid commie false flagger

[Anonymous No.20515290]

>>20515285
>didn't happen
You haven't read the book.

[Anonymous No.20516102]

>>20513274
sailors are gay in general
hell even pirates are hella gay

[Anonymous No.20516136]

>>20513274
No. Sleeping in the same bed as other guests in a house is not uncommon. Sharing beds in history was common. The idea of having your own room and bed is a modern concept. If you paid attention to the book he goes on and on about how uncomfortable he is about it at first because he's a savage.

[Anonymous No.20516213]

>>20516136
I'm a giant pseud who only read a few chapters before drifting on to another book, but didn't Queequeg say they were married afterwards? That's not projecting modern sensibilities, that's in the text

[Anonymous No.20516237]

[Anonymous No.20516244]

I didn't get the sense they were gay at all. Giving your bunkmate a handy or two during a 4 year voyage at sea doesn't count.

Sailors jerked each other off, cuddled, expressed intimacy etc and it was just bros being bros. Why does everything have to be homoerotic to you pervs.

[Anonymous No.20516272]

>>20513274
>>20514609
>>20516102
>>20516213
>>20516237
>>20516244

Either give up reading or don't post until you've read Gilgamesh, the Comedy, Chaucer, the complete theatrical writings of Shakespeare, Jean Paul, and the rest of Melville's works

[Anonymous No.20517139]

>>20513274
It was relatively common for men to bunk up in the same bed when traveling in the those days, especially if beds were limited or if it was was in winter.

[Anonymous No.20518171]

>>20513274
no, it was normal for sailors at the time to express their male camaraderie by sleeping in one bed, embracing one another, and having anal intercourse

[Anonymous No.20519297]

>>20513274
>literally called Queerqueg
What were you expecting

[Anonymous No.20519729]

>>20513274
He had relationships with women, and sex with men.

[Anonymous No.20520850]

Melville was pretty gay desu. He was pretty depressed because his buddy Hawthorne didn't want to fuck him. Read Clarel for more info about this.

[Anonymous No.20520901]

>>20516213
>say they were married afterwards?
There are multiple moments in the book in which Ishmael mentions being married to him; in the shark chapter for example. They're all explained through context and there is literally nothing gay about any of it.

[Anonymous No.20520915]

>YOU'RE A FUCKING WHITE WHALE
what did he mean by this?

[Anonymous No.20520927]

>>20515273
I'd like to think you're baiting but then it's too on the nose so I'm almost entirely certain that you're 100% serious and that's quite tragic.

[Anonymous No.20521657]

screenshot of my own post in the archive so i don't have to make it again.

[Anonymous No.20521682]

>>20516237
oh shit, someone else took a screenshot of a post of mine as well. cool.

[Anonymous No.20521693]

>>20516272
Wow great argument fagtron you sure convinced me with those hot opinions

[Anonymous No.20521790]

>book has Dick in the title
>WAS HE GAY?
Obviously.

[Anonymous No.20522031]

>>20520915
this takes me back
>>20514861
>Queequeg the Native American
he was a pacific islander though, and there was a different character that was a native American. It could have been that but it might have been a more general message.

[Anonymous No.20523431]

>>20522031
>this takes me back
>2016 was 6 years ago
fuck
>it might have been a more general message
melville's views on race always struck me as being very clear sighted. probably due to his time with the cannibals.

[Anonymous No.20523446]

>>20516237
>>20521657
I always laugh when I'm reading a book and this happens. Like when I read DH Lawrence and he couldn't stop talking about men and boys' muscular legs and buttocks

[Anonymous No.20523465]

>>20521790
Loled
Melville was tired of bbc, he wanted that whale dick