Moby Dick (1998)

Henry Thomas: Ishmael

Quotes 

• Ishmael : What the devil's the matter with you?

  Queequeg : Ishmael no want go on ship with Queequeg?

  Ishmael : No. I mean, yes, of course I do. But you would be better suited to pick out a whaler that's suited for both of us, not I, and I shall certainly not take your money. Queequeg, I fear I must make a confession. I used to be a schoolteacher. Do you know what that is?

  Queequeg : Aye. Missionary.

  Ishmael : No. Well, not exactly. What I'm trying to say is that I've never jumped a spar in my life.

  Queequeg : Ishmael no sailor?

  Ishmael : Aye. Me no sailor. It's just that I have this burning desire to go to sea.

  Queequeg : Me Ojo savvy. Ishmael pick ship. Ishmael pick ship.

• Queequeg : Ishmael, what is soul?

  Ishmael : Soul? Well, that's a difficult question. Do you believe in God? Like a big chief over all men?

  Queequeg : Like Ojo?

  Ishmael : Well, I reckon so, but bigger than that, like a captain of the sun.

• Queequeg : I killee!

  Peter Coffin : Now, Queequeg, stop that!

  Ishmael : Why didn't you tell me that this harpooner I'd be sharing a bed with is a cannibal, for God's sake?

  Peter Coffin : Now, listen to me, Queequeg. You savvy me, I savvy you. This lad sleep here in this bed with you. You savvy?

  Queequeg : Me savvy plenty.

• Peter Coffin : You a commadore, then, or a cook?

  Ishmael : No, a simple sailor, jumping from spar to spar like a grasshopper in a May meadow. Very much like a slave. But who isn't a slave? Tell me that.

  Peter Coffin : I suppose you're going whaling, then?

  Ishmael : Aye. Would you be having a room for a simple sailor, Mr. Coffin?

  Peter Coffin : Aye, if you've no objection to sharing a blanket with a simple harpooner.

• Ishmael : It seems a trifle small for two grown men.

  Peter Coffin : Well, if you're going to go whaling, you better get used to that sort of thing. Why, look at that bed. It's the biggest bed in the house. I've soundly slept in that bed many a night. Plenty of room!

  Ishmael : Mind you, I'm not complaining, Mr. Coffin, it's just I'd like to know what sort of man I'd be sharing it with.

  Peter Coffin : Well, uh, the harpooner I may be able to find someplace else for tonight.

• Capt. Peleg : What do you know about whaling?

  Ishmael : Nothing, sir. But I want to see what whaling is. I want to see the world.

  Capt. Peleg : Can't you see the world from where you stand, young man? You want to see what whaling is, do you? Are you man enough to pitch a harpoon down a live whale's throat and jump after it?

  Ishmael : Well, I am, sir, if it be absolutely indispensible that I do so.

  Capt. Peleg : I'll tell you this: There's death in this business, young man.