![]() ![]() A thoughtful and intellectual Quaker from Nantucket. The three mates of the Pequod are all from New England. Since there were thirty states in the union at the time, it has been suggested that, in its diversity, the Pequod was a metaphor for the 'American ship of state'. A partial list of the speakers includes sailors from the Isle of Man, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, the Azores, Sicily and Malta, China, Chile, Denmark, Portugal, India, England, Spain, and Ireland.Īlthough in fact 44 members of the crew are mentioned, in the final chapters Melville writes three times that there are 30 crewmembers. Chapter 40, "Midnight, Forecastle," highlights, in its stage-play manner (in Shakespearean style), the striking variety in the sailors' origins. The crew is international, having constituents from both the United States and rest of the world. Peleg served as first mate under Ahab on the Pequod before obtaining his own command, and is responsible for all her whalebone embellishment. Both have names taken from the Bible: Peleg, and Bildad. ![]() The principal owners of the Pequod, two well-to-do Quaker retired whaling captains. ![]()
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