Moby-Dick

1. Why does Ishmael decide to go to sea, and what happens when he meets his roommate?

2. Why do you think Ishmael was willing to sleep on a freezing bench rather than share a bed with someone he hadn't met yet?

3. Why does Ishmael keep rejecting inns until he finds the Spouter-Inn, even though he's cold and desperate?

4. What does Ishmael's willingness to share a bed with a stranger who sells shrunken heads tell us about his determination?

5. What made Ishmael finally accept sharing a bed with the harpooner, and what happened when they actually met?

6. Why do you think Ishmael was more afraid of sharing a bed with a stranger than sleeping on a freezing wooden bench?

7. What made Ishmael so afraid of Queequeg before they actually met?

8. Why did the landlord keep joking about Queequeg being a cannibal instead of just explaining who he really was?

9. What made Ishmael change his mind about Queequeg between waking up terrified and helping him with his boots?

10. Why did Melville choose to have Ishmael remember a childhood experience of mysterious comfort right when he's wrapped in Queequeg's arms?

11. What made Ishmael go from fearing Queequeg to feeling protected by him in just one night?

12. Why does waking up with Queequeg's arm around him trigger Ishmael's childhood memory of the mysterious hand in the dark?

13. What did Ishmael notice about the people in the chapel, and how were they different from each other?

14. Why do you think the families paid for these simple marble tablets instead of grand monuments? What does this tell us about the whaling community?

15. What made Ishmael finally agree to share the bed with the harpooner, even though he was terrified?