Moby Dick; Or, The Whale

第一章 Loomings.

This opening chapter of Moby-Dick introduces the narrator, Ishmael, and establishes his characteristic habit of taking to the sea whenever he falls into a state of melancholy. The chapter’s famous opening line, “Call me Ishmael,” immediately establishes a confessional, intimate tone that will persist throughout the novel. Ishmael explains that when he experiences what he calls “the spleen”—a general malaise characterized by grimness, drizzly November moods, and an morbid fascination with funerals—he considers it “high time to get to sea as soon as I can.” He philosophically compares his own habit to Cato’s suicide, positioning his sea voyages as a philosophical substitute for more dramatic forms of escapism. The chapter suggests that this impulse toward the sea is universal, shared by “almost all men in their degree.”

The Impulse to Go to Sea

Ishmael’s decision to go to sea stems from a specific psychological state that he describes in vivid detail. He explains that whenever he finds himself growing “grim about the mouth,” pausing involuntarily before coffin warehouses, or trailing behind funerals, he feels an overwhelming urge to escape. The sea represents a therapeutic alternative to more destructive impulses. Ishmael notes that he does not go to sea as a passenger—which would require money—but rather seeks the simple experience of sailing, viewing it as a way to “drive off the spleen and regulate the circulation.” This section establishes the sea as both literal destination and metaphorical cure for existential despair, a theme that will recur throughout the novel.