June 8, 2019 - Chapter Sixteen (pp. 73-79)


The remainder of this chapter has Bildad and Peleg arguing over what pay Ishmael will receive and then Peleg offering some insights into what Captain Ahab is like. The argument between the two ship owners concerns what “lay” Ishmael is to get, a lay essentially being a share of the profits, with a higher number indicating a smaller likelihood of payment. Whereas Peleg intends to offer Ishmael the three hundredth lay, Peleg wants to offer him the seven hundred seventy-seventh, which is a curious number in that it is commonly used to denote the holy trinity of Christianity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That Bildad, the more religious of the two men, wants to give Ishmael this “holy” amount is perhaps relevant, and that Ishmael is not given this lay further could indicate, like the choice of ship by Ishmael, per Yojo’s command, the doomed nature of the voyage.

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