Ishmael was a former school teacher and green hand on the ill-fated whaling ship the Pequod. The ship faced destruction at the hands of it's captain, Ahab, and a giant, white Sperm Whale named Moby Dick. Ishamel ended up becoming the first mate on the Nautilus I led by Captain Nemo. He stayed with the Nautilus even after Nemo's death. Ishmael later joins the crew of Janni Dakkar, Nemo's daughter, until his death in 1925.
History[]
"Call me Ishmael."[]
At some point prior to the events of Moby-Dick, Ishmael was a school teacher. He ended up leaving his teaching position and joined a merchant vessel. Ishmael then left the vessel to become a green hand on a whaling ship. He travels to New Bedford, Massachusetts and rooms with a cannibalistic Polynesian prince named Queequeg. Having become fast friends, Ishamel and Queequeg both sign up for a three year voyage aboard the Pequod, led by the obsessed Captain Ahab.
After setting sail, Captain Ahab reveals his true intentions for setting sail is to hunt down and kill the great, white whale, Moby Dick.
Captain Ahab and his crew are eventually successful in tracking down Moby Dick. Unfortunately, this leads to the sinking of the Pequod and the death of the entire crew, including Captain Ahab. Ishmael is the only survivor and is picked up by another whaling ship, the Rachel.
Serving Captain Nemo[]
It's unknown when, but Ishmael ends up becoming first mate to Captain Nemo aboard the Nautilus I.
Wapping, 1898[]
After assembling the First Murray Group, Nemo asks Ishmael and Broad Arrow Jack what they think of his new companions. Both Ishmael and Jack agree that Mina Murray and Allan Quatermain seem like decent people. However they don't really care for Griffin and Jekyll/Hyde. Their main concern though is for Campion Bond. They reveal Bond's family has a bad reputation and don't trust him at all. Nemo agrees with their sentiments.
Ishmael can later be seen helping the Murray group set up a hot air balloon called the Victoria. Captain Nemo leaves Ishmael in command of the Nautilus while he's away.
Ishmael was run down and killed by a snowmobile driven by Jack Wright during Janni Dakkar's 1925 expedition to the Mountains of Madness.
Legacy[]
By 1941, Ishmael's son, Tobias, had become the first mate of Janni Nemo and Broad Arrow Jack .
By 2009, Ishmael's grandchildren (or possibly great-grandchildren) had become the first mate of Jack Dakkar, Janni Nemo's grandson.
Trivia[]
- Ishmael's first line in Volume I is, "Call me Ishmael." This a direct reference to the opening line of Moby-Dick.
Source material[]
Ishmael was the narrator of Herman Melville's Moby Dick (1851).