Ishmael (Moby-Dick) Ishmael (Moby-Dick) Ishmael is a fictional character in Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick" (1851). Ishmael, the only surviving crewmember of the "Pequod", is the narrator of the book. His importance relies on his role as narrator; as a character, he is only a minor participant in the action and the main protagonist is Captain Ahab. The Biblical name has come to symbolize orphans, exiles, and social outcasts. Because he was the first person narrator, most of the criticism of "Moby-Dick" either confused Ishmael with the author himself or overlooked him. From the mid-twentieth century onward, critics distinguished Ishmael from Melville, establishing the
Ishmael son of Nethaniah time on a seal impression to be dated ca. 600 BC (see L. G. Herr, BA 48 [1985] 169-72.” (). Baalis may have seen an opportunity to grab power for himself in the power vacuum. The writer of Jeremiah clearly crafts the account to portray this as a significant motive for Ishmael’s attack, though Carroll argues that it is not Ishamel’s own reason for acting. Ishmael son of Nethaniah Ishmael (Hebrew: ישמעאל "God shall hear") ben (= 'son of') Nethaniah was a member of the royal household of Judah who, according to biblical accounts in II Kings and Jeremiah, assassinated