Ishmael vs. Coverdale!

Interestingly enough with Moby Dick, within the first few pages of the book, one is already able to tell the stark differences between the narrator of the story, Ishmael, and the character of Coverdale from The Blithedale Romance. Right off the bat, Ishmael states his reasoning behind the voyage he is about to undertake. "Having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world." For no apparent reason other than the drive for a purpose and something to do (at least this early in the book), Ishmael decides to take his life in this direction.

Although his reasonings seem innocent enough, he does go on to state that, "This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; i quietly take to the ship." For Ishmael, it sounds as though the life he is used to living isn't enough for him. He starves for something more; the idea of being drawn to something like the sea is almost enigmatic. He sums up it up quite simply in fact, saying "If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me." Ishmael is deciding upon this trip for himself, and himself alone. However, he is not afraid to admit it, almost citing it as a necessity, or fate, rather than a decision at all.

Throughout The Blithedale Romance however, Coverdale tries to find a much more grander and self-fulfilling reason for his decision to leave the world he know behind for something unfamiliar yet enticing. However far-fetched his ideas are however, he is much more unsure of himself, even going so far as to say on page 8, “Being in truth, not so very confident as to some former periods, that this final step, which would mix me up irrevocably with the Blithedale affair, was the wisest that could possibly be taken.”

This shows the stark difference between the two narrators. Ishmael is willing to admit that his decision is based off of his own needs, where as Coverdale tries to disguise his decision behind the veil of the Blithedale project. It is apparent in his hesitation the night before leaving, as well as the fact that he is enjoying all of his earthly pleasures as quickly as possible before he is no longer able or allowed to. He is to cowardly to admit the decision to move to Blithedale is to better the image of himself, personally and to those he is associated with.

So, as far as the perspective of the story that each character offers the reader, these few lines set the tone for each book. Coverdale is passionate about his decision, but not the actual act of it itself.  Ishmael on the other hand doesn’t have a real need to leave his home, but is doing so based on what the decision entails, a life at sea. Therefore, I trust in Ishmael as a narrator far more than Coverdale. His honesty about the decision he has made allows him to be more impartial to the whole affair, whereas Coverdale clouds the reader’s perceptions of the characters in The Blithedale Romance with his own judgements.