"For all his tattooings he was on the whole a clean, comely looking cannibal. What’s all this fuss I have been making about, thought I to myself- the man’s a human being just as I am: he has just as much reason to fear me, as I have to be afraid of him. Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian."
Musing: In this chapter, Ishmael meets Queequeq, a cannibal who is also a harpooner. Some of my favorite moments in the novel are in the interactions between Ishmael and Queequeq. Everything good about Melville comes through in this relationship. People should not be judged on anything external, religion should be about acceptance, and we should all treat each other with love and respect. Why hasn't everyone read this book?