V. The Lovers

Meaning:  Love and relationships, decisions

Depiction: Queequeg and Ishmael in their bed at the Spouter Inn, facing each other, deep in intimate conversation. Behind their bed is a window through which we see the stormy sea, and from that the distant form of a leaping whale. As whaling is what brings these two men together, the image of the whale here stands in for the angel in the original RWS card, who is meant to be the priest who unites the two figures in marriage. And indeed, they are "henceforth" declared married by Queequeg in Chapter 10, and described as "wedded" again in Chapter 72 (The Monkey-Rope).

My husband decided to illustrate this card. He was aiming at depicting a rather dreamlike state rather than the bed at the Spouter Inn. Also, doesn't Ishmael look like Kris Kristofferson here?  

Illustration from Moby Dick, Rockwell Kent, 1930

Text: Chapter 10- A Bosom Friend;  and Chapter 11- Nightgown

How it is I know not; but there is no place like a bed for confidential disclosures between friends. Man and wife, they say, there open the very bottom of their souls to each other; and some old couples often lie and chat over old times till nearly morning. Thus, then, in our hearts’ honeymoon, lay I and Queequeg—a cosy, loving pair.

Illustration by David Peloquin, date unknown.

Comments:  There is a perennial debate about whether Ishmael and Queequeg's relationship was meant to be romantic or simply deep, non-erotic kinship. In a tarot reading, this card could be either, especially since not all persons seeking a reading are in a love relationship or looking for romance.  However,  there is no shortage of textual and biographical information to suggest that Melville really did intend to imply a physical as well as intellectual relationship between these characters- the love he longed for, but dared not express, at least not openly.

From that hour I clove to Queequeg like a barnacle. Ch. 13- Wheelbarrow/Moby Dick (2011) Starz-Encore