In these chapters, not a lot of things happened. You can summarize everything in one short sentence: preparing for the trip. In chapter 16, Ishmael goes to make preparations for the voyages and decides that the ship Pequod is best suited for them because it has all the marks a good whaleing ship should have like the long sharp teeth of a sperm whale all around the open bulwarks inserted for pins. He then meets captain Peleg and Bildad who had their initicial doughts about him but agree to pay him 300 and let him stay. The next Day Quepeg is intoduced to the captains and becasue he is a cannibal ask him whether he is a christian but when they see how good he is with his harpoon they let him stay. When they walk back to the hotel they meet up with a stranger who talks about captain Ahab and how he overworkd hiscrew, “Bu you must jump when he gives an order. Step and growl, growll and go that is the word with captain Ahab.” Next morning they wake up and along with the crew prepare to set sail.
In these chapeters you also learn how religious Que peg is. When we first meet Que peg we think he is a monster with many tattos, with a blueish skin color and wird marks all over his body. He basically looks like a criminal but then we learn how he is a good guy, he cares about his personal hygine, is shy and offers Ishmael a great friendship. Here we learn how religious he is when he spends a whole day and a whole night praying to his ramadan in a uncomfortable position with a statue of a little black god standing on his head. He doesn’t even stop to eat or when Ishmael breaks the door open he doens’t even blink or notices them. Truly amazing!!!
