Moby-Dick | Teaching Key Figures

Character Descriptions

This section provides a short description of all the major characters in the book. This can be printed out as a study guide for students, used as a "key" for leading a class discussion, or you can jump to the quiz/homework section to find worksheets that incorporate these descriptions into a variety of question formats.

Characters

Ishmael - The main character of the novel and narrator of the story.

Queequeg - The cannibal harpooner with whom Ishmael shares a bed at the Spouter Inn in New Bedford.

Captain Peleg - One of the owners of the Pequod who is responsible for getting the ship ready for its three-year voyage. He stays in a tepee on deck of the Pequod during the preparations.

Captain Bildad - The second of the owners of the Pequod, he is a strict and stern Quaker.

Elijah - A strange prophet-like man who Ishmael...
(read more)