The Moby-Dick Bible
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Literary Motifs › Social Status

Social Status

1 passage in the novel carry this mark, in the order they appear.

For to go as a passenger you must needs have a purse, and a purse is but a rag unless you have something in it. Besides, passengers get sea-sick—grow quarrelsome—don’t sleep of nights—do not enjoy themselves much, as a general thing;—no, I never go as a passenger; nor, though I am something of a salt, do I ever go to sea as a Commodore, or a Captain, or a Cook. I abandon the glory and distinction of such offices to those who like them.

Chapter 1, Loomings · verse 14

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