Among the many themes and ideas that author Herman Melville expresses in Moby Dick, one of the least examined is the superiority of primitive man over modern man. As an undertone running through the entire book, one can see in Moby Dick the same admiration for the "noble savage" that is so prevalent in Melville's early tales of the simple, idyllic life of cannibals, although the focus has been shifted to to the dangers of seeing things from only one point of view and the struggle between good and evil. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Before proceeding with a discussion of how Melville glorifies “primitive man” in Moby Dick, it is necessary to agree on a working definition of the term. In her enlightening essay, “The Concept of Primitive,” Ashley Montagu points out the fallacy of using the term “primitive” in a scientific context because it is so ambiguous and has so many different connotations attached to it. He demonstrates that so-called “primitive” peoples are neither as underdeveloped, uncivilized, or simple as the term suggests. However, here I will use the term subjectively, with all its implications, because when Melville idolized primitive man, he did not have a specific scientific definition in mind. He had an ideal, the ideal of man before the corrupting influences of civilization had taken their toll. On one level of thought, Queequeg offers a great example of the superiority of a truly "primitive" man. This "native of Kokovo" is the romanticized image of the peoples Melville encountered in his stays on tropical islands, whose innocence and virtue so impressed him. He demonstrates his altruism and strength when he dives and saves from the freezing water the young "dirty" who had mocked him a few minutes earlier and when he frees the unfortunate Tashtego, who was trapped in the "Heidelburgh shop". Furthermore, Queequeg ironically seems more civilized than the supposedly "civilized" Ishmael: "I pay this particular compliment to Queequeg, why has he treated me with such civility and consideration, while I have been guilty of great rudeness?" Quite apart from these qualities, which can also be attributed to many white men, is his always being "content with his own company" and "equal to himself." This is an outward manifestation of the essential purity and innocence of him and his race, which is further emphasized by the fact that he was made unfit by the Christians he encountered to ascend "the pure and undefiled throne of thirty pagan kings before him ". The parallel of this with his experiences with missionaries converting cannibals in the Pacific Islands is obvious: he believed that missionaries ruined the natural joy, exuberance, and innocence of native peoples. The ultimate proof of Queequeg's goodness is the effect he has on Ishmael. "I felt a melting within me. My broken heart and mad hand were no longer turned against the world of wolves." Many have said that a central theme of Moby Dick is that it is impossible to assign a single meaning to anything, and that attempting to do so, as Ahab does, is very dangerous. If one subscribes to this view, Queequeg is responsible for the fact that Ishmael is the only one of the entire crew who is saved, because, after the first meeting with him, Ishmael comes to see the world differently. Clark Davis states, "Under the influence of the more naturalistic 'savage,' Ishmael learns to understand what he sees from more than one perspective." Of course, it also literally saves him, for it is his coffin that Ishmael finally uses as a life preserver. Queequeg, because of his primitiveness, is good in almost every sense of the word, and leads to the civilized.