Don’t Call Me Ishmael

by

Michael Gerard Bauer

Mom Character Analysis

Ishmael and Prue’s mom is, like Ishmael’s dad, a supportive parent. She’s on the city council. Ishmael’s mom only figures prominently in Ishmael’s retelling of how he got his name (Dad made Moby-Dick jokes when Mom was overdue in her pregnancy with Ishmael, and laughing caused her to go into labor).

Mom Quotes in Don’t Call Me Ishmael

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael quotes below are all either spoken by Mom or refer to Mom. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Identity and Coming of Age Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

“Ishmael? What kind of a wussy-crap name is that?”

What could I say? Up to this point in my life I hadn’t even known it was a wussy-crap name. No one had warned me that I had a wussy-crap name. Why would my parents give me a wussy-crap name in the first place? Was Herman Melville aware it was a wussy-crap name?

Related Characters: Ishmael Leseur (speaker), Barry Bagsley (speaker), Dad, Mom
Related Symbols: Moby-Dick
Page Number: 16
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Don’t Call Me Ishmael LitChart as a printable PDF.
Don’t Call Me Ishmael PDF

Mom Quotes in Don’t Call Me Ishmael

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael quotes below are all either spoken by Mom or refer to Mom. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Identity and Coming of Age Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

“Ishmael? What kind of a wussy-crap name is that?”

What could I say? Up to this point in my life I hadn’t even known it was a wussy-crap name. No one had warned me that I had a wussy-crap name. Why would my parents give me a wussy-crap name in the first place? Was Herman Melville aware it was a wussy-crap name?

Related Characters: Ishmael Leseur (speaker), Barry Bagsley (speaker), Dad, Mom
Related Symbols: Moby-Dick
Page Number: 16
Explanation and Analysis: