July 10, 2026
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
Xiaolu Guo’s novel Call Me Ishmaelle reimagines Moby Dick. The adventure begins when a fifteen year old girl, Ishmaelle, becomes an orphan. Born and raised in the poor village of Saxonham, a fictional coastal village in the UK, she tries to work as a ropemaker for a time but is quickly drawn to a life at sea. Ishmaelle cuts her hair and wears layers of clothes to pass for a boy. She first works as a cabinboy on a merchant ship to get to America and eventually ends up in Nantucket where the story merges with Moby Dick’s Ishmael.
As in the original, Ishmaelle meets Kauri (Queequeg) in New Bedford in a dark inn. They combine forces and land a ride on the boat of Captain Seneca (Ahab). Aboard the Nimrod (Pequod), Ishmaelle uses the name Ishmael and continues to pass for a young boy. About halfway through the novel, her identity is discovered by a sailor who takes advantage of her. In an attempt to suppress the sexual assault her secret is revealed to captain and crew. By the time she is found out, Seneca’s monomaniacal quest has also been revealed to the crew. They fear his obsession. Therefore, most of the crew view Ishmaelle as another sign of impending doom. In an interesting twist, however, Captain Seneca seems pleased to have a female aboard, believing her to be a lucky charm or capable witch. Guo blends Chinese Taoist beliefs with mysticism and sorcery. Seneca blurs lines between a complicated mix of belief systems with the hopes that one of these systems might deliver his ultimate goal: destruction of the almost godlike white whale. In Guo’s hands, spirituality becomes much broader than Moby Dick’s Christian leanings. Her novel blends race and religion, which seems fitting as the sailors enter the South China Sea, Indian Ocean, and Arabian Sea. (Guo also provides a map of the expedition which I appreciated).
While Seneca is taken with Ishmaelle’s magical potential, he also heavily relies on Muzi (who I envision as Fedallah). Muzi has a strange draw upon Captain Seneca, but he never acquires the sinister characteristics of Fedallah. In the original, the hidden crew is of nebulous origins, scanty communication, and unknown virtue. Instead, Guo breathes new life into the mysterious oriental. Muzi prays nightly and constantly reads fortunes. Through him, Guo introduces the complicated art of I Ching hexagrams. Guo also includes Chinese characters and gives brief explanations of the way that hexagrams combine and work.
In Call Me Ishmaelle Muzi becomes a natural part of the story. He understand and interprets the inconstancy of nature. Even better, the reader has direct access to Muzi’s thoughts. For example, the end of Chapter Ten reads, “Like bamboo shadows under the moonlight the shadow is colder than the night and to tell the difference between the shadow and light one shall look at the movement of things as there is neither shadow nor light if there is no movement” (263). This fun reimagining of Fedallah surprised and pleased me. I never realized how much I wanted to know more about this character until Guo voiced his spirtuality. Muzi becomes a more well-rounded character because of his hexagram explanations and interactions with Ishmaelle. The two have much respect for each other and both seem to seek the same thing: peace or oneness with the world.
I appreciate so much about this book that I hesitate to take issue with it. However, the one difference which left me dissatisfied was the relationship between Ishmaelle and Kauri. Since their initial meeting mirrored Melville’s, I think I expected more focus on Kauri. Unfortunately, few direct interactions occur between them which was slightly disappointing. Some of my favorite scenes from Moby Dick which display Queequeg’s heroic nature have been entirely removed. More than that, though, I missed intimate scenes between Kauri and Ishmaelle. The narrator notes their connection more than shows it and I missed Queequeg’s presence.
Nevertheless, the playfulness, emphasis on gender, and the incorporation of the Tao Te Ching is fascinating and makes this book well worth the read. Much like the epigraph which includes the following line: “Its turbulent air brings forth unceasing energy,” this novel carries Melville’s unceasing energy into new cultures, eras, and possibilities. Characters, storylines, emotions which began with Moby Dick continue in the capable hands of Xiaolu Guo.
Image credit: Shutterstock/ mustafa kocabas
