Moby-Dick

As Ishmael and Queequeg approach the Pequod, Peleg and Bildad, from the wigwam, exclaim that they wish Ishmael had told them that Queequeg is a “heathen,” and that all “heathens” who ship out on a whaling vessel from Nantucket must show paperwork proving they have converted to Christianity. To this, Ishmael counters that Queequeg is a member of the “First Congregational Church,” and when Bildad asks if this is the First Congregational in Nantucket, Ishmael replies that Queequeg is instead a member of the universal church of “believers,” and that this qualifies him as well as anyone to ship on the vessel. This appears to convince Peleg, especially after Queequeg demonstrates his accuracy with the harpoon by throwing it directly at a small speck in the water, from the deck.

But Bildad persists in wanting Queequeg to convert the Christianity, pressing into his hand a religious tract in English, which Queequeg cannot read, even after Queequeg has “signed” his ship documents by putting his “mark” underneath his name, as written by Peleg. When Bildad continues bringing up the subject of Christian providence, and how God’s help has aided the Pequod on numerous voyages, Peleg contests Bildad, saying that Peleg himself and Ahab’s desire to avoid death kept the ship afloat during previous misadventures at sea—and that God’s “desire” for the ship had nothing to do with it. But Bildad mumbles about Providence to himself as he walks away from Peleg, Ishmael, and Queequeg.