Ishmael introduces himself by declaring that he is often alienated from the world of everyday life. When this feeling becomes unbearable, he seeks work on a ship.

Love for the water is universal, says Ishmael. He notes that in Manhattan, people are drawn to the edge of the island, while inland, people flock to lakes and rivers. Landscape artists often make water a focal point of their compositions, and water is a strong element in stories trailing back to antiquity. There is something hypnotic about water.

Ishmael never goes to sea as a passenger, but instead seeks work on a ship. Because he “abominate[s] all honorable respectable toils, trials and tribulations,” he never goes to work as a captain or as a cook (5). Rather, he goes as a simple sailor, and defends the philosophical growth that comes from taking orders, noting that everyone serves a master somewhere. Ishmael believes that sailing life is healthy for the body and mind.

Ishmael decides, for the first time, to join a whaling expedition. He questions the role fate plays in his decision and foreshadows a great disaster to come with the image of “one grand hooded phantom, like a snow hill in the air” (8).