Moby-Dick Questions Chs. 16-18: Why doesn’t Ishmael heed the bad omens he sees

Why doesn’t Ishmael heed the bad omens he sees?  Why is Ishmael in charge of selecting the ship?  What is the symbolic significance of the ship, Pequod?  What is distinctive about it?  How would you characterize the Quaker captains Peleg and Bildad and how do they use religion to determine Ishmael’s wages? (pp. 84-86 [73-75])  Who was the biblical Ahab? (see 1 Kings 16:19-30)  How do you interpret Peleg’s characterization of Ahab as a “grand, ungodly, god-like man”? (p. 88 [78])  What is a Ramadan?  What kind of woman is Mrs. Hussey in ch. 17?  What is the purpose of Queequeg’s fasting, and how is it interpreted by Ishmael and Mrs. Hussey?  Why does Queequeg receive so high a lay?  What is a Quohog?