Character Analysis
Oberlus is a mad hermit who lives on Hood's Isle; a thief, a bandit, and a murderer. He's kind of out of a horror movie; the spooky, slimy, hunchbacked guy who leaps out at you from the corner and does something horrible. He's described as demonic and "beast-like" (5.179); he "struck strangers much as if he were a volcanic creature thrown up by the same convulsion which exploded into sight the isle." (5.179) He's of the Galapagos—which means he's isolated, wild, and unpleasant.
The narrator says that Oberlus is "a creature whom it is religion to detest, since it is philanthropy to hate a misanthrope." (5.204) That sums up Oberlus' place in the narrative; he's there for you to hate him, because hating him is fun. It also perhaps applies to the way Melville treats the Galapagos as a whole. The enjoyment of the story is to look around at the bleak, blasted waste and say, "Oh! How awful!" Again, it's rather like a horror film. You're supposed to like the feeling of being appalled.
Oberlus' Timeline