Summary A few weeks after the welding of Ahab’s harpoon, the Pequod meets a Nantucket ship called the Bachelor, a whaler filled with oil and headed home. The crew of the Bachelor “vaingloriously” celebrates its success, and the two captains briefly share their very different opinions. Analysis The episode with […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 115Summary and Analysis Chapters 111-114
Summary As the Pequod enters the “sweet mystery” of the Pacific Ocean, Ishmael understands why most seamen find serenity in these vast waters. That is not the case with Ahab. His purpose intensifies as he prepares for the meeting with the White Whale. The captain asks his blacksmith, Perth, to […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 111-114Summary and Analysis Chapter 110
Summary Queequeg catches a chill and then a fever, “crawling about amid that dampness and slime” as he helps remove the casks from the hold. He loses weight and seems near death. Having seen canoe coffins in Nantucket that reminded him of those used on his native isle, the harpooner […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 110Summary and Analysis Chapter 109
Summary The next morning, Starbuck discovers that some of the casks in the hold of the ship must be leaking oil. He finds Ahab in his cabin, poring over an ocean chart and not at all interested in being disturbed. Starbuck suggests that the ship must stop to check the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 109Summary and Analysis Chapters 106-108
Summary Entering his boat after the gam on the Samuel Enderby, Ahab splintered his artificial leg and needs to summon the carpenter aboard the Pequod to make him a new one. The carpenter is a man of many skills but little personality. Ahab is frustrated by his physical dependence on […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 106-108Summary and Analysis Chapters 101-105
Summary Because of the name of the English ship, Ishmael is set to thinking of the history of whaling, its future, and various physical aspects of the sperm whale. He himself has dissected a baby sperm and once studied the skeleton of a mature whale when he visited one of […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 101-105Summary and Analysis Chapters 99-100
Summary During one of his regular walks on the quarter-deck, Ahab fastens his attention on the gold coin that he has nailed to the mainmast, a reward for the crewman who first spots Moby Dick. Several others contemplate the coin as well. As the journey continues, Ahab hails an English […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 99-100Summary and Analysis Chapters 94-98
Summary These five chapters discuss activities aboard ship after the removal of blubber from a whale. The men work together to take the oil from the blubber, by manual labor and heat, in the bright light produced by the very oil they harvest. After the oil is cooled and sealed […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 94-98Summary and Analysis Chapter 93
Summary During the ambergris matter, Stubb’s after-oarsman seriously sprained his hand, causing the second mate to assign little Pip to his boat. On his second outing, Pip leaps from the boat after it is struck by a whale and becomes tangled in the line so that Tashtego has to cut […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 93Summary and Analysis Chapters 91-92
Summary A week or two after the encounter with the armada, the Pequod comes upon an especially foul-smelling French ship called the Bouton-de-Rose (French, “Rose-Bud”). The source of the odor is two whales, now lashed to the ship, members of the armada and mortally wounded in the previous encounter with […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 91-92