Summary Without the owners’ knowledge, Ahab has brought aboard his own private crew of four oarsmen and the harpooner Fedallah. Except for Fedallah, their mystery soon fades; the Pequod crew works with and accepts the aborigines as able seamen. Weeks pass, and the ship approaches the southern tip of Africa. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 50-51Summary and Analysis Chapters 46-49
Summary Ishmael speculates on Ahab’s motivation for continuing to look for whales other than Moby Dick. As Queequeg and Ishmael work on a mat to lash to the boat, Tashtego spots a school of sperm whales and sounds the alarm, “There she blows!” Almost immediately, the men spring into action […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 46-49Summary and Analysis Chapters 43-45
Summary One quiet night while working near the rear of the ship, one of the seamen hears a mysterious sound, perhaps a human cough, beneath the hatches of a part of the ship where the crew never is allowed. The source of the sound remains unidentified. Meanwhile, Ahab spends his […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 43-45Summary and Analysis Chapters 41-42
Summary Ishmael returns as narrator to tell us what he has heard of the White Whale. Because his information is all hearsay — something he has heard from others but cannot yet prove — he concedes that much of it may be exaggerated. In fact, Moby Dick has already become […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 41-42Summary and Analysis Chapters 37-40
Summary As evening turns into night, various characters react to the events of the day. At sunset, Ahab, in his cabin, is pleased with the ease with which he swayed the crew and is outspoken in his determination. At dusk by the mainmast, Starbuck feels incapable of changing his captain’s […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 37-40Summary and Analysis Chapter 36
Summary A few days after the incident with his pipe, Ahab spends a restless day in his cabin or pacing the quarter-deck. Near the end of the day, he issues an unusual order: The entire crew, even the masthead watch, is to assemble before him. Ahab briefly discusses procedure for […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 36Summary and Analysis Chapters 32-35
Summary In one of many considerations of cetology (the study of whales), Ishmael tells us of various types of leviathan, of which he values the sperm whale most highly. His attention then shifts to life aboard ship as he discusses the chain of command and some of the ways in […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 32-35Summary and Analysis Chapters 29-31
Summary Ahab spends less and less time in his cabin. “It feels like going down into one’s tomb,” he is heard to mutter. His nightly pacing on deck, his whale-jaw leg thumping, disturbs some of the crew below. When Stubb humorously asks the captain if the noise might be muffled, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 29-31Summary and Analysis Chapter 28
Summary After the Pequod has been at sea for several days, Ahab finally makes his first appearance. Ishmael tries to convince himself that Ahab has simply waited until the ship, sailing south, reached warmer climes. He describes the captain in emblematic ways. From that morning on, more is seen of […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 28Summary and Analysis Chapters 26-27
Summary Ishmael introduces some of the crew, beginning, in descending order under Ahab, with those in command. Chief mate is Starbuck, a thirty-year-old Quaker whose father and brother were killed in whaling accidents. Second mate is Stubb, “[g]ood-humored, easy, and careless,” rarely seen awake without a pipe in his mouth. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 26-27