![]() ![]() During this long intermediate section of the novel, the Pequod sails through the Indian and into the Pacific Oceans, Stubb catches a whale (and Ishmael describes how the whale is skinned, and its oil drained), and Ahab continues to plot for the white whale’s destruction.Īhab has the ship’s carpenter make him a new ivory leg when his old one splinters, and Queequeg, believing that he is dying of fever, asks the carpenter to make him a casket, which, when Queequeg recovers, becomes the life-buoy for the ship. One ship, the Town-Ho, tells a long story of a mutiny interrupted by Moby Dick another, the Rose-Bud, simply complains of “sick” whales it has tied to its side. The Pequod has a series of “gams,” or meetings at sea, with other boats, some of whom have experienced good luck on the high seas, others which have been devastated by accidents, storms, or encounters with Moby Dick. Ahab vows to give a one-ounce gold doubloon to the first man to spot the “white whale.” Ahab finally makes an appearance on the deck of the Pequod, and announces to the crew that, although they are a normal whaling ship, they also have a special mission-to find and kill Moby Dick. Ishmael also introduces Starbuck, the practical and cautious first mate, Stubb, the wild and talented whale-fisher and second mate, and Flask, the “mediocre” third mate. Once at sea, Ishmael introduces the particulars of the boat and of whaling, and often makes asides to the reader regarding the historical, scientific, religious, and philosophical components of whale-fishing. The ship leaves Nantucket on Christmas Day. Despite fears of Ahab-and the harsh-sounding prophecies of a man named Elijah, who warns Ishmael and Queequeg of the captain-the two men decide to ship out on the Pequod. Ishmael later finds out that Ahab lost his leg to a particularly nasty whale, who bit it off this whale is called Moby Dick, and is famous for its whiteness, its ferocity, and its inability to be caught. There, Ishmael comes across a ship called the Pequod, and when he speaks to two of the boats owners, Peleg and Bildad, he realizes that the captain of the Pequod, called Ahab, is a “strange” man, possibly mad, who does not tend to associate with others. ![]() ![]() Although Ishmael is initially scared of Queequeg, the two quickly become friends, and vow to accompany each other on a ship of Ishmael’s choosing, in Nantucket. In New Bedford, at the Spouter Inn, Ishmael meets Queequeg, a “native” man from Kokovoko, in the Pacific isles, who is trained as a harpooner on whale-ships-a man who actually hunts and catches whales. The novel begins with a famous line: “Call me Ishmael.” Ishmael, the narrator of Moby Dick, seeks “freedom” from his life in New York City, and decides to head north to New Bedford, Massachusetts, to find a job on a whaling ship. ![]()
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