Chapter 41: Moby Dick
[A]ll evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly
personified, and made practically assailable in Moby Dick.
See Important Quotations Explained
Ishmael compares the legend of Moby Dick to his
experience of the whale. He notes that sperm whale attacks have
increased recently and that superstitious sailors have come to regard
these attacks as having an intelligent, even supernatural origin.
In particular, wild rumors about Moby Dick circulate among whalemen,
suggesting that he can be in more than one place at the same time
and that he is immortal. Ishmael remarks that even the wildest of
rumors usually contains some truth. Whales, for instance, have been
known to travel with remarkable speed from the Atlantic to the Pacific;
thus, it is possible for a whale to be caught in the Pacific with
the harpoons of a Greenland ship in it. Moby Dick, who has defied
capture numerous times, exhibits an “intelligent malignity” in his
attacks on men.
Ishmael explains that Ahab lost his leg when he tried
to attack Moby Dick with a knife after the whale destroyed his boats.
Far from land, Ahab did not have access to much in the way of medical care
and thus underwent unimaginable physical and mental suffering on
the ship’s return to Nantucket. Ishmael deduces that Ahab’s madness
and his single-minded drive to destroy the whale must have originated
during his bedridden agony.
Chapter 42: The Whiteness of the Whale
Ishmael explains what Moby Dick meant to him
at the time of the voyage: above all, it was the whiteness of the
whale that appalled him. Ishmael begins his discussion of “whiteness”
by noting its use as a symbol of virtue, nobility, and racial superiority.
To him, the color white only multiplies the terror when it is attached
to any object already “terrible” in and of itself, such as a shark
or polar bear.
Chapter 43: Hark!
This chapter offers a short, dramatic dialogue between
two sailors on watch. One thinks that he has heard a humanlike noise
from the hold (where a ship’s cargo is normally stowed). The other
hears nothing, and the first reminds him that Stubb and others have
whispered about a mysterious passenger in the hold.
Chapter 44: The Chart
Ishmael describes Ahab’s attempts to locate Moby Dick.
Ahab believes that he can predict where the whale will be by tracing
currents that the whale might follow in search of food. He is also
aware that Moby Dick has been known to show up in a certain place
at the same time every year. Ahab’s single-minded focus occasionally
leads him to burst into fits of near-mad shrieking. Ishmael speculates
that these fits are the result of the remainder of Ahab’s soul trying
to escape from his demented psyche.
Chapter 45: The Affidavit
Ishmael acknowledges that the reader may find the story
thus far presented to be incredible and cites several items from
his own experience and from written authorities to bolster the probability
of his narrative. First, he demonstrates the uniqueness of individual whales
and the frequency with which whales survive attack by humans. He
then considers why people may not believe such stories: perhaps
readers haven’t heard about the perils or vivid adventures common
to the whaling industry. He asks that the audience use “human reasoning”
when judging his story and not read it as a “hideous and intolerable
allegory.”
