An Introduction to Moby-Dick
Reading Schedule 2015-16
54
pages
34
pages
25
pages
44
pages
18
pages
24
pages
24
pages
10
pages
13
pages
39
pages
31
glorious
pages
Chapters 1-9 Long read, but necessary to establish
tone and all themes…can you spot ‘em? Ishmael,
Queequeg, Mapple,Jonah…Hubris! Repent!
Chapters 10 – 16
Learn to love Queequeg; Eat some chowder, walk the
streets of Nantucket, consider the Pequod
Chapters 17-22
Sign up for a voyage, be spooked by Elijah, stock the
ship, and “blindly plunge like fate into the lone
Atlantic”
Chapters 23-30; 36-40 The Crew
Meet Starbuck, the “revivified Egyptian,” and the boysA floating microcosm. 36 is where Ahab finally
shines…The doubloon chapters…
Chapters 41,42 (DOUBLE WOW)AHAB and MOBY. These
chapters are UNBELIEVABLE. Ah, Moby“…the
monomaniac incarnation of malicious agencies”
Chapters 47,48,50, 77, 78 The harpooners! Fedallah,
Tash and Queequeg77-78 Poor Tashtego! interesting
imagery?
Chapters 87,93, 110 Grand Armada blows my mind
every time. Pip “saw God’s foot upon the treadle of the
loom, and spoke it” and Queequeg has it tattooed all
over his body, “devilish tantalization!”
Chapters 94-96
Heaven and Hell, and something else…
Chapters 106-109; 113
Dark, Dark, Dark; sneeze, sneeze, sneeze and a
baptism of another kind
Chapters 117-119, 123, 128 This is really dark
stuff…Fedallah is the Parsee, fyi; Pip, a typhoon, and a
buoy
132-END (WOWOWOW) Action, adventure, tragedy,
and a miracle
The chase…A Nantucket sleigh-ride for the ages. You’ll
never stir punch again without seeing the “boiling
maelstrom.” Don’t forget to read the Epilogue…
Reading #1
Meet Ishmael,
Queequeg, Father
Mapple, and Elijah,
take a good look at
DUE
the Pequod.
November
12
Bromance!
Reading #2
Meet the crew and
make way for AHAB.
The key to Ahab lies
in 36, 41, 42
Reading #3
Crazy stuff that
happens at sea!
I’ve selected my
favorite moments.
Meet Fedallah and
his furtive crew
Reading #4
Melville writes action
packed finale. Hang
on for a Nantucket
sleigh ride you’ll never
forget.
Acceptable resources: www.powermobydick.com, any Gale critical article (not topic overview!)
(available on IMC virtual data base), your classmates, my highlight sheet and/or me!
Sailors! Be alert!
Reading quizzes, like sharks, can strike at any time!
Chapters 1-9
1:*See if you can spot Melville’s references to his four themes in chapter one:
Universality (we are all alike), Pride/hubris (I am smarter, more powerful than GOD!), Fate
vs. Free will (do I make my own decisions, or is there a plan for me?), Ungraspable Divine
Knowledge (There are some things that man is not meant to know)
*Also…gives some thought to Ishmael…he is to be our guide. What kind of guy is he?
*The last paragraph of chapter one…”the flood-gates of the wonderworld swung open…”

2: *Melville takes you on a tour of the old whaling towns of New England. Picture walking
those cold streets with Ishmael…feel the heat from the fire places, read the names on the
signs. What’s the difference between Nantucket and New Bedford?
3:*Pay attention to the painting in the Spouter-Inn…very symbolic. Look at language used
to describe it
*The Bulkington episode...what’s the deal with Bulkington?
*Build up to Queequeg (your new bff…trust me. Everybody needs a Queequeg in his life)
*Great quotes in here about being accepting of those who are different
4:*The counterpane is a quilt. Opening anecdote very important…Ishmael’s memory of
being sent to bed early also important. The Quilt becomes a symbol of sorts. What’s
interesting about a quilt? Notice the Moby-Dick quilts hanging in my classroom…how is a
quilt different from a blanket?
5:*What’s different about whalers? What effect does whaling have on a person?
6:*Take a walk through New Bedford…a very rich city thanks to whaling…
7:*Take note of the description of the whalers sitting in the chapel…described as “insular
and incommunicable…silent islands” Think about that…it becomes a major motif
(repeated image)
*Read the plaques…look how those whalers died and where..a preview of our voyage!
8-9:*BIG TIME important. Father Mapple…awesome dude. Read his description carefully
on the first page. There’s a nice quote buried in there that works well for a man who retires
from a job.
*Can you find another reference to silent islands…? See, told ya it was important.
*The Sermon…VERY SYMBOLIC. You haven’t met Ahab yet…but Ahab is da man…and this
sermon sets him up. Read it!
Chapters 10-16
10: Note the serenity of Queequeg, and the irony that he appears the ruthless cannibal but in
truth, is a noble gentleman. Chapter ten is a beautiful tribute to a beautiful friendship.
11: Paragraph two…”there is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast.
Nothing exists in itself.” This chapter will stay with you and you will think of it every cold morning
when you are wrapped up in warm blankets. Love the last line in the second paragraph.
12: Christians vs. Heathens. Remember: 1850s…lots of sailing around the globe and reporting
back about “others,” (non-white Protestants). Note how Queequeg reverses the racist white
notion that the white man must help/Christianize the savages. Go, Melville! Way ahead of your
time!
13: Stories that fill out the Queequeg picture. Boobies and Bumpkins…small-minded people
who make fun of what they don’t recognize/understand. A great last line in this chapter.
14: “Nantucket ain’t no Illinois”! Indeed! Short chapter but look how Melville starts with a speck
of sand and broadens it out to the globe. Also, a tribute to hard core whalers. Love that last
sentence. Made a ceramic plate with that quote. Yes, I have a whole dinner set of Moby-Dick
plates.
15: How’s life like a bowl a chowder? One of Melville’s big themes…we’re all in this together!
16: Meet Yojo. Ishmael goes to the wharf and surveys all available whaling ships that are
docked and signing on sailors. Whaling journeys typically lasted 2-3 YEARS. The Pequod is not
the best looking, but it’s old school. The owners have set up a teepee on the deck for a week as
a makeshift office to hire/interview sailors. Also…first mentioning of Captain Ahab here. Melville
takes his time to build Ahab’s character.
Chapters 17-22
17: Melville’s thoughts on religion. Keep in mind that he’s writing for white/Protestant
readers…he’s trying to show them the “other.”
18: Queequeg proves his worth as an expert harpooner
19: Who is this odd dude, Elijah? Who was Elijah in the Bible? Any similarities? More Ahab stories
20: Preparing the ship for 3 years at sea. The only woman in the entire novel appears in this
chapter. What is she doing?
21: Who are these sailors running ahead? Why does Queequeg sit on people? Where is Ahab?
22: Starbuck makes his dramatic appearance and gives a great speech. Look at that last,
awesome sentence!!!
Chapters 23-30
23: Bulkington…possibly a foil to Ahab? What’s the difference between Lee shore and Port
Side, and what does a storm have to do with all this? Note the organization of this short
chapter…starts with a concrete event and then takes it into the metaphysical. That pattern is
oft repeated.
24-25: A tribute to whaling industry. Don’t kill yourself understanding every detail…just keep
moving and know that Melville is setting up the importance and history of whaling. But check
out that last paragraph of chapter 24. WOW.
26-27: Here come your shipmates! Not many of them…keep them straight.
28: AHAB !!!! Pay attention to how Melville brings him in the novel (finally). “There was an infinity
of firmest fortitude, a determinate, unsurrenderable willfulness, in the fixed and fearless, forward
dedication of his glance.” WOW. And that last sentence of the chapter. Dang Melville can
write!
29: What’s up with that chapter title? What’s Mevlille going for? This chapter shows you Ahab in
action…fills out his character a bit
30: Why bother with this scene at all? What’s it showing about Ahab?
Chapters 36-40
36: Again, why the stage directions under the title? This scene is THE MOST IMPORTANT SCENE IN
THE ENTIRE NOVEL. Other moments are important too, but this is the biggie. Here, Melville lays
out his thesis, through Ahab. Note the theatrics of it…the whole crew is gathered on
deck…Ahab makes a huge show of his speech…A contest is put forth…who protests? What is
the response? Pay particular attention to the ‘pasteboard mask” speech…WOW…How does
Ahab orchestrate this scene so that the crew is “on board” (haha) with his plan??
37: More AHAB! Soliloquy! Look at that last sentence!!!!!
38: Starbuck’s reaction. Ah, alas, poor Starbuck
39: Stubb’s reaction. Oh, that silly Stubb
40: What’s this? A play?? Don’t’ worry so much about what is said, instead, look at the vast
array of sailors…Meville has assembled a global crew. Characters to pay attention to: Pip
(cabin boy), Tashtego, Daggoo and Queequeg (harpooners…the rock stars of the ship)
Chapters 41, 42
41: Like the buildup to Ahab, the build up to Moby is a long, slow crescendo. Melville gleans his
description from newspaper accounts of the Essex and other whaling ships who encountered
strange whales. Melville really gets his juices flowing “Forced into familiarity…” to the end of the
chapter. This part reveals how Ahab became so obsessed…”Ahab and anguish lay stretched
together in one hammock”…Oh…so much good stuff here!! “”gnawed within and scorched
without…” O O O!
42: Melville sets up the significance of WHITE. Moby is an albino whale. This chapter is a little
obtuse at first (note the huge footnote! Melville is such a geek! Haha). Figure out what he is
saying about white…and remember he wrote this novel in 1850-1851…what’s going on in
America that involves WHITENESS??? And then…the payday comes in the last paragraph of this
chapter…”Nature absolutely paints like the harlot, whose allurements cover nothing but the
charnel-house within…” and “the palsied universe lies before us a leper”!!!!!! Wonder ye at the
fiery hunt???
Chapters 47,48,50,77,78
47: Here we go again with a concrete action (mat making) related to an abstract notion (fate).
Enjoy.
48: Who is this Fedallah dude, and why does he hiss? This is the first whaling moment…consider
the implications of little (white) Flask atop gigantic (black) Daggoo…
50: Ahab violates the whaling rule…captains don’t go out on whaling boats…and who are
these mysterious crewmen?
77: Google Heidelburgh Tun…This is Melville trying to give you an idea of the size of the sperm
whale’s head
78: Now that you know the size of the head…watch what happens while they are scooping out
the oil. Notice anything interesting about the diction/imagery choices?
Chapters 87,93,110
87: My favorite “at sea” moment. Ishmael, Queequeg and Starbuck get caught up in a whale
pod…this chapter is all about circles…note all the circle references, and then think “what’s
Melville doing with all this?” My favorite quote…”. . .amid the tornadoed Atlantic of my being,
do I myself still for ever centrally disport in mute calm; and while …”well, you find it and read it.
WOW
93: Poor Pip!! Take note of what he sees at the bottom of the ocean, and what happens to him
as a result. What qualities are attributed to God? Hmmm…What is Melville saying here?
110: Skip ahead to this chapter…this is Queequeg’s moment. Love him so much. Notice
especially why both Pip and Queequeg drive Ahab crazy
Chapters 94-96
94 and 96 are a matched set: heaven and hell. As Ahab’s monomania intensifies, so does the
imagery. The novel begins its descent into hell…Enjoy the ride.
95…well, let’s just say, Melville feels the need to tell us about EVERY party of the whale.
But back to 94 and 96: 94 is kinda funny… 96 is a trip to HELL. So powerful. See if you can find
the world’s best periodic sentence. Try to let your imagination see this scene…midnight, fire,
middle of the Pacific, wild harpooners…
Chapters 106-109; 113
106-109, 113: So, Ahab breaks his leg. Melville takes this trip to the carpenter to a whole new
level. Remember the Macbeth porter scene? There’s a touch of that here. See if you can
figure out the jokes and the bigger message.
Chapters 117-119, 123, 128
117: Here’s why I had us read Macbeth right before Moby-Dick… We have ourselves another
prediction predicament…Oh, Ahab… (Fedallah = the parsee)
118: Ahab vs. SCIENCE! (Moby-Dick written during Romantic movement…where science no
longer held sway, and emotions were respected as a way to get to divine truth…but is Melville
really a Romantic here?)
119: Ok…now we are firmly in Hell. Read carefully and get the scene fixed in your mind…all
kinds of dark crazy happening here…it’s the counterpart to chapter 36 (which, with the passing
of the grog, was like a communion…this scene, on the other hand, is like a Hellish baptism)
123: Here, Starbuck is faced with a moral dilemma: should he kill Ahab and save the ship and
crew, or be a good Christian and follow orders, even though he knows these orders will kill them
all. ANOTHER Macbeth reference…foul is fair…see if you can find it.
128: So I’ve skipped all the chapters where the Pequod meets up with other whaling ships. A
“GAM” is the term used to describe a mid-ocean meeting between two whaling ships. They pull
up alongside each other and share news. The Rachel is one of the last ships they see before
encountering Moby Dick. Ahab’s reaction to the captain’s plea shows how far over the edge
he is. But this is not the last encounter with The Rachel…
132-Epilogue: Action packed…note the descriptions of Moby when he finally appears. The
chase is EPIC. I don’t want to give anything away. Just read and hang on.