Moby-Dick Recap: Chapters 43-50
The Madness of King Ahab
Lol, I enjoyed that tweet and thought I’d kick off today’s recap with it.
Anyway, chapters 43-50, am I right? Chapter 43 (“Hark!") is one of those short little chapters that aren’t even a full page, but it is perhaps the only chapter title in Moby-Dick that includes an exclamation point, which is surprising, since Melville seems rather fond of exclamation points and uses them liberally throughout the novel. “Hark!”’s primary purpose is to foreshadow Ahab’s secret crew, who will appear a few chapters later. Also, it includes the fun word scuttle-butt, which is a small barrel from which the sailors get their fresh water. Basically, the sailor office water cooler and place of gossip. At one of my previous places of employment, the daily team standup was called the scuttle-butt (I only include this because some of my friends/former colleagues from that company are reading this. Hi! Hark!).
If, like me, you were wondering why Ahab thinks he can track down one single whale, a whale who could hypothetically be swimming in any of the four oceans on earth, well, “The Chart” feels you and tries to make sense of this. We get some insight into Ahab’s famously obsessive nature here. Almost every night, Ahab studies numerous elaborate charts for hard data that he hopes will provide secret insights about Moby Dick’s location. Despite the chapter’s title, it’s not just one chart. It’s many charts. He’s so monomaniacal about these charts that he can’t sleep. He’s basically the original Pepe Silvia meme.
Ishmael provides some other rationales for why Moby Dick might be easier to track down than any old random whale. He's famous, he's been seen in certain locations where it’s likely he may turn up again. He loves the Equator particularly, and also, his terrifying whiteness from “The Whiteness of the Whale” makes him unmistakable.
Still skeptical? Well, in “The Affidavit,” Ishmael wants you to know that he’s not making all this shit up, or rather, maybe Melville wants you to know that this novel is Based on a True Story. It kind of makes me want to say, “Ishmael, I believe you, I believe you! Please, don’t go on for another 6 pages about—”
Too late. It’s not that I mind this, and it is cool that he references the Essex (see: “The True Life Horror That Inspired Moby Dick.”) Speaking of which ,there’s a movie about how Melville was inspired by the Essex, In the Heart of the Sea. It stars Ben Whishaw as Melville, which seems like smart casting, but I’ve never seen the movie and have no idea if it’s good.
Anyway, I think the issue for me is that many of the points made in “The Affidavit” were already made in “Extracts”—that section in the beginning that had so many quotes (many from primary sources) about how terrifying whales can be and how brutal the whaling industry is. Some of the examples in “The Affidavit” feel like a retread. But look, Melville really, really, really wants us to know that his novel is based in historical accuracy, and god help you if you mistake it to be “a monstrous fable, or still worse and more detestable, a hideous and intolerable allegory.”
Chapter 46’s “Surmises” continues with more about Ahab psychology and Alex’s comment really sums it up better than I could.
Chapter 47 (“The Mat-Maker”) opens with Queequeg and Ishmael doing some nice weaving together. Awww, it’s been a while since we’ve had a cute moment between them! I would have been happy with just that. But then, omg THEN:
Yes, my friends, Tashtego spots a non-Moby Dick whale and we are off to hunt that bad boy. Exciting! The mates and harpooners are rushing around to get ready to go out in the boats, and then, we see five mysterious men emerge with Ahab. They were the noises heard in “Hark!” and also, the mysterious figures Ishmael (and Elijah) saw boarding the ship back in Chapter 21, “Going Aboard.”
Is it weird that Ahab has been hiding Fedellah and his men for months in the after-hold? Yeah. (Did they ever, like, sneak out when no one was around for fresh air or anything?) Does Ishmael describe them in uncomfortable racist terms? Yup. Is everyone kinda fine with the fact that Ahab had these secret stowaways he never told anyone about because hey, they are extra human bodies that can help catch whales, and bring home more $$$? Also yes. And so we get the action packed Chapter 48 (“The First Lowering”). They chase those whales. Flask climbs on Daggoo's shoulders. There’s a storm brewing. Ahab is 🤬 the whole time. The mission is a failure, no whales are caught. Everyone in Starbuck’s boat (which has Queequeg and Ishmael) nearly drowns and gets left out to sea.
Chapter 49 and 50 serve almost as a denouement to all that. In “Hyena,” after his near death experience, Ishmael’s like, “I really may die out here, lmao.” In “Ahab’s Boat and Crew—Fedallah,” we reflect more on how Ahab really is a man obsessed. He'll go out in his own boat even though it’s extremely risky to do so with his missing leg. And shockingly, he’ll take this risk for any whales, not just Moby Dick. As for his boat crew, the stowaways bond with the rest of the crew, they’re probably just glad not to have to weirdly hide anymore. Fedallah, however, forever remains a mystery. Well, at least to Ishmael.
That’s it until next week. Stay safe and cool. We’re well into Moby Dick Summer and temperatures throughout the world remain record high. I wouldn’t be the first to make Moby-Dick a metaphor for climate change, but perhaps we’ll respect Melville and make nothing a hideous and intolerable allegory.
Maybe Moby Dick does not symbolize anything—not God, fate, nor the devil. Maybe he’s just a whale that some crazy man is hunting and perhaps that’s the bleakest take of all.
I wish I had substack in college. I looove this.