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- In a last, desperate effort, Ahab throws one more harpoon at Moby Dick but becomes entangled in the hemp line and is tossed to the sea and his death. The ship sinks in a vortex that takes all but one down with it.
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Does Ahab Harpoon Moby Dick?
Ahab’s decision to have his own harpoon boat and crew, says Ishmael, is not a typical practice in the whaling industry. Captains do not frequently risk themselves in pursuit of whales, and Ahab’s injury makes it even more surprising that he would personally command a harpoon boat.
- Chapters 55–65
A summary of Chapters 55–65 in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick....
- Quick Quiz
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- Chapters 55–65
- Chapter 133: The Chase—First Day
- Chapter 134: The Chase—Second Day
- Chapter 135: The Chase—Third Day
- Epilogue
- Analysis: Chapter 133–135 & Epilogue
Ahab can sense by the smell of a whale in the air that Moby Dick is near. Climbing up to the main royal-mast, Ahab spots Moby Dick and earns himself the doubloon. All of the boats set off in chase of the whale. When Moby Dick finally surfaces, he does so directly beneath Ahab’s boat, destroying it and casting its crew into the water. The whale thre...
Ishmael notes that it is not unprecedented for whalers to give extended pursuit to a particular whale. Ahab, despite the previous day’s loss of the boat, is intent on the chase. They do sight Moby Dick again, and the crewmen, in awe of Ahab’s wild power and caught up in the thrill, lower three boats. Starbuck again remains on board the Pequod.Ahab ...
The crew seeks the White Whale for a third time but sees nothing until Ahab realizes, “Aye, he’s chasing me now; not I, him—that’s bad.” They turn the ship around completely, and Ahab mounts the masthead himself. He sights the spout and comes back down to the deck again. As he gets into his boat and leaves Starbuck in charge, the two men exchange a...
Ishmael is the only survivor of the Pequod’s encounter with Moby Dick. He escapes only because he had been thrown clear of the area in the wreck of Ahab’s harpoon boat. Queequeg’s coffin bobs up and becomes Ishmael’s life buoy. A day after the wreck, the Rachel saves Ishmael as she continues to search for her own lost crew.
Ahab’s long-awaited encounter with Moby Dick brings to mind the drawn-out, fantastic battle scenes of myth and epic. He has sought the whale for a full year, the traditional time span of an epic quest. He now battles the whale for three days, stopping each night to rearm himself and repair the day’s damage. However, Ahab is fated to lose, and he kn...
Fedallah is swept off Ahab's whaleboat during the final three-day chase, and Ahab later sees his corpse bound to Moby Dick with a harpoon line. The whale proves to be the first of the two hearses; the Pequod becomes the second when it sinks with the loss of all hands aboard.
Quick answer: At the end of Melville's novel, Ahab harpoons Moby Dick. In retaliation, Moby Dick attacks and sinks the Pequod; of the entire crew, only Ishmael survives the wreck. The line of...
Moby Dick returns "within a few yards of Ahab's boat", a harpoon is darted, the line gets tangled, and Ahab stoops to free it. In doing so, the line loops around Ahab's neck. As the stricken whale swims away, the captain is drawn with him out of sight.
In a desperate last attempt to harpoon the leviathan from his open boat, Ahab inadvertently becomes entangled in the hemp harpoon line and is cast into the sea to his death. Analysis. The last three chapters of the novel contain some of the finest descriptions of dramatic action in American literature. They should be read as a unit.
Chapter 119: The Candles. The next day, the Pequod is caught in a typhoon, and one of the harpoon boats is destroyed. The weird weather makes white flames appear at the top of the three masts, but Ahab refuses to let the crew put up lightning rods to draw away the danger.
