Moby Dick (Part 1) - Book Summary

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Published in 1851, Moby Dick is Herman Melville’s sixth and most famous novel. Set aboard a Massachusetts whaling ship, the novel centers on Captain Ahab’s relentless search for Moby Dick, the violent sperm whale that took his leg. At the time of its publication, the book was poorly received by critics and readers, who expected the romantic, high seas adventure typical of Melville’s earlier novels. It was only after Melville’s death in 1891 that the novel rose to its current status as a hallmark of American literature.

“Call me Ishmael.” So goes the famous opening of the novel, which begins in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where its narrator, an experienced sailor named Ishmael, intends to sign up for a Nantucket whaling voyage. Upon arrival, Ishmael finds that the whaler’s inn where he plans to stay is so full that he must share a bed with Queequeg, a harpooner and former cannibal from New Zealand. At first, Ishmael worries that the heavily tattooed—and armed—Queequeg is dangerous, but he wakes to find Queequeg’s arm affectionately thrown around him. Later, Ishmael attends a church service, where the preacher delivers a sermon about Jonah and the whale.

Along with Queequeg, Ishmael boards a schooner to Nantucket, where they choose between three ships taking a year-long journey. They choose the Pequod, whose original captain, Peleg, has recently retired and now co-owns the boat with another Quaker, Bildad. Peleg tells Ishmael of the Pequod’s new captain, Ahab, a peculiar and ungodly man who lost his leg to a sperm whale. Before leaving for their voyage, Ishmael and Queequeg encounter a stranger named Elijah who predicts disaster on their journey.

Ishmael and Queequeg set sail on Christmas Day, joining a rag-tag team of men including Starbuck, the practical first mate, and Stubb, the easygoing second mate. At first, the mysterious Captain Ahab remains secluded in his cabin, which disturbs Ishmael in light of Elijah’s omen. When Ahab emerges several days into the voyage, Ishmael sees that he uses a false leg made from a sperm whale’s jaw. Stubb observes that Ahab seems to sleep only three hours a night, suffering from vivid nightmares.

Soon, Ahab orders the crew to look out for Moby Dick, the legendary white whale that took his leg. Moreover, Ahab promises a doubloon to the first man to sight the beast and nails the coin to the mast. Starbuck tells Ahab that his obsession with Moby Dick is madness, and that the men joined the crew not for revenge, but for profit. But Ahab is possessed with hatred for the white whale and remains hellbent on destroying it.

In the following chapters, Melville moves from one sailor’s point of view on the journey to another. This includes Ahab, who expresses resignation at his encroaching madness, increasingly aware that it could expose him to mutiny. During this section of the novel, Melville also writes from his own perspective, exploring Moby Dick’s whiteness, which he likens to an absence of meaning.

Meanwhile, much of the crew—including Ishmael—feels a sense of anticipation and even hysteria at the impending encounter with Moby Dick. One day, Tashtego, Stubb’s indigenous harpooner, spots a nearby whale. Ahab summons his personal crew, five men who appear out of nowhere like “phantoms.” Among them is Fedallah, Ahab’s sinister harpooner. While Queequeg manages to strike the whale, the blow is insufficient to kill it.

As the Pequod approaches the Cape of Good Hope, it encounters the Goney (or Albatross), another whaling ship. Although Ahab asks the Albatross’ captain if he has seen Moby Dick, Ahab cannot hear his answer. Ishmael notes that Ahab’s urgent search for Moby Dick prevents him from engaging in the customary “gam,” or a meeting of two ships to exchange information.

During the Pequod’s next encounter with a ship, The Town-Ho, Ahab opts for a gam. Manned almost wholly by Polynesians, the Town-Ho tells the Pequod’s crew of its encounter with Moby Dick. During a mutiny between a sailor from Lake Eerie named Steelkilt and a mate named Radney, Moby Dick attacked the boat, crushing Radney between its jaws.

Soon after their encounter with the Town-Ho, the Pequod’s crew spots a sperm whale, which Stubb and Tashtego are able to kill. Stubb decides to eat a steak from the carcass, which the crew has lashed to the side of the ship. But Stubb is not the only one with a taste for whale meat, as several sharks begin to feed on the carcass. While Queequeg nearly loses a hand while attempting to fend them off, Captain Ahab converses with the whale’s head, asking what it has seen.

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