Moby Dick; Or, The Whale

Queequeg’s Tattoo Comparison

Stubb observes Queequeg approaching with his tattooed body resembling the signs of the Zodiac. The Cannibal attempts to read the doubloon but, finding nothing familiar, concludes it must be an old button from some king’s trousers. Stubb watches as Queequeg compares the coin’s imagery to his own tattooed skin, apparently searching his thigh for corresponding celestial signs—perhaps Sagittarius—and muttering about Surgeon-Surgeon Astronomy in tones of old country folk wisdom.

Fedallah’s Fire Worship

Fedallah appears, described as that “ghost-devil” with his tail coiled and oakum in his pump toes. He makes a sign to the sun symbol on the coin and bows reverently. Stubb correctly interprets this as fire worship, noting the sun depicted on the doubloon’s face. Fedallah’s silent, oblique acknowledgment of the celestial imagery stands in contrast to the more explicit interpretations offered by other crew members.

Pip’s Delirium

Pip arrives with his “unearthly idiot face,” having watched all the interpreters at work. Stubb retreats to hear Pip’s reading, which consists of the repeating grammatical phrase: “I look, you look, he looks; we look, ye look, they look.” Pip has apparently memorized this from Murray’s Grammar. He then shifts to delirium, declaring “I, you, and he; and we, ye, and they, are all bats” while identifying himself as a crow standing atop a pine tree. His disjointed imagery includes scarecrows and bones stuck in old trousers. Stubb finds Pip “too crazy-witty” and departs, musing he could hang himself.

The Ship’s Navel

The chapter concludes with a meditation on the doubloon as the ship’s navel, with all the crew “on fire to unscrew it.” The passage explores dual dangers: unscrewing invites consequence, yet leaving it nailed signals desperation. The narrator recalls his father cutting down a pine tree that contained a silver wedding ring, drawing a parallel to how future generations might “fish up this old mast” and find the doubloon with oysters grown into the bark. The closing lines embrace chaotic, folksy imagery—God “goes ’mong the worlds blackberrying”—before breaking into a sudden call for cook, hoe-cake, and Jenny, returning abruptly from philosophical contemplation to the ship’s lively, irreverent atmosphere.

CAPÍTULO 100. Leg and Arm.

This chapter recounts the encounter between the Pequod and the Samuel Enderby, a London whaler. The meeting brings together two captains—Ahab with his ivory leg and Captain Boomer with his ivory arm—who share a connection through their parallel encounters with Moby Dick. The chapter explores themes of obsession, the exchange of stories between whalemen, and the contrasting attitudes toward the White Whale, culminating in Ahab’s abrupt departure after learning of the whale’s recent sighting.

Meeting the Samuel Enderby

The Pequod hails the Samuel Enderby, an English whaling vessel from London. Ahab, in his quarter-boat, calls out asking if they have seen the White Whale. The two captains—Ahab with his ivory leg and the English captain with his ivory arm—both bear physical reminders of their encounters with Moby Dick, creating an immediate bond between them.

Hailing the White Whale

When Ahab cries out asking if the stranger ship has seen the White Whale, the one-armed English captain responds by displaying his own sperm whale bone arm. The captain is a burly, good-natured man of about sixty, dressed in blue pilot-cloth. Ahab becomes impetuous, ordering his men to lower the boat so he can board the stranger vessel and learn more about the whale.

The One-Armed Captain

The English captain, later identified as Captain Boomer of the Samuel Enderby, reveals his friendly, good-humored nature. He wears a spacious roundabout jacket with one empty arm sleeve streaming behind him like a hussar’s surcoat. Unlike Ahab’s obsessive pursuit of Moby Dick, Boomer shows a more practical outlook, having already experienced the whale’s destructive power once and being content not to pursue him again.

Hoisting Ahab Aboard

When Ahab attempts to board the English ship, he faces difficulty because his artificial leg cannot be used with the stranger vessel’s ordinary rigging. His condition reduces him to “a clumsy landsman again” as he struggles with the uncertain height between boat and ship. The English captain quickly perceives the problem and offers the ship’s cutting-tackle, originally used for hauling whales, to help hoist Ahab aboard. Ahab slides his thigh into the curved blubber-hook and pulls himself up hand-over-hand.