Carpenter Remarks on Ahab’s Fiery Temper
The carpenter observes to himself that Ahab’s sudden mood shifts remind him of sudden squalls in hot latitudes. He compares Ahab to the Isle of Albemarle in the Galapagos, cut by the Equator in its middle, noting that “some sort of Equator cuts yon old man too, right in his middle.” The carpenter views Ahab as perpetually “fiery hot,” likening himself to a professor of musical glasses tapping with his caulking mallet while the captain watches.
Ahab Questions Carpenter on Work Songs
Ahab asks if the carpenter ever sings while working on coffins, invoking the Titans who hummed while chipping out volcanic craters, and the grave-digger from Hamlet who sings spade in hand. The carpenter explains that the caulking mallet is full of music because the coffin lid serves as a sounding-board, and “there’s naught beneath.” Ahab then asks if he has heard a coffin knock against a churchyard gate when carrying a bier, and the carpenter begins to respond but is interrupted when Ahab asks about his use of the word “faith.”
Ahab Contemplates Coffin-Lifebuoy Symbolism
In a soliloquy, Ahab reflects on the paradoxical transformation of the coffin into a life-buoy. He compares it to a woodpecker tapping a hollow tree, noting how “man’s seconds tick.” He meditates on how “immaterial are all materials” and how “imponderable thoughts” constitute the only real things. Ahab recognizes the “dreaded symbol of grim death” made by chance into “the expressive sign of the help and hope of most endangered life.” He wonders if “in some spiritual sense the coffin is, after all, but an immortality-preserver,” yet dismisses the thought, acknowledging he is too far gone on the dark side of earth to find comfort in theoretic brightness.
Ahab Resolves to Speak With Pip Below Deck
Ahab orders the carpenter to finish quickly and get the work out of sight before he returns. He departs aft, intending to speak with Pip below deck, declaring that he “suck[s] most wondrous philosophies” from the boy. He believes some “unknown conduits from unknown worlds must empty into” Pip, suggesting Ahab sees Pip as a source of mysterious wisdom or spiritual connection.
CHAPITRE 128. The Pequod Meets The Rachel.
The Rachel, a Nantucket whaler, approaches the Pequod with sails suddenly fallen, signaling disaster aboard. Her captain comes aboard and reveals that while the ship’s four boats were pursuing a whale shoal, Moby Dick suddenly appeared, causing the fourth boat—the swiftest—to take chase. The boat disappeared into the distance, and despite the ship sailing through the night with lights burning and men searching, it was never found. When the captain finally discloses his true purpose, he begs Ahab to help search for his missing son, a boy of only twelve years old, offering to pay handsomely for the Pequod’s assistance. Ahab coldly refuses, insisting he must continue his own hunt for the white whale despite the father’s anguished pleading. The Rachel departs, still searching, her crew clustered like cherry pickers in the rigging as she yaws and tacks over every dark spot on the water, weeping for her children as the biblical Rachel wept, because they were not.
The Pequod Meets the Rachel
The Pequod Meets the Rachel The next day, a large ship called the Rachel is spotted approaching the Pequod directly, her spars thickly crowded with men. As the stranger draws near, all her sails suddenly collapse like burst bladders, and life seems to flee from her hull. The old Manxman mutters that she brings bad news.
Bad News from the Stranger
Bad News from the Stranger Before the Rachel’s captain can hail the Pequod using his trumpet, Ahab calls out asking if anyone has seen the White Whale. The stranger answers affirmatively—yes, yesterday—then unexpectedly asks if the Pequod has seen a whale-boat adrift. Ahab suppresses his joy at learning of Moby Dick’s whereabouts and prepares to board the stranger vessel. Captain Gardiner of the Rachel soon clinches the Pequod’s main-chains and springs aboard, recognized by Ahab as a fellow Nantucketer, though no formal greetings are exchanged.
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