Chapter 115 Summary

The Pequod meets the Bachelor, another whaling vessel from Nantucket. The ship wears a festive air as it has had a successful voyage and is loaded with cargo. Ahab asks the captain whether he has any information on Moby Dick. The captain replies that he has heard rumors about the White Whale but doesn’t give credence to these. He invites Ahab and his crew to join him, which Ahab declines. As the two ships go their separate ways, Ahab contemplates a vial of Nantucket sand that he has been carrying in his pocket.

Chapter 116 Summary

The next day, the Pequod kills several whales. Even Ahab slaughters one. When one dying whale raises his head toward the sun, Ishmael delivers a long soliloquy, lamenting that even the sun cannot restore the whale’s life. He observes how the whale looked at the sun just as men tend to do. Ahab also watches the dying whale intently but with a deep gloom. He considers the death of the whale a lesson in mortality.

Chapter 117 Summary

Fedallah delivers a prophecy about Ahab’s death, stating that he will see two hearses before his death, one of which will be made of American wood and the other not made by mortal hands at all. As he is on sea with no possibility of seeing hearses, Ahab interprets that he will not die in this voyage. Fedallah declares that Ahab can only be killed by hemp, which the latter assumes to be the hangman’s gallows.

Chapters 118–122 Summary

The Pequod heads for the equator, anticipating an encounter with Moby Dick. Ahab destroys his quadrant, complaining that it only tells him where he is, not where he should be, meaning where Moby Dick is. The ship encounters a typhoon, and the crew, together with the captain, rallies to save the ship.

Chapter 123 Summary

As the storm abates, Starbuck goes to Ahab to report. On the way, he sees the musket which Ahab had used to threaten him earlier. He considers killing the captain with it as he hears Ahab scream in his sleep about Moby Dick. Finally, he decides not to and drops the musket.

Chapter 124 Summary

The day after the storm Ahab declares that the compasses had reversed during the storm, and the ship is going in the wrong direction. Though none of the crew thinks this is possible, they agree to change course as they are more afraid of their captain than their fates. Ahab makes a new compass, asserting his fatal pride.

Chapter 125 Summary

With all the navigational devices out of order, Ahab brings out the old log and line to navigate. This too breaks. He calls for Pip to help him but Pip responds with nonsense to which Ahab empathizes. He states that Pip will now share his cabin because the boy touches his “inmost center.”

Chapters 115–125 Analysis

The chapters in this section are dominated by Ahab’s actions, where even Ishmael’s narration fades away partially. Ahab interprets each prediction of Fedallah—his personal prophet—in his unique way, distorting the words to assert that this voyage will not prove to be his death. He assumes, for instance, that hemp indicates the gallows, which is a willful, arrogant assumption considering the ship is full of ropes and Ishmael has already apprised the reader that fatal accidents do occur due to the rope. Ahab’s interpretation underlines his arrogance and hubris, which will not only lead to his destruction but even the crew.

The conflict between Starbuck and Ahab intensifies in the scenes of the storm. When Starbuck deliberates over killing Ahab, the scene is reminiscent of Hamlet debating the same over killing his step-father. It is Starbuck’s conscience that allows him to empathize with the crew and it is the same conscience that finally makes him drop the musket.

Pip and Ahab’s friendship is a relationship of two starkly contrasting men. Ahab is white, wealthy, mature in years, and at the top of the ship hierarchy. Pip, on the other hand, is black, young, and marginal both in the social hierarchy as well as the narrative of Moby Dick. These two opposite souls, however, see the world in their unique way and bond over their sense of alienation with the remaining crew. However, the crucial difference between these two characters is while Pip, in his apparent insanity, realizes his insignificance in the vastness of the ocean, in particular, and the workings of the universe, in general, Ahab stands out as this monumentally egotistical man who feels that he is been marked by destiny to kill the White Whale which somehow bestows on him the right to dismiss the rationale of his comrades, dragging the ship and the rest of the men to their destruction.