Moby Dick

By Herman Melville

Summary
Chapter 1 My Story Begins

Captain Ahab hated Moby Dick because he had lost a leg in a

fight with the white whale. Now he could only think of killing Moby Dick.

I am Ishmael, a sailor , and i wanted to be a whaler.

Since the first American whalers sailed from Nantucket,
I went there too. When i asked for a room, the barman Captain Ahab
said that I would have to share the room with
Queequeg. While I was sleeping, a huge, very, very ugly
man came in. I later found out that he was Queequeg from Kokovoko and
he was a fine whaler. We became friends. He said that we would sail
Ishmael and
Queequeg around the world in a whaling ship. He was right because, as I found out
later, he could see the future.

Chapter 2 We find Our ship

I wanted to join the whaling ship to Pequod. I

spoke to Starbuck who told me that the captain o
the ship was Captain Ahab. he mentioned that a
massive whale had taken off one of Captain
Ahabs legs. He finally agreed to take me. When I
took Queequeg to the ship, the men all laughed at
him. Then Queequeg threw his harpoon at a bird far
Starbuck away and hit it, so they took him. When we went back to The Pequod
get our things we met an old man, Elijah. He said that Ship
Captain Ahab was the devil and his men were the Devils
helpers.

We set sail but never Captain Ahab. I thought of Elijahs words. The men on the
Pequod werent all good men but they werent devils. Who were Captain Ahabs devils?

Chapter 3 Captain Ahabs story

After three weeks, Captain Ahab appeared and said

he wanted a white whale. The man who saw the whale first
would get some gold. The whale captain Ahab wanted as
Moby Dick, the biggest whale in the ocean. Starbuck
commented that Moby Dick had taken Captain Ahabs leg.
Captain ahab said that he would follow Moby Dick to the
Moby Dick
end of the world and see him dead. Starbuck said that he
fought whales for their oil and it was wrong to follow the
whale just because it won a fight with the captain. Captain Ahab was
furious. He said that the whale was evil and he would only be free when this evil was dead.
That night, I spoke to Pip, the little cook boy. He said that he could hear men but the
whalers were on the other end of the ship.

Chapter 4

When Tashtego spotted the whale, Captain Ahab told us to get into the boats. Five
men came up from below. These were Captain Ahabs devils. They were strong and their
boat quickly sailed in front of us. Starbuck was the captain of our boat and he wondered
who the men were and what the captain was doing. The sky turned dark with rain but we
didnt go back. Suddenly, the whale came up out of the water, under our boat. In minutes
our boat was full of water and the strong winds too our sails down. The whale left us and
swam away. We waited until the night and we couldnt see anything. We were wet, tired
and afraid. Then, the Pequod appeared in the water. We shouted for help and the men put
the ropes down and helped us into the ship.

Chapter 5 The Albatross and The Samuel Enderly

We fought and killed many whales. We cut off large

squares of whale aft and pulled them onto the ship.
Harpoon Then, we cooked the fat and made oil which we could
sell. Captain Ahab thought only about Moby Dick. When
other ships went past, captain answered but the wind
carried his word away. Starbuck commented that
Captain Ahab had forgotten about his wife and child at
home. One day, another ship, the Samuel Enderly,
came by and Captain Boomer came on board our ship.
 He had lost one arm to the white whale. However , he was more
concerned about his life and wanted to leave Moby Dick in the ocean.
Captain Ahab was furious and told him to get off the ship.

Chapter 6 Moby Dick

Every night, Captain Ahab looked at his maps and planned. He only
talked to Fedallah, who slept in the day and at night, he sat high up in
the sails and watched for whales. Some whalers said that Fedallah
could see the future. One night, Fedallah shouted The white whale. We
saw the whale in the water. Captain Ahab was there and he was happy. He asked us to
follow the whale.We started to go after the whale but it swam under the water and we lost
it. However, it came back night after night, always at the same time. Captain Ahab said that
the whale wanted us to follow him and was showing us the way. I was suddenly very
afraid.

Chapter 7 Pips story

We started looking for other whales again. One man broke his arm so Pip had to
take his place in the boat. One day, Tashtegos harpoon hit a whale which then hit the boat.
Pip jumped out of the boat and the harpoon rope caught him. As the whale swam away, it
pulled Pip behind it. Starbuck told Tashtego to cut the rope. The men were angry with Pip
and warned him never to jump out of the boat again. The next time Pip jumped, Stubb left
him in the ocean until we caught the whale. When he climbed the rope into the ship,
Captain Ahab gave Pip his hand and to Pip it was the hand of God. From that day, he
followed Captain Ahab everywhere. Starbuck tried to convince Pip that Captain Ahab was
not God but Pip didnt listen.

Chapter 8 Queequegs coffin

Some days later, Starbuck told Captain Ahab that there

was a problem with some of the barrels and we were losing oil.
He wanted to stop the ship that the men could change the bad
barrels. Captain Ahab refused because he thought we were
near Moby Dick and he wanted to find him. Starbuck argued
that the money from the oil was important to the rest of the Barrels
men. However, Captain Ahab took out his
gun saying that oil was not his God and we would not
stop. Starbuck walked away. Then, he turned back to Captain Ahab
and said, I am not the problem. You are. Later, Captain Ahab
decided that we were going to stop to change the barrels. Starbuck
was happy.

Coffin
 Queequeg had to do a lot of the hard, heavy work on the barrels. We finished in
three days. The next morning, queequeg was very ill. He asked me to make him a coffin as
he was going to die. When I argued, he told the men to make his coffin. When the coffin
was finished, Queequeg asked us to put his harpoon and some food and water into the
coffin. Then, he asked us to put him in the coffin. Reluctantly, we did so. After a few
minutes, Queequeg wanted to go back his bed. Then, he slept. The next morning,
Queequeg said he could not die yet as he had some things to do first. He said he would
die later. Then, he went back to work.

Chapter 9 Captain Ahabs Dream

One day we killed four whales. We couldnt cut the fat

off them all, so we had to stand watch at night. We put small
boats into the water and I was in Captain Ahabs boat.
Whenever the sharks came we fought them. They went away
but always came back. In the quiet times, everyone slept
except for Fedallah. I heard Captain Ahab tells Fedallah that
he dreamt he had died. He asked Fedallah if he was going to
die on this trip before he killed the white whale. Fedallah said that only a rope would kill
him. Fedallah said that he would die first and Captain Ahab would follow him into the next
world. Now I understood. Fedallah was important to Captain Ahab because he could see
the future.

The next day, Captain Ahab threw his maps into the sea. Some of the men saw this.
Starbuck wondered how a ship could sail without maps. That night, the men were afraid.
Suddenly, a strong wind came. Starbuck shouted at Captain Ahab that God wanted us to
turn back. However, Captain Ahab said that we would follow Moby Dick. He would find him
and finish the fight. Moby Dick took his life and now Captain Ahab would take his. After
many hours, the wind stopped. That night, Starbuck and I went to the Captains room.
Starbuck took the gun and said that he could kill Captain Ahab and then we could go home
to our families. Or he could leave him and he would kill everyone in the ship. In the end,
Starbuck put the gun on the table and left.

Chapter 10 The Rachel

When our ship met the Rachel, Captain Ahab spoke to

Captain Gardiner who explained that they had seen Moby Dick
the day before. They had three boats on the water. Suddenly,
the white whale appeared. The men harpooned the whale and
it swam away pulling one of the boats after it. It was too fast
and they couldnt follow the boat. They searched for the boat
but couldnt find it. Captain Gardiner asked Captain Ahab to
help them look for the boat. He was willing to pay for his time.
Then, he said that his twelve-year old son was on the boat.
The Rachel
The whalers wanted to help as many of them had sons too. However, Captain Ahab
refused to help saying they didnt have time. We could do nothing as we had to go with our
crazy captain.

Captain Ahab started to prepare for the fight with Moby Dick. He took Pip to his room
and told Pip that they were going to kill the white whale. He explained it was going to be a
long, hard fight. He told Pip to stay in the room and never leave no matter what he heard.
Pip wanted to please his captain, so he never left the room again. Captain Ahab stayed
outside after that. He was always watching the ocean for Moby Dick. Fedallah was there
too. The two men never spoke. They only watched. One morning, a large black bird flew to
Captain Ahabs head. Suddenly the bird took his hat and flew away. Some of the whalers
laughed but others were afraid. They wondered whether it was a sign that bad things
would happen.

Chapter 11 The fight begins

Some days later, Captain Ahab spoke to Starbuck sadly about his hard
life. He spoke of his wife and his young son. Starbuck was hopeful and
suggested they go home. Suddenly, Captain Ahabs face changed and
he said that Moby Dick was near. The next morning the captain
shouted when he saw Moby Dick, the largest and most dangerous
animal in the ocean. Captain Ahab told Starbuck to stay on board so
that he would be safer and could see his wife and child again. Moby
Dick came out of the water. There were many harpoons in his body
from his fights with whalers. then, he disappeared into the dark
water.We waited for hours in our boats. Suddenly, he came up under
Captain Ahabs boat. Fedallah and the men jumped into the ocean. But
Captain Ahab didnt. The boat broke and fell into the ocean. Moby Dick
started to swim faster and faster around Captain Ahab and his boat. When the Pequod
headed for Moby Dick, he went down into the water and dint come up. Captain Ahabs
men were really afraid. Captain Ahab said that the gold was his since he had seen Moby
Dick first. He said that we would kill Moby Dick and he would give the gold to the man who
first saw the white devil on that day. Starbuck told captain Ahab not to go after the whale
again. But Captain Ahab said that he would only stop when the white devil was dead.

Chapter 12 The second day

Moby Dick came again. We harpooned him and the ropes pulled
our boats nearer to him. Suddenly, Moby Dick started swimming round
and round. He pulled hard on the ropes and the three boats were pulled
nearer to him. Moby Dick came up again under Captain Ahabs boat.
The boat broke and the men fell into the ocean. Then, Moby Dick swam
away. Captain Ahab lost his whalebone leg and used a harpoon instead. He said that Moby
Dick would come to us on the third day and he would die then. He said that whoever saw
Moby Dick first would get the gold. We were tired and afraid and stood quietly. Then,
Captain Ahab realised that Fedallah was not there. We looked everywhere but couldnt find
him. I remembered Fedallahs words that he would die first and Captain Ahab would follow
him soon.

Chapter 13 The end

On the third day, we turned back to look for Moby Dick. Then, we saw him. Captain
Ahab asked Starbuck to watch the ship while he fought Moby Dick. There was only one
whaling boat. Queequeg stayed but I had to go with Captain Ahab. we waited all day and
then the water began to move. Moby Dick came to the top and we could see our ropes
around Moby Dicks body. Fedallahs dead body was in the ropes. Moby Dick slowed down
again and waited. Then, we sailed nearer and captain Ahab threw the harpoon. It hit Moby
Dicks body. Moby Dick was angry and hit the boat. I fell into the water but the boat couldnt
stop and they had to leave me behind. Then, Flask shouted that Moby Dick was going to
hit the Pequod.

The men rowed quickly to help the ship. When the

men on the ship saw Moby Dick, they jumped from the
ship. Queequeg, who was on the top of the sails, didnt
move. Moby Dick hit the Pequod and water ran through
the ship. Moby Dick swam between the Pequod and the
whaling boat. Captain Ahab threw the harpoon and hit
Moby Dick below his small black eye. The whale turned
and swam fast pulling the boat behind him. Captain Ahab tried to cut the rope but it went
round his body. It pulled him up and out of the boat. Suddenly, the rope broke and Moby
Dick was free. The men searched for Captain Ahab but couldnt see him anywhere. I
looked at the Pequod and saw Queequeg one last time before the ship went down under
the water.

When the ship went down, the water pulled the whaling boat with all the men under
the water. It also pulled me nearer. I thought I was going to die but then Queequegs coffin
came up under me and I climbed onto it. I stayed on the coffin for two days and nights.
Then, I saw a sail far away. When the ship came nearer, I saw that it was the Rachel. The
men thought i was their captains son but when they saw that I wasnt, there were still very
kind to me.

I often think about my time on the Pequod. captain Ahab and his men died because
one man hated a whale. Meanwhile, the men on the Rachel looked for a boy because one
man loved his son. And they found only me. So I lived. And Moby Dick lives.