Moby Dick by Herman Melville– Novel summary | Plot |

Character Traits | Moral Values | Themes

Chapter 1: My story begins

I am Ishmael, a sailor. I want to become a whaler. I go to Nantucket one night and look for a room to
sleep. The man tells me I have to share the room with Queequeg,
When Queequeg comes back at night, I realize he is a huge, ugly and weird man. However, after
talking to him the whole night, we become good friends.

Chapter 2: We find our ship

That morning I walk around Nantucket to find a good whaling ship. I see a ship called Pequod. It looks
tall and strong. The next day, I bring Queequeg to the Pequod to see Starbuck. When the men on the
ship see Queequeg, they laugh at him. To prove his worth, Queequeg asks the men to look at a small
dead bird at the water. He tells them the bird is a whale’s eye and he throws his harpoon and hits the
bird. The men are quiet now.

Before we go to the ship, we meet an old man, Elijah. Elijah tells us that Captain Ahab is a sick man,
the DEVIL, and his men are the devil’s helpers. I think this old man is crazy, so we quickly ignore him
and leave.

One night, I hear Captain Ahab shouting to Starbuck. Suddenly, I think of Elijah’s words and wonders
if the men on the ship are devil’s helpers.

Chapter 3: Captain Ahab’s story

After three weeks staying below, Captain Ahab finally shows himself.
He shows some gold to all of us and says: I want one white whale. The first person to see this white
whale will get this gold!”
The white whale is Moby Dick.
Moby Dick takes his leg and makes him the man he is now. Captain Ahab wants to kill the white whale
and gets his revenge.
Starbuck is upset. He tells Captain Ahab that he is there for whale oil, for money, but killing a huge
white whale is too dangerous and will not bring much money for them.
Captain Ahab insists that the whale is evil and needs to be killed. He wants the whale dead! The men
drink and dance because they want to get the gold from Captain Ahab.

That night, Pip, the line cook, tells me that he hears some men staying below them. I think it’s just the
ocean and all the men are at the other end of the ship. Nobody is there.
Chapter 4: Our First Whale

Tashtego shouts as he sees the first whale. Captain Ahab comes quickly and suddenly five men come
up from below and stand by Captain Ahab.

These are Captain Ahab’s devils. Pip is right! These are the men he hears before. None of the other
men knows about the five men and what is Captain Ahab doing. We do not get to kill any whale as it
starts to turn dark and rain. When the rain stops, we cannot see the whale anymore. So we return to
the Pequod.

Chapter 5: The Albatross and The Samuel Enderby

We have now killed many whales after the first night. We cut off larger squares of fat and pull them
onto the ship. Then, we cook the fat, make oil, and put into barrels.

Oil gives us light and made us warm. Oil is our money. But captain Ahab doesn’t care about the oil. He
only thinks about Moby Dick. When he sees other ships, he will only ask:” did you see the white
whale?”

He tells the Albatross to tell people at home they will bring back the teeth of the devil whale.

Starbuck says Captain Ahab has forgotten his wife and child at home. And he tells me his wife, Mary
and his son wait for him at the beach everyday.
One day, captain Ahab meets the Samuel Enderby’s captain Boomer. Captain Boomer tells Captain
Ahab that he loses his arm to the white whale and he doesn’t want to find Moby Dick because he wants
to stay alive. Captain Ahab is angry and he chases Captain Boomer out of his ship.

Chapter 6: Moby Dick

Captain Ahab doesn’t sleep much. He only looks at his map and talks to Fedallah. Fedallah watches
the whale at night. Captain Ahab only listens to Fedallah because some whalers say he can see the
future.

One night, Fedallah sees the white whale. I run quickly and see a huge shower of water goes up. It is a
white whale and I finally understand why Fedallah only watches at night because it is easier to see a
white whale at night.

Captain Ahab tries to follow the white whale but it quickly swims under the water and we lose it.
Captain Ahab thinks the whale wants him to follow him. I am afraid of what might happen to us.
Chapter 7: Pip’s story

One of the men breaks his arm. Pip, the line cook is put to replace him. Pip has never done this and he
is scared. When they are trying to kill a whale, the whale hits the boat and Pip jumps out of the boat.
Starbuck and the men have to cut the rope to save him. They lose the whale because of that.
The same thing happens again and Stubb, another man, leaves him in the ocean. Pip is afraid and he
thinks the sharks are going to eat him.
Only after they catch the whale, they send the Pequod to save Pip. Captain Ahab put out his hand to
save Pip and talks to Pip softly. Since then, Pip is very thankful to Captain Ahab and sees him as God.
He follows Captain Ahab everywhere he goes.

Chapter 8: Queequeg’s Coffin

Starbuck runs to Captain Ahab to tell him that the barrels are leaking and we are losing oil. To fix the
problem, we need to stop the ship. Captain Ahab doesn’t want to do it because he feels that we are very
near to Moby Dick. Starbuck tries to convince him by mentioning all the wives and children back
home, who are waiting for them to make ends meet. The oil is too important! Captain Ahab takes out
his gun and points it to Starbuck. He says: “oils is not my God! We will not stop!”
Starbuck knows he cannot win the fight but he warns Captain Ahab that he is the problem.
Later that day, captain appears and shouts for the men to stop the ship and change the barrels.
Starbuck was happy.
The next morning, Queequeg is very sick. He tells the other men to make him a coffin and says he is
going to die. He does not want to be thrown into the cold ocean. He even tries out his own coffin after
it’s done.
However, one morning, Queeequeg gets out of his bed and says he cannot die now and he goes back to
work.

Chapter 9: Captain Ahab’s Dream

One day while Fedallah is watching for sharks from eating our whales, Captain Ahab wakes up and
tells Fedallah he has the dream again. He says he saw himself died and he saw his own coffin. Fedallah
replies him by reminding him that he will not have a coffin and only a rope can kill him. Captain asks
many questions to Fedallah and he really believes what he says. He asks if he will die before he kills
the white whale and whether he will die on this trip. Confidently, Fedallah says to him that a rope will
kill him and Fedallah will die before him and shows him the way he will be killed too. The whalers are
right, Fedallah can see the future.

The next day, Captain Ahab was angry that no one finds the white whale and he throws the map into
the ocean. Everyone is shocked, especially Starbuck because without a map they cannot sail in the sea.

Starbuck wants the ship to turn back but Captain Ahab threatens him with his harpoon. At night,
Starbuck goes into Captain Ahab’s room. Captain Ahab is asleep. I am there too. Starbuck takes
captain Ahab’s gun and looks at him. He says he can choose to kill him and then everyone can go
home. I want him to kill Captain Ahab. However, Starbuck cannot do it. He puts back the gun and
leaves the room.
Chapter 10: The Rachel

Our ship meets the Rachel, another ship that looks bad after the strong winds. Their captain, Captain
Gardiner tells Captain Ahab that he sees the white whale yesterday. Captain Gardiner tells us that
yesterday they see the white whale and he sends out a boat to go after the white whale. His men
harpoon the whale but it swims away and pulls the boat after it. They lose the boat. They try to look for
the boat but they cannot find it.
Queequeg says maybe someone on the boat is important to him. He looks very sad. Captain Gardiner
asks for Captain Ahab’s help to look for the boat as his son is on the boat. He is only twelve years old.

Captain Ahab refuses to help him as it will delay his search for the white whale.

In the days after, Captain Ahab brings Pip to his room and asks him to stay in there no matter what
happens. After that, Captain Ahab never returns to his room. He is always out there to watch the
ocean for Moby Dick.

Chapter 11: The Fight Begins

Captain Ahab finally finds the white whale – Moby Dick. The whale is huge. Captain Ahab and the
men get on the boats. We sit for hours before the whale comes under Captain Ahab’s boat with his
mouth opened. Fedallah and the other men jump into the ocean except for Captain Ahab. he tries to
fight the whale but he cannot do much. His boat breaks and falls into the ocean. The whale swims
towards him and then disappears down into the water.

After returning to the Pequod, the men are very afraid now. Captain Ahab shows them the gold again
and offers to them if someone sees the whale first again the next time, he will get the gold. Starbuck
thinks he is crazy. Captain Ahab is determined that he will one day kill the white whale.

Chapter 12: The Second Day

Moby Dick comes again. Captain Ahab sends three boats to go after him. We try to harpoon the whale.
Some hit him and stay in his body. The ropes pull us nearer to him.
Suddenly the whale goes round and round, our boat hits the other boat. Wood and harpoons are
everywhere. We try to swim away from the whale. Then the whale hits Captain Ahab’s boat. It breaks
and the men are in the water again.

Everyone gets back to the Pequod safely, but captain Ahab has lost his whalebone leg. He has to walk
with a harpoon. He tries to motivate the men with his gold again but this time nobody dances and
shouts.

Suddenly, Captain Ahab realizes Fedallah is missing. He is not back on the Pequod. A man says he has
gone down with the rope. He is dead. Captain Ahab knows exactly what is going to happen after this.
He swears to the ocean that he will kill the white whale.

Then, I remember what Fedallah has said to Captain Ahab. “I will go first. I will show you the way.
You will follow me from this world.”
Chapter 13: The End

On the third day, when Captain Ahab sees the whale again, he asks Starbuck to watch the ship for him
while he is out fighting the whale. Starbuck tries to stop him from going but it does not work.

There is only one boat left and I am in the boat with Captain Ahab. we sit there and wait for Moby
Dick to come. When it appears, it swims towards us and hit the boat. The boat breaks and water comes
in. We try our best to get the water out.

Suddenly, we see that Fedallah’s body is stuck in the ropes around the whale’s body. We want to run
away but Captain Ahab will not let us do that. He says if we do that he will throw the harpoon at us.

After that the whale appears again and hits our boat again. I fall into the sea. Then a man realizes the
whale is going to hit the Pequod. When they see that Mody Dick is going to hit the ship, many men
quickly run away and jump from the ship, except for Queequeg.

Moby Dick hit the Pequod, A lot of water is going in to the ship. Starbuck blames Captain Ahab for
this. Captain Ahab still does not give up. He harpoons the whale below his small black eye. The whale
then pulls the rope and the men fall down in the boat. Captain Ahab tries to cut the rope but before he
can do that the rope goes around his body. It pulls him out of the boat. And then he is no longer there.

The rope breaks, Moby Dick swims away. The men cannot find Captain Ahab. The Pequod goes down,
Queuequeg also goes down. When the ship goes down, it pulls the whaling boat with it. I think I am
going to die, but something comes up under me. It is Queuequeg’s coffin. I climb onto the coffin and it
saves me!

I stay there for two days and two nights. My mouth is very dry and my face and arms are red from the
sun. The nights are cold. A ship saved me. It is the Rachel, the ship that wants to look for their
captain’s son. However, they cannot find him. But they are kind enough to give me food, water and a
bed.
Plot

Character Traits/Moral
Values/Messages/Themes
Examples Evidence/Evidences
1. Captain Ahab · Captain Ahab offers Gold for the Character Traits
wants revenge. crew who sees the whale first. Later -vengeful/rude/ selfish
on when the crew realizes it is too
dangerous to find the white whale, he
threatens to kill them. Moral Values
– We should not be
· When Captain Boomer from the vengeful
Samuel Enderby refuses to help
Captain Ahab find Moby Dick, – we should be forgiving
Captain Ahab gets angry and chase
 them out of the Pequod.
– we should not be rude
· When the oil barrels are leaking, – We should not be selfish.
Captain Ahab refuses to stop the ship
to fix the problem. He does not care
about losing the oil and losing money. Themes
Revenge/hatred

Character Trait
-kind
When Pip is asked to join the whalers
to go out on the boat to catch some
whales, he is too afraid that he jumps Moral Values
off the boat for a few times. Stubb and – We should be kind
2. Captain Ahab other whalers were not happy and they
saves Pip. leave him in the sea. Later, the Pequod – We should help one
and Captain Ahab rescue Pip. Pip sees another.
Captain Ahab as his God.

Theme
kindness

Character Trait
-Irrational

One day, Captain Ahab is mad because

no one sees the white whale. He Moral Value
3. Captain Ahab throws the map into the sea without
is not rational. thinking its consequences. The crew is – We should be rational
shocked because without the map they
cannot sail in the sea.
Themes
Rationality

4. Starbuck does One night, when Captain Ahab is Character Traits

not kill Captain sleeping in his room, Starbuck has a -Rational/love for one another.
Ahab even chance to kill him with a gun.
though he does However, he cannot do it and he
not like him. leaves the room without killing him. Moral Values
– We should be rational.
– We should have love for
one another
 Themes
Rationality/love and care.

Character Traits
Loving/caring

Captain Gardiner from the Rachel is Moral Value

5. Captain
determined to find his missing son – We should love and care
Gardiner wants
even though it is dangerous and they for each other.
to find his son.
have no idea where Moby Dick is.

Theme
Love and care.

Character Traits
-loving/caring/brave

Even though the whalers know that Moral Values

6. The whalers
Captain Ahab has lost one of his legs
work hard to get – We should love our
to the dangerous white whale, they
money for their family
remain brave to go out and catch more
families.
whales for the money and gold. – We should be brave.
Themes
Love and care/ bravery

Character Traits
-loving/caring

When Ishmael is stranded in the Moral Values

middle of the sea for two days and two
nights. The Rachel finds him while – We should love one
7. The Rachel
searching for their missing boat. another
saves Ishmael.
Captain Boomer is kind enough to
– We should be caring
give Ishmael food and drink to keep
him alive.
Themes
Love and care/ bravery