MOBY DICK CHAPTER SUMMARY

MOBY DICK by Herman Melville

(A SUMMARY OF EACH CHAPTER)

Made for Edison

Compiled by Mdm Eda

CHAPTERS

01 10

My Story Begins The Rachel

02 11

We Find Our Ship The Fight Begins

03 12

Captain Ahab's Story The Second Day

04 13

Our First Whale The End

05

The Albatross and The Samuel Enderby

06

Moby Dick

07

Pip's Story

08

Queequeg's Coffin

09

Captain Ahab's Dream

01

INTRODUCTION

"I'm going to finish this! I'll stop when the white
devil is dead - with my harpoon in his white devil's
body."
Captain Ahab hates Moby Dick - "the white devil"
- because he lost a leg to the white whale in a
fight. Now Ahab, the captain of a whaling ship,
can only think of one thing. He has to find Moby
Dick and kill him.

Many of the other sailors on the ship don't
know about their captain's plan. Ishmael is a young
sailor and this is his first whaling job. He and his
new friend, Queequeg, sail with Captain Ahab on
this exciting - and dangerous - trip. Also on the
ship are Starbuck, Stubb, and other whalers from
different countries.
Will they find Moby Dick?
What will happen next?

02

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.

03

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.

04

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.

05

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.

06

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 every
day.

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.

07

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.

08

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.

09

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.

10

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.

11

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.

12

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.

13

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.”

13

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.

14

CHAPTER 13
THE END

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.

15

CHAPTER 13
THE END

The rope breaks, Moby Dick swims away. The men cannot
find Captain Ahab. The Pequod goes down, Queequeg 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 Queequeg’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.

16

EPILOGUE

I often think about my time on the Pequod. We
fought with Moby Dick, and Captain Ahab's men
died. They died because one man hated a whale.
At the same time, the men on the Rachel looked
for a boy. They looked for a boy because one man
loved his son. And after their hard work and their
hopes they found only me.
So I lived. I can tell you my story. And Moby Dick
lives. He is out there now.

RESOURCES

1.
2.
https://www.pt3english.com/
moby-dick-by-herman-
melville-novel-summary-plot-
character-traits-moral-values-
themes/

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