CliffsNotes on

Moby-Dick

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About the Author

Early Years and Education
Life at Sea and Marriage
Writing and Reputation

About the Novel

Introduction
A Brief Synopsis
List of Characters
Character Map

Summaries and Commentaries

Chapters 1–2
Chapter 3
Chapters 4–7
Chapters 8–9
Chapters 10–12
Chapters 13–15
Chapter 16
Chapters 17–20
Chapters 21–23
Chapters 24–25
Chapters 26–27
Chapter 28
Chapters 29–31
Chapters 32–35
Chapter 36
Chapters 37–40
Chapters 41–42
Chapters 43–45
Chapters 46–49
Chapters 50–51
Chapters 52–54
Chapters 55–60
Chapters 61–66
Chapters 67–70
Chapter 71
Chapters 72–73
Chapters 74–80
Chapter 81
Chapters 82–86
Chapters 87–90
Chapters 91–92
Chapter 93
Chapters 94–98
Chapters 99–100
Chapters 101–105
Chapters 106–108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapters 111–114
Chapter 115
Chapters 116–119
Chapters 120—124
Chapters 125–127
Chapter 128
Chapters 129–132
Chapters 133–135
Epilogue

Character Analyses

Ahab
Ishmael
Moby Dick
Queequeg
Starbuck
Fedallah
Father Mapple

Critical Essays

Major Themes
Major Symbols

Study Help

Quiz
Essay Questions
Practice Projects

Cite this Literature Note

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Yes, it's too important to our economy.
No, the government is already broke enough.
Only with strict regulations on how they can spend the money.

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Study Help

Quiz

1:  The Pequod is named after

a. a type of whale

b. a New England seaport

c. an extinct Massachusetts Indian tribe

d. an island near Nova Scotia
2:  Queequeg’s native island is called

a. Kamehameha

b. Kokovoko

c. Molokai

d. Tuvalu
3:  Who is the second mate on the Pequod?

a. Starbuck

b. Wilson

c. Stubb

d. Pip
4:  Who is the harpooner that Queequeq rescues?

a. Fedallah

b. Tashtego

c. Starbuck

d. Daggoo
5:  What is the ship that rescues Ishmael at the end of the novel?

a. Jeroboam

b. Samuel Enderby

c. Rosebud

d. Rachel
6:  Who is Ahab’s personal harpooner and spiritual guide?

a. Daggoo

b. Tashtego

c. Fedallah

d. Ishamel
7:  What is the “doubloon” offered for?

a. The first man to spot Moby Dick

b. The first man to go harpoon Moby Dick

c. The first man to catch sight of land

d. The first man to save another shipmate
8:  Who is the only crewmate who opposes Ahab’s plan to devote the ship’s mission to hunt the White Whale?

a. Father Mapple

b. Ishamel

c. Queequeq

d. Starbuck
9:  What shape does the ship’s carpenter make Quequeeq’s coffin?

a. A whale

b. A canoe

c. A scooner

d. An eagle
10:  Who says the following: “If man will strike, strike through the mask! . . . That inscrutable thing is chiefly what I hate.”

a. Queequeq

b. Ishamel

c. Ahab

d. Father Mapple
11:  Who says the following: “Vengeance on a dumb brute! …that simply smote thee from blindest instinct! Madness! To be enraged with a dumb thing…seems blasphemous.”

a. Ahab

b. Father Mapple

c. Starbuck

d. Ishmael
12:  Who says the following: “Though it come to the last, I shall still go before thee thy pilot . . . . Hemp only can kill thee.”

a. Fedallah

b. Ahab

c. Starbuck



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