Moby-Dick · Chapter
CXVIII: The Quadrant explained
As the Pequod nears the equator, Ahab attempts to take a noon sighting with his quadrant.
What happens
As the Pequod nears the equator, Ahab attempts to take a noon sighting with his quadrant. In a fit of rage against the instrument's limitations and the sun's scorching truth, he smashes the quadrant, declaring he will navigate by the ship's compass and dead reckoning instead. This act of defiance is witnessed by the crew and the silent Fedallah, while Starbuck and Stubb reflect on Ahab's fiery, doomed nature.
Themes in this chapter
Obsession and Revenge
Ahab's fury at the quadrant stems entirely from its inability to locate Moby Dick, showing how his monomania leads him to reject rational tools that don't serve his vengeful quest.
Fate, Free Will, and Predestination
Ahab's destruction of the quadrant is a willful act of defiance against the 'heaven' that 'scorches him.' He chooses to navigate by the 'level' tools of the ship, asserting his own will over perceived celestial fate, a choice Stubb frames as playing the cards one is dealt.
The Limits of Knowledge
The quadrant symbolizes scientific knowledge and its limitations. Ahab rages that it can only tell 'where thou thyself happenest to be' but cannot reveal the future or the whale's location, highlighting the ultimate unknowability he confronts.
Characters to notice
- Captain Ahab
In a dramatic monologue, he curses the quadrant and the science it represents for failing to reveal Moby Dick's location, then destroys the instrument in a symbolic rejection of celestial navigation and fate.
- Fedallah
Kneels silently beneath Ahab during the observation, his face showing a 'sneering triumph' for Ahab and 'fatalistic despair' for himself before gliding away unobserved.
- Starbuck
Watches Ahab's tumultuous path and the ship's way, comparing Ahab's fiery life to a coal fire that will eventually turn to 'dumbest dust,' foreseeing his doom.
- Stubb
Responds to Starbuck with grim humor, agreeing with Ahab's decision to 'live in the game, and die in it,' accepting the fatalistic course.
Key passages
“"Thou sea-mark! thou high and mighty Pilot! thou tellest me truly where I am —but canst thou cast the least hint where I shall be? Where is Moby Dick?"”
Ahab addresses the sun, acknowledging it shows his present location but despairs that it cannot reveal his future or the current whereabouts of Moby Dick.
Highlights Ahab's obsession and his frustration with the limits of natural signs.
“"Foolish toy!... Thou canst not tell where one drop of water or one grain of sand will be tomorrow noon; and yet with thy impotence thou insultest the sun!"”
Ahab curses the quadrant as a vain toy of science that is impotent to predict the future, yet presumes to measure the majestic sun.
The core of his rage: science's inability to satisfy his personal, prophetic quest.
“"Old man of oceans! of all this fiery life of thine, what will at length remain but one little heap of ashes!"”
Starbuck, watching Ahab, reflects that all of the captain's tormented, fiery passion will ultimately be reduced to nothing but ashes.
Starbuck's moral and prophetic judgment on the futility and inevitable end of Ahab's quest.