CXXXV: The Chase—Third Day explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Fate, Free Will, and Predestination

  The chapter is the culmination of Ahab's defiant quest against fate. Fedallah's prophecy is fulfilled precisely, suggesting an inescapable predestination that overrides Ahab's immense will.

• Obsession and Revenge

  Ahab's monomania reaches its destructive apex, leading to the death of his entire crew and the loss of his ship. The quest for revenge is shown to be all-consuming and ultimately nihilistic.

• Man vs. Nature

  The conflict escalates to a cosmic scale. Moby Dick, representing the immense, indifferent force of nature, decisively triumphs over human technology (the Pequod), ambition, and rage.

Characters to notice

• Captain Ahab

  Leads the final, fatal attack on Moby Dick. He is momentarily shaken upon seeing Fedallah's corpse lashed to the whale, but presses on. He is killed when his harpoon line snags him and he is dragged into the sea by the whale.

• Starbuck

  Watches the chase with dread and profound foreboding. He delivers a soliloquy filled with existential terror and thoughts of his family, sensing his impending doom. His final plea is to God as the whale turns to attack the ship.

• Stubb

  Faces death with grim, ironic humor, 'grinning' at the whale and lamenting his fate. He calls out for a final drink and jokes about dying in his drawers.

• Flask

  In the final moments, responds to Stubb's desperate cry for cherries with a pragmatic thought about his mother receiving his part-pay.

• Moby Dick

  The final antagonist, described as 'combinedly possessed by all the angels that fell from heaven.' He destroys the whaleboats, rams and sinks the Pequod, and kills Ahab, displaying immense, destructive power.

• Fedallah

  His corpse is discovered lashed to the whale's flank by the harpoon lines, fulfilling the first part of his prophecy about Ahab's hearse.

Key passages

• ““Heart of wrought steel!” murmured Starbuck... “canst thou yet ring boldly to that sight?—lowering thy keel among ravening sharks... and this the critical third day?... Oh! my God! what is this that shoots through me, and leaves me so deadly calm, yet expectant—fixed at the top of a shudder!””

  Starbuck, watching Ahab's boat row out, feels a terrifying, calm foreboding about this final day of the chase, sensing his own death approaching.

  Highlights Starbuck's mortal dread and premonition.

• ““Befooled, befooled!”—drawing in a long lean breath—“Aye, Parsee! I see thee again.—Aye, and thou goest before; and this, this then is the hearse that thou didst promise.””

  Upon seeing Fedallah's corpse tied to Moby Dick, Ahab recognizes the fulfillment of the prophecy about his 'hearse' being not made by mortal hands.

  Ahab acknowledges the supernatural prophecy coming true.

• ““The whale, the whale! Up helm, up helm!... Oh, Ahab, Ahab, lo, thy work. Steady! helmsman, steady. Nay, nay! Up helm again! He turns to meet us! Oh, his unappeasable brow drives on towards one, whose duty tells him he cannot depart. My God, stand by me now!””

  As Moby Dick turns to charge the Pequod, Starbuck, though terrified, stands his post, blaming Ahab for their doom and making a final plea to God.

  Shows Starbuck's courage and piety in the face of certain death caused by Ahab.

• ““I grin at thee, thou grinning whale!... Oh, oh! oh, oh! thou grinning whale, but there’ll be plenty of gulping soon!... let Stubb die in his drawers!””

  Stubb faces the attacking whale with defiant, grotesque humor, joking about his own death.

  Illustrates Stubb's characteristic use of humor as a shield against terror.