Moby-Dick · Chapter
LXXXIV: Pitchpoling explained
The chapter details the whaling technique of pitchpoling, a method of throwing a long lance from a fast-moving boat to strike a fleeing whale.
What happens
The chapter details the whaling technique of pitchpoling, a method of throwing a long lance from a fast-moving boat to strike a fleeing whale. It begins with Queequeg anointing his boat with superstitious care. When whales are sighted and flee, Stubb's boat gives chase. After Tashtego harpoons a whale that continues its frantic flight, Stubb demonstrates his skill in pitchpoling, successfully lancing the whale from a distance with darkly humorous commentary, ultimately leading to the whale's death.
Themes in this chapter
Man vs. Nature
Showcases a specific, violent technological and skilled mastery (pitchpoling) employed to subdue a powerful, fleeing natural creature.
Interpretation and Perception
Stubb's grotesque, celebratory interpretation of the whale's death spout as a fountain of wine or punch contrasts starkly with the brutal reality of the hunt.
Characters to notice
- Queequeg
Anoints his boat with superstitious diligence before the chase, suggesting a belief in ritual preparation.
- Stubb
Demonstrates masterful skill and coolness in pitchpoling, killing the whale with dark, gamesome humor about drinking from its spout.
- Tashtego
Plants the initial harpoon in the fleeing whale, setting the stage for Stubb's pitchpoling maneuver.
Key passages
“Queequeg believed strongly in anointing his boat... as though diligently seeking to insure a crop of hair from the craft’s bald keel.”
Queequeg superstitiously greased the boat's bottom with great care, as if trying to make the bare wood grow hair.
Highlights Queequeg's ritualistic and superstitious approach to whaling preparation.
“It is only indispensable with an inveterate running whale; its grand fact and feature is the wonderful distance to which the long lance is accurately darted...”
Pitchpoling is a last-resort technique for a stubbornly fleeing whale, defined by the skill of accurately throwing a long lance from a fast, unsteady boat.
Defines the technical challenge and purpose of pitchpoling.
““ ’Tis July’s immortal Fourth; all fountains must run wine today! Would now, it were old Orleans whiskey...”
Stubb quips that the whale's blood spout is like a fountain of wine for the Fourth of July, wishing it were whiskey so they could drink from it.
Exemplifies Stubb's characteristic and macabre humor in the midst of violent labor.