Moby-Dick · Chapter
XCVI: The Try-Works explained
Ishmael describes the try-works, the brick-and-mortar furnace on the Pequod's deck used to render whale blubber into oil.
What happens
Ishmael describes the try-works, the brick-and-mortar furnace on the Pequod's deck used to render whale blubber into oil. He details its construction and operation, overseen by Stubb. The chapter culminates in a vivid, hellish nighttime scene where the pagan harpooneers stoke the fires, casting demonic shadows. Standing at the helm, Ishmael, mesmerized by the fire, falls into a disorienting sleep, awakens facing the wrong way, and nearly steers the ship into disaster. This leads to a philosophical meditation on the deceptiveness of artificial light, the necessity of confronting sorrow and darkness to attain truth, and the resilience of the human soul.
Themes in this chapter
Madness and Sanity
The hellish fire of the try-works induces a temporary, disorienting madness in Ishmael at the helm, leading him to invert his sense of direction. The chapter contrasts this artificial, deceptive 'madness' with the 'woe' that is wisdom.
Interpretation and Perception
The central event explores how perception is distorted by darkness and artificial fire, making the crew look like devils and causing Ishmael to lose all navigational bearing. It argues for the 'natural sun' as the 'only true lamp' and warns against being deceived by false appearances.
Religion and Spirituality
The try-works scene is described in infernal, almost blasphemous terms ('Tartarean,' 'funereal pyres,' 'argument for the pit'). The philosophical conclusion draws on Ecclesiastes ('All is vanity') and the 'Man of Sorrows' to argue that true wisdom and spiritual truth are found in confronting sorrow and darkness, not avoiding it.
Characters to notice
- Ishmael
Narrates the chapter; describes the try-works and his own terrifying, disorienting experience at the helm, which leads to a profound philosophical reflection.
- Stubb
Oversees the initial firing of the try-works, giving the order to start the rendering process.
- Queequeg
Implied to be one of the 'pagan harpooneers' and 'Tartarean shapes' stoking the fires in the hellish try-works scene.
- Tashtego
Implied to be one of the 'pagan harpooneers' and 'Tartarean shapes' working at the try-pots.
- Daggoo
Implied to be one of the 'pagan harpooneers' and 'Tartarean shapes' working at the try-pots.
- The Carpenter
Mentioned as having prepared the fires by thrusting shavings into the furnace during the passage.
Key passages
“the rushing Pequod, freighted with savages, and laden with fire, and burning a corpse, and plunging into that blackness of darkness, seemed the material counterpart of her monomaniac commander’s soul.”
The Pequod, with its wild crew, blazing try-works, and dead whale, charging into the night, was a physical manifestation of Captain Ahab's obsessed and fiery spirit.
Directly links the ship's hellish activity to Ahab's inner state.
“Look not too long in the face of the fire, O man! Never dream with thy hand on the helm! Turn not thy back to the compass...”
Do not become hypnotized by destructive illusions. Stay alert and grounded in reality when you are in charge, and always keep your bearings.
The practical and moral lesson Ishmael draws from his near-disaster.
“the glorious, golden, glad sun, the only true lamp—all others but liars!”
The natural light of the sun is the only source of true illumination; all artificial lights are deceptive.
Contrasts natural truth with artificial deception.
“that mortal man who hath more of joy than sorrow in him, that mortal man cannot be true—not true, or undeveloped.”
A person who experiences more joy than sorrow is either not being truthful about life or is spiritually immature.
Core philosophical claim about the necessity of sorrow for truth.
“There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness.”
Some profound understanding comes from sorrow, but there is also a sorrow so deep it becomes insanity.
Distinguishes between productive, insightful sorrow and destructive madness.
