Moby Dick survives, as does Ishmael who is rescued by the ship, Rachel (another biblical name referencing the wife of Jacob, Abraham's grandson) who is looking for their own men lost from an earlier battle with the great white whale. But, Ahab has the rope from the spear he threw at the whale wrapped around his neck and he is pulled away by the whale to his death. The ship is attacked by Moby Dick causing a vortex when it sinks, pulling all the surrounding boats and men into the ocean to their deaths. After the final battle with the whale, when all men are lost, the coffin becomes the saving buoy for Ishmael who was thrown from the ship earlier and watched to scene unfolding from a distance. At one point Queequeg becomes deathly ill and has a coffin made for him by the ship's carpenter. Then out of the bottom of the ship emerge rough looking men who Ahab has taken on with the sole purpose of killing the white whale.Īhab asks every ship they meet for news of the whale and grows more and more obsessed with its destruction, even though the prophesies warn he and his ship will not survive. Shortly after setting sail, the crew discover the true purpose of Ahab when he sticks a gold doubloon to the mast head stating the first man to see the white whale will have the gold piece. They are from all walks of life and from all over the world. The work is hard and dangerous and the men are a diverse lot. On the ship, Ishmael discovers a life he never imagined. The business men who own the ship, do not know their new captain will be chasing after the great white whale that destroyed his previous ship and took his leg as well. When they enlist, they discover the new captain of the ship is a man called Ahab (named for an Israeli king who, because of his obsession with his wife, Jezebel, abandoned his people and God to worship other gods). He persuades Ishmael to join him since he needs a job. The man's name is Queequeg, a Polynesian harpooner, who is signing on to the Pequod, a whaling ship. He must share the bed with a man who originally terrifies him, due to his dark skin, rough mien and tattoos, but they become best friends as the book progresses. Ishmael's adventure begins when he arrives in New Bedford on his way to Nantucket to find little "room at the inn". Strong young men would spend some time on the whaling vessels to make their fortune bringing in the valuable whale oil.
He has decided to seek his fortune at sea, and therefore heads to Nantucket. With that one line, the reader knows this is an alias the narrator uses, and that he is an unwanted son, himself. The famous opening line, "Call me Ishmael" is a reference to the illegitimate son of Abraham, expelled from the tribe to die in the desert with his Egyptian slave mother, only to be saved by God. "Moby Dick" is a full of biblical references.
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