Chapters 125–127 Summary

A sailor falls from the mainmast, drowning when the ship’s old lifebuoy can’t float. The carpenter makes a buoy out of Queequeg’s coffin. Starbuck is aware of the grim connotation of a coffin being used to save lives.

Chapter 128 Summary

The next day, the Pequod encounters the Rachel. Ahab asks its captain, Gardiner, whether the ship has seen Moby Dick to which Gardiner affirms. He tells Ahab that he has recently lost his son in a whaleboat in pursuit of the whale. He requests Ahab to help him find his son. Ahab grimly dismisses the request, considering any time not pursuing the whale is time wasted. Gardiner is stunned to see this insensitivity.

Chapters 129–131 Summary

Ahab distances himself from Pip as he fears his resolve might soften in his affection for the child. He starts suspecting the crew of not being truthful and insists on taking the mainmast watch himself in the hope of spotting Moby Dick. A red-billed sea-hawk steals his hat shortly after Ahab is lifted to the lookout post. The Pequod has a somber gam with the Delight, a ship that has recently suffered due to its encounter with the White Whale. The captain of the Delight despairs if ever a harpoon can strike the beast to which Ahab proudly displays his own harpoon. As the Pequod moves off in pursuit, the crew of the Delight notices Queequeg’s coffin floating behind the ship.

Chapter 132 Summary

Starbuck sees Ahab in a melancholic state and approaches him. Ahab confesses to him how the pursuit of the whale has left him desolate and bitter. Starbuck is moved and admiring his “noble soul,” urges the captain to change course while there is still time. Ahab struggles to shelve his obsessions and concludes that he is a man fated and cannot stop himself. Starbuck leaves in despair.

Chapter 133 Summary

Ahab catches the scent of a whale and soon spots Moby Dick. The harpoon boats are launched. The whale appears under Ahab’s boat and destroys it. The men, however, cling to the oars and are not killed. Starbuck maneuvers the Pequod and manages to drive Moby Dick away. The men climb back on board to safety.

Chapter 134 Summary

On the second day, Moby Dick manages more destruction. Stubb’s and Flask’s boats are destroyed. Ahab loses his false leg. Fedallah is drowned during the fight, thus fulfilling a part of his prophecy—that he would die before Ahab. Starbuck navigates the Pequod over to retrieve the men.

Chapter 135 Summary

On the third day, when Moby Dick surfaces, the corpse of Fedallah is bound to his side by the harpoon rope. It dawns on Ahab that Moby Dick is the first “hearse,” as it is carrying a corpse, that Fedallah had predicted about his death. This time the whale aims for the ship, and the Pequod sinks. Ahab realizes the ship is the second hearse as it’s made of American wood and is carrying dead men now. He goes down fighting, managing to strike Moby Dick with his harpoon, but is caught in the hemp line and is dragged to his death. The remaining harpoon boats are sucked into the sea in the whirlpool created by the wreckage of the Pequod.

Epilogue Summary

Ishmael explains how he had survived the wreckage. With Fedallah dead, he was on Ahab’s boat on the last day. He was flung from the boat and floated and saw the whole action from the margins. When the vortex had pulled him to the center, it had sufficiently subsided so that he was not sucked under the sea. He saw Queequeg’s coffin buoy shoot up from the fading vortex and clung to it for a day and a night to be finally rescued by the Rachel.

Chapters 126–Epilogue Analysis

These final chapters explore the softer, humane side of Ahab, despite his gigantic pride and monomania, as a final opportunity for redemption of the man whose fate is approaching. Ahab expresses tenderness toward Pip, when the rest of the crew considers him insane, and gives him shelter in his private space. But, he dismisses Pip when he realizes that his affection for him will dilute his obsessive quest. In one self-conscious speech, Ahab wonders about his free will and his identity and the fact that he is compelled to pursue it by some force that he cannot overcome. In another rare and vulnerable instance, Ahab confesses to Starbuck that the pursuit of the White Whale has led to sacrificing all that is good in his life, including his young wife and child. Starbuck, moved by this disclosure, pleads to change course so that they can return to their families. This scene raises an important question of man’s free will and his fate. Can Ahab change the course of his life or is he inextricably bound to his mission of hatred and revenge? When Ahab dismisses Captain Gardiner’s plea to search for his missing son, the reader knows that there is no turning around for Ahab now, as he has failed to empathize with a grieving father and a comrade on sea. The remnants of his soul can still be salvaged, there is still the possibility of redemption, but he rejects all opportunities to turn his fate. Ahab’s later speeches, which are quite poetic and reminiscent of Shakespearean tragedy, display his acute intelligence and self-awareness, all of which combine to construct Ahab as a tragic hero, hurtling toward his doomed fate.

The final chapters of the book also prepare the reader for the final confrontation with Moby Dick. The encounters with the Rachel and the Delight confirm that meeting Moby Dick is both fated and sure to be fatal. Fedallah’s death proves the accuracy of his prediction; thus, paving way for the fulfillment of the prediction concerning Ahab’s death. The final battle scenes with the whale form the epic climax of the novel. Ahab had pursued his quest for a year, the traditional period of an epic quest. He now fights his nemesis for three days, stopping each night to rearm himself and prepare for the next day’s battle. However, Ahab is fated to lose, and he is aware of it. The whale, like an annoyed God, plays with the humans, determined to teach them a lesson for their audacity. By the morning of the third day, Ahab has come to an understanding of the forces that drive him. But he will not flee; like a tragic hero, he will meet his fate. Only heroes have their death foretold, and by committing to a battle that he cannot win, Ahab becomes the stuff of legend.

Ishmael is saved by Queequeg’s coffin—a symbol of not only resurrection but also the continuation of narratives. Queequeg has cheated death by inscribing his tattoos on the coffin. Ahab, though dead, too will continue to live through Ishmael’s narration.