Chapter 2 Summary

Ishmael packs his few possessions into a carpet-bag and leaves Manhattan. He arrives at the US whaling capital of New Bedford. He is disappointed though to find that the last ferry for Nantucket has already left, and he will have to stay in New Bedford for the next two days. Although Ishmael could sign up with a whaling ship in New Bedford, he wishes to sail only on a Nantucket craft because it was the original whaling capital. He roams the streets looking for an inn, but with little money to spend, most of the places are expensive. He stumbles into a church full of wailing and weeping African Americans, where a sermon is being preached on “the blackness of darkness.” He leaves quickly and finally finds an inn called Spouter-Inn, owned by a man named Peter Coffin. Ishmael notes the ominous name of the owner. Though the inn looks bleak and is dilapidated, it is cheap and he is too exhausted. He enters the inn eagerly.

Chapter 3 Summary

Once he enters the Spouter-Inn, Ishmael finds a large, blurry oil painting on the wall. On inspecting it closely, he realizes that it’s a depiction of a hurricane-wracked ship that is being attacked by a whale. On the other wall is a collection of “monstrous clubs and spears” and even human teeth and hair as ornamentation. Ishmael shudders at the thought that cannibals use all these. As the inn is full, Ishmael has to share a room with “a dark complexioned” harpooner named Queequeg, who “eats nothing but steaks, and likes ’em rare.” He passes the evening in the bar with “a wild set of mariners,” waiting for Queequeg to arrive. When he doesn’t, anxious, he decides he would rather sleep on a bench than share a bed with some strange, perhaps dangerous man. The bench, however, is uncomfortable, and Ishmael reconciles with the idea of sharing with the unknown harpooner. Still, Ishmael is worried, since Coffin mentions that the harpooner has recently arrived from the South Seas and is peddling shrunken heads currently. When Queequeg finally returns, Ishmael watches in fear as the heavily tattooed man smokes a tomahawk pipe and performs a ritual on a dark-colored idol. Once his prayers are over, he discovers Ishmael in his bed. As he flourishes the tomahawk pipe, Ishmael shouts for the inn’s owner. Peter Coffin arrives and the harpooner introduces himself as Queequeg. Ishmael notices that the man’s English is broken; however, he appears kind and friendly, and he decides that it is better to share a bed with a “sober cannibal” than a “drunken Christian.”

Chapter 4 Summary

When Queequeg and Ishmael wake up the next morning, Queequeg’s arm is affectionately thrown over Ishmael, as if the latter were “his wife.” Queequeg offers to dress first so that Ishmael can have some privacy for his own grooming. Ishmael watches as the other man wears a fancy hat and boots. He marvels at the “savage’s understanding of civilized manners.” He shaves as well, though with a harpoon and not with a razor.

Chapter 5 Summary

Ishmael goes down to the common room for breakfast. He greets Peter Coffin pleasantly and harbors no ill will toward him though the landlord had had a good laugh at his expense the previous night when he was terrified of Queequeg. As Ishmael says, “A good laugh is a mighty good thing in this world,” and a man should be able to laugh at himself. At the breakfast table, he expects the other whalers to share their adventure stories, but the men eat silently. Queequeg uses a harpoon for his rare steaks instead of knives.

Chapter 6 Summary

Ishmael strolls around the town of New Bedford. In the light of the morning, he realizes that Queequeg is not so strange after all as the town is full of exotic-looking people, including island cannibals wearing bones. As the town is the whaling center, people visit it from around the world—from the South Pacific to the remote mountains of Vermont. The town is wealthy due to the whale oil trade; so it is also full of big houses, lavish gardens, and beautifully dressed women.

Chapter 7 Summary

Ishmael walks into the Whaleman’s Chapel, which is visited by sailors and whalers on Sundays. The church has several plaques commemorating the people who have lost their lives at sea. Ishmael is surprised to see Queequeg at the service. He reflects on his own mortality, aware that he might lose his life at sea. He concludes that he has a soul which will go on living after his body is gone; hence, he welcomes the adventure and accepts the possibility of his physical death.

Chapter 8 Summary

A man enters the chapel and climbs up the pulpit, which is shaped like a ship’s bow, on a rope ladder. He is Father Mapple, the preacher at the chapel. Father Mapple is popular among the sailors as he was a former sailor and harpooner, and his sermons are always relevant to his congregation. Ishmael wonders about the ceremonial ascension of the preacher on the pulpit. If the world is a ship, then the preacher’s pulpit is the prow.

Chapter 9 Summary

Father Mapple begins the congregation with a hymn. Then he delivers an impassioned speech about a story from the Old Testament where the prophet Jonah tried to escape the will of God but was swallowed by a whale. The Father states that God’s will cannot be disobeyed. We should learn how to obey, which might even require disregarding one’s own will. He then personalizes this message by stating that he is even a greater sinner than any amongst this congregation.

Chapters 2–9 Analysis

Ishmael is introduced as lonely; however; he is not solitary by nature. One of the major themes of the novel is the sense of camaraderie and fellowship that arises among sailors on a whaling ship—a journey often lasting years, during when the sailors depend on each other for their lives. His open nature is evident in his quick appreciation and friendship with Queequeg.

The comical scene where Ishmael and Queequeg meet for the first time in the night introduces one of the novel’s major topics—race relations. While initially, he is terrified, noting Queequeg’s odd appearance, Ishmael realizes that the savage has a deeper understanding of what “civilizations” means than most people do. Queequeg’s tattoos and supposed cannibalism mark him as the ultimate savage, as per nineteenth-century beliefs. Tattooing was considered a voluntary action of permanently altering the body; cannibalism too was a great taboo in the West. However, Queequeg is much more civil and considerate whereas Ishmael considers himself guilty of rudeness. The meeting of these two characters and Ishmael’s appreciation of the Other sets the tone of camaraderie and acceptance of racial diversity. Further, the port city offers Ishmael more opportunities to observe people from various cultures. Melville uses Biblical references and Christian themes throughout the novel; however, he often offers a critique when he discusses the narrow-mindedness and hypocrisy of Christian practices. In this process, he puts forth his own version of “brotherhood, which is all-encompassing and non-judgmental.

Father Mapple’s sermon of Jonah and the whale is a clever insertion of a Biblical reference in a book about whale hunting. Jonah’s story shows how he prioritized his will over God’s, for which he was punished. This is exactly the same thing that Ahab will do when he pushes his own will against that of nature, his fellow mates, and his ship, which leads him to a confrontation with an actual whale. This chapter also serves as a reminder of the high mortality at sea as seen in the church’s commemorative plaques.

Other than the comparison between Jonah and the as yet-not-introduced Ahab, Father Mapple’s sermon is also important for its final instruction on telling the truth even in the face of falsehood. This speaks more personally of Ishmael as he will be required to tell the truth about Ahab, however unpleasant that might be, thereby positing him as a reliable narrator.

Moby Dick is filled with omens, prophecies, and dark symbolism. Examples include the name of the innkeeper, Peter Coffin. Or the painting on his wall that shows a whale attacking a ship. There are two churches he visits—one which talks about the darkness that surrounds mankind and the other that insists on obedience to God. All of these serve as portents, ominous signs of the disaster in waiting, which is a style typical of the epics of Homer or Virgil.