Chapters 74–77 Summary

Ishmael describes the heads of the two whales hanging from the sides of the ship. In this chapter, he describes the sperm whale’s head, which he considers more symmetrical, thereby lending more dignity to the form of a sperm whale. In Chapter 75, he describes the head of the right whale. In Chapter 76, he compares the massive head of the sperm whale as a powerful “battering ram. In Chapter 77, he continues with the description of the sperm whale, whose head contains the precious spermaceti, and calls its head a “Great Heidelburgh Tun,” a famous German wine vessel of enormous capacity.

Chapter 78 Summary

Ishmael describes how Tashtego goes about tapping the case—the process of decanting the spermaceti from the twenty-foot-deep recess of the whale’s head. However, during the bucket relay necessary to the process, he falls into the case. Panic ensues, and in the chaos, the head gets unhooked and starts sinking in the water. Queequeg dives into the water and rescues Tashtego by cutting him out of the whale’s head.

Chapter 79 Summary

Ishmael studies the whale through the arts of physiognomy (the art of judging human character from facial features) and phrenology (the study of the shape of the skull). He examines the whale’s features and concludes that the sperm whale’s large, clear brows attribute a certain dignity to it that’s Godlike, and its “pyramidical silence” demonstrates its genius. He then dismisses his observations and invites the reader to conclude what they can from the whale’s huge, wrinkled brows.

Chapter 80 Summary

The actual brain of a whale is less than ten inches, hidden in a twenty-foot brow. Ishmael now dismisses the impression created by the massive brow as it hides so tiny a brain. He instead examines the spine of the beast, which he considers a truer source of the whale’s power and its indomitable spirit.

Chapter 81 Summary

The Pequod meets Jungfrau, a German whaling ship. The Jungfrau has no oil, and the captain begs Ahab for oil. Ahab gives some oil and asks about Moby Dick, to which the captain has no information. After he leaves, a group of whales is spotted, and both the ships give these a chase. The Pequod catches a whale, which turns out to be old and blind. The carcass threatens to sink the ship. The less-experienced crew of Jungfrau meanwhile gives chase to a finback, assuming it to be a sperm whale, which though is too fast to be caught.

Chapters 74–81 Analysis

Ishmael continues with his description of whales, which apart from adding more details to the whaling industry, also emphasizes his fascination for the great beast, attributing almost divine characteristics to it in a fit of Romanticism. He makes imaginative comparisons between the heads and schools of classical philosophy (Stoic and “Platonian”) and uses popular nineteenth-century studies of physiognomy and phrenology—both of which are subjective analysis, open to bias, and hence lacking scientific accuracy—to describe the whale.

However, in addition to being a tale of an epic voyage, Moby Dick is also a novel about the whale itself—an animal that is not only the object of the hunt but is also a fascinating and admirable creature in its own right. His examination of the blubber, the skull, the brain, and the spine of the whale is symbolic of his exploration of the deep, the hidden. This inward progression suggests an attempt to get at the heart, or inner meaning, of things as the voyage progresses.

The rescue of Tashtego is dramatic. Ishmael describes the process as a rebirth, an exercise in “obstetrics.” Similar to the biblical Lazarus, Tashtego has died and is reborn, which is ironically facilitated by a non-Christian, that is Queequeg.

The encounter with Jungfrau (meaning “virgin), a ship that has not killed a whale yet and has less experience at sea, serves as a juxtaposition to the Pequod, which is more experienced and weather-beaten. While the Jungfrau is engaged in frivolous activities, the Pequod has a grimmer objective. The drowning of the dead whale also works as a foreshadowing of the events narrated so far. Just like Ahab is vengeful, nature too has its way of taking revenge, even in death.