Dusk — Moby-Dick

At dusk Starbuck stands alone by the main mast and speaks his thoughts aloud.

He says his soul is overpowered by Captain Ahab, a madman. He hates that a sane man must serve on such a ship. Ahab has worn down his reason. Starbuck can see where this voyage may end, yet he feels he must help Ahab get there.

He is tied to Ahab like a boat towed by a cable he cannot cut. Ahab talks about answering to no one above him, but he rules harshly over everyone below. Starbuck sees his own miserable job clearly: obey while rebelling inside, and hate Ahab while also pitying him.

For a moment he hopes God may turn the voyage aside. The whale has the whole ocean to hide in. But Starbuck's heart feels heavy as lead. He says his inner clock has run down and he has no key to wind it up again.

Then loud party noise bursts from the forecastle below. The ordinary sailors are drinking and celebrating after Ahab's oath. Starbuck calls them a heathen crew, born of the sharkish sea, with Moby Dick as their new idol.

The noise is forward; silence stays aft. Starbuck says that picture matches life itself. The bright bow races ahead while dark Ahab broods in the stern cabin above the dead wake.

Starbuck feels life's horror in that moment, but he says the horror is not yet inside him. He asks God and good influences to hold him up while he tries to fight the grim future ahead.