Moby-Dick Ch. 62: The Dart

Summary

After Stubb's kill, Ishmael stops to explain how the dart is supposed to work. In the fishery the headsman steers the boat while the harpooneer rows the front oar. The harpooneer must also throw the first harpoon, sometimes twenty or thirty feet.

The problem is the custom. Through a long, tiring chase the harpooneer must keep rowing as hard as he can. He must also shout loud encouragement to the crew. Ishmael says he cannot shout and row full out at the same time. Most people cannot.

Then comes the cry: "Stand up, and give it to him!" The harpooneer must drop his oar, spin around, grab the harpoon, and throw with whatever strength is left. No wonder most throws fail. Ishmael says only about five out of fifty fair chances succeed across the fleet.

Failed darts ruin voyages. Harpooneers get cursed and demoted. Some burst blood vessels in the boat. Some ships return after four years with only four barrels of oil. Owners lose money when the striker has no breath left for the moment that matters.

If the harpoon hits, the headsman and harpooneer run back and forth in the rocking boat and swap places when the whale runs. Ishmael calls this foolish.

He says the headsman should stay in the bow from start to finish. That person should throw both harpoon and lance. The harpooneer should not row through the whole chase.

Ishmael's fix is simple. For the best dart, the harpooneer should stand up fresh, not exhausted. Start from rest, not from toil.

In this chapter: Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Protecting the Decisive Role

The clutch moment fails when the best person is already empty. Ishmael says harpooneers must dart from idleness not toil because rowing and shouting through the chase leaves five successes in fifty.

Before you assign your strongest closer to chase busywork, ask who must still have breath when Stand up, give it to him sounds.

Coming Up in Chapter 63

Next: The Crotch. Ishmael explains the notched bow stick holding first and second harpoon irons on the line, and the dangling second-iron hazard when the whale runs.

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Original text

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Chapter 62

The Dart

The Dart. A word concerning an incident in the last chapter. According to the invariable usage of the fishery, the whale-boat pushes off from the ship, with the headsman or whale-killer as temporary steersman, and the harpooneer or whale-fastener pulling the foremost oar, the one known as the harpooneer-oar. Now it needs a strong, nervous arm to strike the first iron into the fish; for often, in what is called a long dart, the heavy implement has to be flung to the distance of twenty or thirty feet. But however prolonged and exhausting the chase, the harpooneer is expected to…

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Critical Thinking Exercise

10 minutes

Find Your Harpooneer-oar

Who rows your chase? Who should throw the dart? Write one role split to test next week.

Consider:

•What is the dart?
•What is the long chase?
•What would idleness mean here?

Journaling Prompt

Write about a time you were excellent at setup and failed at the finish because you were spent.

Master this chapter. Complete your experience

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Summary