Moby-Dick Ch. 93: The Castaway

Summary

A few days after meeting the French ship, something terrible happens to the smallest and least important sailor on the Pequod. His name is Pip, a bright little Black boy who plays the tambourine. On most whale ships, timid or clumsy sailors stay aboard as ship-keepers while others hunt. Pip is one of those. He loves parties and peace, but whaling has already started to scare him and dim his joy.

After Stubb finds ambergris, one of Stubb's oarsmen hurts his hand. Pip fills in on the whale boat. The first trip goes fine. On the second trip, the whale strikes right under Pip's seat. He panics and jumps out with the paddle still in his hand. The rope wraps around his chest and neck and drags him through the water. Tashtego holds a knife over the line and asks Stubb, Cut? Stubb yells, Damn him, cut! The whale gets away, but Pip lives. Stubb then tells Pip to stick to the boat or he will not pick him up again. He says a whale is worth thirty times what Pip would sell for in Alabama.

Pip jumps again anyway. This time Stubb keeps chasing the whale and does not turn back. Other boats spot new whales and sail away too. Pip floats alone on a calm blue sea, a mile from anyone. The Pequod finally picks him up, but he is never the same. He talks about seeing God's foot on a loom and his mates call him mad. Ishmael says not to judge Stubb too harshly. This kind of thing happens in whaling. He also hints that he himself will be abandoned later.

In this chapter: Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Knowing When the Hunt Will Not Turn Back

Rescue talk can hide quota math. Stubb cuts the line to save Pip once, then tells him a whale is worth thirty times him in Alabama; on the second jump boats chase other fish and a mile opens on a calm sea before the ship takes his body back broken.

Before you trust pick you up, read whether leaders value the catch over you when speed rises.

Coming Up in Chapter 94

Next the crew cuts in Stubb's whale and squeezes lumps of sperm back into oil. Ishmael sits on deck with his hands in the tub until a strange warmth spreads through the whole ship.

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Original text

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Chapter 93

The Castaway

The Castaway. It was but some few days after encountering the Frenchman, that a most significant event befell the most insignificant of the Pequod’s crew; an event most lamentable; and which ended in providing the sometimes madly merry and predestinated craft with a living and ever accompanying prophecy of whatever shattered sequel might prove her own. Now, in the whale ship, it is not every one that goes in the boats. Some few hands are reserved called ship-keepers, whose province it is to work the vessel while the boats are pursuing the whale. As a general thing, these ship-keepers are…

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Critical Thinking Exercise

10 minutes

Read the Pickup Rule

When were you the whale in the equation versus Pip in the water?

Consider:

•First Cut?
•Second jump?
•Calm lie?

Journaling Prompt

Write about quota versus rescue you witnessed.

Master this chapter. Complete your experience

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The Castaway

Summary