Moby Dick; Or, The Whale
Herman Melville
Contains spoilers for the entire book.
Discussion topics
Topic 01 of 08
Call me Ishmael
Why does Ishmael go to sea, and what kind of narrator does that make him?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you make of his friendship with Queequeg at the Spouter-Inn?
- Why does Ishmael so often disappear from his own story?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.
Discussion topics
Why does Ishmael go to sea, and what kind of narrator does that make him?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you make of his friendship with Queequeg at the Spouter-Inn?
- Why does Ishmael so often disappear from his own story?
Is Ahab mad, heroic, tragic, or all of these?
Keep the conversation going
- What does his lost leg mean to him?
- Why does the crew follow him?
How does Ahab win the crew over to his hunt in the quarter-deck scene?
Keep the conversation going
- Why does Starbuck object, and why does he not stop Ahab?
- What does the gold doubloon nailed to the mast come to mean?
What does Moby Dick stand for, to Ahab and to you?
Keep the conversation going
- Why does Ishmael find whiteness so terrifying?
- Can the whale be blamed for anything?
Why do you think Melville fills the book with chapters on whales, whaling and the work of the ship?
Keep the conversation going
- Which of these chapters stayed with you, and why?
- How do they change the pace and feel of the story?
What does the Pequod's crew, gathered from all over the world, say about the society Melville imagines?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you make of Pip, and of what happens to him?
- How do Stubb and Flask differ from Starbuck?
Why does Ahab ignore every warning, from the prophecies to the ships he meets?
Keep the conversation going
- What does his refusal to help the Rachel search for its lost boys tell you about him?
- Was there a moment when he might have turned back?
How did the three-day chase and the end of the Pequod leave you feeling?
Keep the conversation going
- Why is Ishmael the one who survives?
- What does it mean that he is saved by Queequeg's coffin?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.