June 18, 2019 - Chapter Thirty-three

In this chapter, Ishmael lays out the unusual role played by the harpooners on a whaling ship, noting that their status is one of an elite and, as such, they are quartered where the mates and officers, rather than forward on the ship with the crew. Then Ishmael considers Ahab’s role in this hierarchy and how he uses and abuses his power as essential monarch of the boat.

For a point of comparison, Ishmael evokes Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, who reigned at the time of writing and publication of the novel. A reactionary against the mold of earlier Enlightenment monarchs like Peter the Great, Nicholas was associated with the development of the autocracy – the placing of absolutely power in the hands of the Tsar. As such, the historical assessment of him is fairly harsh, particularly given the very reform-minded nature of his son, Alexander II.

Ishmael’s assessment is “But when, as in the case of Nicholas the Czar, the ringed crown of geographical empire encircles an imperial brain; then, the plebeian herds crouch abased before the tremendous centralization.” Simply put, the trappings of monarchy can make a simpleton appear important.