August 13, 2019 - Chapters One Hundred Nine and One Hundred Ten


These two chapters for today deal with the discovery on the Pequod that some of the barrels of sperm oil in the hold are leaking. In maybe the most obvious case of foreshadowing in the entire novel, the second of the two chapters is entitled “Queequeg in His Coffin.” Although Queequeg doesn’t die, that he has a coffin built for him and even “tries it on” doesn’t bode well for him.

A particularly pointed line from the first chapter stood out of me. Referring to the ship when the barrels of oil have been moved from the hold up to the top deck, the narrator says, “Top-heavy was the ship as a dinnerless student with all Aristotle in his head.” I had a laugh.

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