MOBY DICK ANSWER KEY LEVEL 7

Before-reading questions 2 Ishmael is worried and uncomfortable at the

1 Reader’s own answer. beginning of the chapter because he thinks
2 Reader’s own answer. that Queequeg must be a cannibal, and he
3 Reader’s own answer. must be dangerous. At the end of the chapter,
4 Reader’s own answer. the two men peacefully smoke together and
5 Reader’s own answer. Ishmael decides that Queequeg is just a
human being like himself, and a friend.

During-reading questions CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER ONE 1 Because they cannot believe that a white man
1 Ishmael is not his real name. He uses the and a black man can be friends.
name of a man who survived a terrible 2 Queequeg stops a loose wooden boom from
event. He is an experienced sailor who causing damage on the ship, and then he
normally sails on merchant ships, but he now saves the life of one of the passengers.
wants to sail on a whaling ship, because he is
interested in whales and the seas where they CHAPTER FOUR
live. He usually goes to sea when he is feeling 1 The Pequod is a small, old whaling ship.
worried about life. We know that he does not She has three masts and all the wood is
have much money because he has to stay at dark brown as if she has been in lots of bad
a cheap inn. weather. Many parts of the ship are made of
2 Ishmael asks Peter Coffin, the landlord, for whalebone. Captain Peleg is a big, old man
a room. The landlord offers him a share of with brown, wrinkled skin. Captain Bildad is
a harpooneer’s room because the inn is full. a thin, serious-looking old man who sits with
Ishmael waits for the harpooneer and sees a straight back. The two owners argue with
the crew of a ship which has just returned each other.
from a four-year voyage. The harpooneer 2 He feels that there is a mystery about Captain
does not return before Ishmael is taken to Ahab that makes him fear the captain, but also
his bedroom by the landlord. makes him want to know more about him.

CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER FIVE

1 Queequeg comes from the South Sea islands. 1 Because they think that Queequeg is a
His skin is yellow and dark purple. The dark cannibal from the south seas and therefore he
parts are tattoos. He has no hair except for might not be a Christian. Ishmael lies, saying
a small piece above his forehead. He owns a that Queequeg is a member of the First
new, tall, black hat, a hammock, a seaman’s Church. When this does not work, he changes
bag and a tall harpoon. He prays to a small the meaning of First Church to “the great
statue and he smokes a tomahawk pipe. church whose members are all the religious
We know that his English is not very good people in the whole world”. Then Queequeg
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because Ishmael tells us and when he speaks shows his skill with the harpoon by throwing
it is not very grammatical. For example, it at, and hitting, a small piece of wood
“Tell me who you be”. He is a handsome f loating in the water.
man who is friendly and polite. 2 He sees some grey shapes in front of him.
He thinks they might be four or five sailors.

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 MOBY DICK ANSWER KEY LEVEL 7

CHAPTER SIX smashes into the whaleboat and wrecks it,

1 The mates are Starbuck, Stubb and Flask. and the crew have to be rescued from the sea.
They make sure that the crew follow 3 Ships that have been hunting for whales for
the captain’s orders. Each of them is several years look very old and can be covered
responsible for one of the whaleboats. with frost. The sailors on the Albatross look
The harpooneers are Queequeg, Tashtego sad and tired and have long, rough beards
and Daggoo. Each of the mates has a because they work all the time. The author
harpooneer in his whaleboat: Queequeg in tells us that this is because whaling ships never
Starbuck’s boat, Tashtego in Stubb’s boat, stop in harbors to get food and water during
and Daggoo in Flask’s boat. their voyages, because they keep everything
2 He is a tall, strong, elderly man with they need in the hold.
brown skin. He has a short beard and a
long, thin white mark down the side of CHAPTERS TEN AND ELEVEN
his face and neck. His face looks grim. 1 Few whalers have ever seen it and returned
He has a whalebone leg. He can become home to speak of it. According to Queequeg,
violently angry. if you see the great white squid, you will see
a sperm whale very soon afterwards.
CHAPTER SEVEN 2 They tie the whale to the side of the ship
1 To find and kill Moby Dick, the white and the mates cut a hole in the body and
whale that injured him during a previous attach a hook to the blubber. As they cut large
voyage. Moby Dick is the whale that tore pieces of the blubber from the body, the hook
off Ahab’s leg. is raised up the mast. Then the pieces of
2 Starbuck, because he came to hunt whales blubber are coiled into the hold. Men work
for their oil. He does not think it is right in pairs to cut the blubber into smaller pieces
to want revenge on an animal which was which are put into try-pots, in the try-works,
only behaving in a normal way. The rest and heated with fire so that the blubber
of the crew are excited and support the becomes liquid oil. Some of the blubber is
captain’s plan. squeezed by the men to make it into liquid.
3 Fedallah has told Ahab about a superstition.
CHAPTERS EIGHT AND NINE He says that a ship cannot sink if it has a
1 A group of five unknown men appear and sperm whale’s head hanging on one side of
become the crew of the fourth whaleboat. her bow, and a right whale’s head on the
2 The boat gets thrown about by huge waves. other. Ahab believes him and does this on
It rushes into a wall of fog, so its crew the Pequod.
cannot see the other boats. A storm arrives
at the same time as a whale swims up from CHAPTER TWELVE
below and pushes the boat upwards, so 1 Because he has become mad. This has
that the crew fall into the sea and lose their happened after he jumped out of a whaleboat
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oars. The crew, who start shaking with and became terrified by being left behind in
cold, spend the night in the boat, which the sea for a long time.
is full of water, in the fog, while the storm 2 The captain on the Samuel Enderby asks this,
grows stronger. In the morning the Pequod because when the doctor tried to joke with

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 MOBY DICK ANSWER KEY LEVEL 7

Ahab about his excitement when he heard CHAPTERS SIXTEEN AND SEVENTEEN
Captain Boomer talk about Moby Dick, 1 Ahab falls into the sea after Moby Dick
Ahab became very angry. has broken his whaleboat into two pieces.
He cannot swim because of his bone leg.
CHAPTERS THIRTEEN AND FOURTEEN He has to be dragged into Stubb’s boat and
1 Because Queequeg thinks that he is dying is extremely tired.
and he does not want his body to be thrown 2 He causes Stubb’s and Flask’s boats to crash
in the sea wrapped in his hammock. He together when he pulls the lines which are
wants a boat-shaped coffin, like the boats stuck in his body tight. Both crews fall into
which are used by his people. When he the sea. He pushes Ahab’s boat up into the
recovers, he uses it as a sea-chest. air, using his forehead.
2 Fedallah says that he will die before Ahab,
but Ahab will see Fedallah again before he CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
himself dies. And only rope can kill Ahab. 1 Ahab sees Fedallah again when Fedallah’s
Ahab does not understand the first prophecy, body appears tied to Moby Dick’s side by his
but he believes that it means that he will own harpoon lines. Ahab is killed because
kill Moby Dick before he dies. He thinks he is pulled out of his boat by a rope (the
that the second prophecy is about death by harpoon line) which becomes wrapped round
hanging. This is because people are hanged his neck.
with a rope round their necks. Ahab does not 2 Ishmael is “the helpless man” who is
believe this can happen to him. thrown into the sea when Moby Dick hits
3 Reader’s own answer. Model answer: Ahab his whaleboat. He cannot get back to the
believes that he must hunt and kill Moby boat. The whirlpool which takes both the
Dick and that it has not been his choice whaleboat and the Pequod down into the sea
to do this. Perhaps he believes that God is becomes slower and does not drown him.
making him do this. He survives because he climbs onto the
lifebuoy made from Queequeg’s coffin and is
CHAPTER FIFTEEN rescued, after a day and a night, by the Rachel.
1 Because one of the sailors falls from a
masthead into the sea. The crew tries to
rescue him, but when they throw the ship’s After-reading questions
lifebuoy into the sea, it sinks and the sailor 1 Reader’s own answer.
drowns. Queequeg suggests using his coffin 2 Reader’s own answer. Model answers:
as a new lifebuoy. a Ishmael is not doing his job because he is
2 Because his twelve-year-old son was on a following his own thoughts instead.
whaleboat which disappeared and he needs b the Pequod is sailing behind the small
help to search for him. Ahab refuses to help, whaleboats, as if she is looking after them
because the captain has seen Moby Dick c his death
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nearby the day before, and Ahab wants to d very, very sad
go after the whale immediately. He does e they were waiting nervously/excitedly for
not want to waste time. something to happen

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 MOBY DICK ANSWER KEY LEVEL 7

3 Reader’s own answers. Model answers: c Pip’s madness is shown when he repeats
a The Moss is the ship that takes Ishmael and verbs from a grammar book.
Queequeg from New Bedford to Nantucket. d The crew of the Pequod hear a sound of
On this ship, Queequeg shows his strength wild and terrible crying. Some of them think
and skill. the sounds are the voices of sailors who have
b When the Pequod meets the Albatross, drowned. Flask thinks this is an ominous sign.
another whaling ship, we learn something But Ahab says that the sounds are the cries of
about Ahab’s obsession. He will not stop his baby seals who have lost their mothers. Later,
ship to talk to any other captain who has not one of the old seamen says that what they
recently seen the white whale. For the first heard were the cries of the drowned son of
time we hear the question he goes on to the captain of the Rachel.
ask every ship’s captain. The Albatross has 5 Reader’s own answer. Model answer: Because
already been at sea for four years and the Ishmael is the name of a man in the Bible
ship and crew look tired and unhappy. who survived a terrible event, and the
c The Bachelor has finished its whale hunting narrator survives a terrible event, too. It’s a
and is going home. We see the contrast good choice because he explains this at the
between the excitement and happiness of the beginning of the story and so, as readers,
Bachelor’s crew and the silent thoughtfulness we know that something terrible is going to
of the Pequod’s crew. happen, but we do not know what. It makes
d The Samuel Enderby met with Moby Dick us want to read the story to find out what
during the previous year, and while happens to him.
attacking him the captain was badly injured.
Its captain has seen Moby Dick more
recently, but has avoided him. The story Exercises
makes Ahab sure that he is getting close to CHAPTERS ONE AND TWO
his prey. 1 1 A harpoon is an important whaling tool.
4 Reader’s own answers. Model answers: 2 The Grampus was a whaling ship which had
a Yojo is Queequeg’s little wooden god. just come back from a long voyage.
Yojo tells Queequeg that Ishmael must go on 3 Ishmael thought that the last name ‘Coffin’
his own to choose their whaling ship and so was ominous because you are put in a coffin
is the cause of Ishmael choosing the Pequod when you die.
for them to sail on. 4 The crew of the Grampus had ice in their
b It is from the mastheads that whales are beards.
first seen. During the typhoon, lightning 5 Each sailor needs a hammock to sleep in
starts fires on the mastheads and we can on a ship.
see Ahab’s madness when he describes 6 A sailor often keeps his possessions in a
the masthead fires as candles showing sea-chest.
him the way to the white whale. And the 7 There was an arch made of whalebone in
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mastheads, with Queequeg, Tashtego and the Spouter Inn.

Daggoo standing on them, are the last parts
of the Pequod that Ishmael sees before they
disappear into the sea.

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 MOBY DICK ANSWER KEY LEVEL 7

CHAPTERS THREE AND F OUR 5 Reader’s own answer.

2 1 Queequeg could have killed the rude man 6 Reader’s own answer.
on the Moss, but he did not want to do that. 7 Reader’s own answer.
2 The passengers on the Moss thought that 8 Reader’s own answer.
Ishmael should not have been friends with 9 Reader’s own answer.
Queequeg. 10 Reader’s own answer.
3 The captain of the Moss must have felt /
been very frightened when the sail tore CHAPTERS NINE AND TEN
away from the boom. 1 Fedallah sees the silver-colored spout of a
4 The man who was knocked into the sea by sperm whale night after night. Captains will
the boom could have drowned / been not usually hunt whales during the night, but
drowned. we get more of an understanding of Ahab’s
5 Ishmael must have felt / been worried obsession with Moby Dick when he orders the
about making the choice of whaling ship crew to sail the Pequod after it. Also, we see the
on his own. superstitious seamen who think it might be
6 Ishmael thought that he should have had Moby Dick himself.
a two hundred and seventy-fifth lay. 2 The captain of the Albatross drops a
speaking trumpet into the water as he tries to
CHAPTERS FIVE AND SIX speak to Ahab. Ishmael thinks that this is an
3 1 If Ishmael had not lied, Peleg and Bildad ominous sign.
might not have allowed Queequeg 3 The spout of blood comes from the first whale
on board the Pequod. they catch as it dies. Ishmael is describing how
2 If Queequeg had not shown his skill with violent and horrible whale-hunting is
the harpoon, he would not have been and showing sympathy for the whale, too.
given the ninetieth lay. 4 The blubber room is part of the hold where
3 If I had been honest with myself, I would men, using sharp tools, do the dangerous
have said that I was very worried about the job of cutting the valuable blubber from
voyage with Captain Ahab. sperm whales into pieces. This shows us the
4 If I hadn’t heard the strange words of Elijah, dangerous and skilful job that the whalers do
I would have thought that I hadn’t seen in order to earn their lay.
anything strange. 5 Ishmael describes the smoke, the black night
5 Stubb would not have tried to joke and the fire from the try-works while they sail
with Ahab if he had known how angry he away from the body of the whale as giving him
would get. a picture of the madness of Captain Ahab.
6 I would have been a better lookout if I
had not got lost in my thoughts so often. CHAPTERS ELEVEN AND TWELVE
6 1 sink Reader’s own answer.
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTERS SEVENAND
ANDEIGHT
EIGHT 2 straits Reader’s own answer.
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4 1 Reader’s own answer. 3 pirate Reader’s own answer.

2 Reader’s own answer. 4 prophecy Reader’s own answer.
3 Reader’s own answer. 5 equator Reader’s own answer.
4 Reader’s own answer. 6 point Reader’s own answer.

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 MOBY DICK ANSWER KEY LEVEL 7

CHAPTERS THIRTEEN AND FOURTEEN 5 “And does he have a lot of harpoons in his
7 1 Starbuck could have stopped the ship to body?”
find the leaking barrels, but Ahab told him 6 “(My superstition is that) if you see the great
not to. white squid, it means that you will soon see
2 At first, Ahab would not stop the ship. a sperm whale.”
3 Queequeg was such a strong man that he
did not die from his illness.
4 Ahab did not want to go on board the Project work
Bachelor, saying that the crew were too
happy for him. Reader’s own answers.
5 Ahab was so angry that he was not afraid
of the burning harpoon.
6 Starbuck had been thinking of killing Ahab,
Essay questions
but he did not do it. Reader’s own answers.

CHAPTERS FIFTEEN AND SIXTEEN

8 1 intelligence
2 terror
3 board
4 crash
5 firmly
6 part
7 roll
8 direction

CHAPTERS SEVENTEEN AND EIGHTEEN

9 1 a 2 g 3 j 4 b 5 e
6 d 7 c 8 i 9 h 10 f

ALL CHAPTERS
10 Reader’s own answers. Model answers:
1 “Who are you? If you speak to me again,
I will kill you.”
2 “I would not kill this man because he is
so small. I am a harpooneer who kills big
whales, and he is like a small fish.”
3 “Captain, look at that small piece of wood
floating in the sea. Imagine that it is the eye
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of a whale and watch me throw the harpoon

at it.”
4 “If it had been the eye of a whale, the whale
would have been dead now.”

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