NCHS AP English Language

Question # 10 -- Mark Francis

In chapter 51, also called the Spirit-Spout, Fedallah, while taking his turn as the night watchman, spots a “silvery moon-lit jet” which Ahab assumes is a sign of Moby Dick. As any whaler would know, unlike fish, whales don’t have gills, instead they obtain their oxygen from air, like humans. Also, as any whaler would know, whales don’t have noses, like humans, instead they have a spout, which is used to expel the oxygen depleted air from their lungs when the whale wishes to replenish his or her supply of oxygen. This spout fills with water while the whale is submerged, so when the whale resurfaces and exhales, the air forces the water in the spout out, forming what at night, would appear to be a “silvery moon-lit jet”. Of course, one can’t necessarily reason that the jet belongs to Moby Dick, it could belong to any whale, but Ahab just isn’t a very reasonable person. Ahab and his crew desperately attempt to follow the mysterious jet, but it eludes them for the remainder of the night. In fact, night after night the crew of the Pequod spot the elusive jet, but like a ghost, it’s never seen more than once before vanishing until the next night, thusly earning the nickname “Spirit Spout”. The crew of the Pequod, realizing that the jet could be any whale, begin to realize that their captain is probably insane (what took them so long ?!?!?!), and view the jet as a sign of their impending doom.

posted by Mark Francis @ 9:11 AM