Study Questions
1. What were some of the wild rumors about Moby Dick?

2. Why were Moby Dick’s “retreats” feared more than anything?

3. With what did Ahab attack Moby Dick?

4. How is Moby Dick’s deformed jaw shaped?

5. Figuratively, what did Ahab pile upon the whale’s white hump?

6. When was Ahab seized with his monomania?

7. Where had Ishmael first seen an albatross?

8. What impression did it make on him at the time?

9. What white creature is famous in American western legend?

10. What was it about the whale that instilled horror in Ishmael?

Answers
1. Rumors spread that Moby Dick was ubiquitous and immortal.

2. He was known to turn around suddenly and attack.

3. Ahab attacked Moby Dick with only a small knife.

4. Moby Dick’s jaw is sickle-shaped.

5. He piled on the general rage and hate that all men have felt toward intangible evil.

6. Ahab was seized with his monomania as he lay suffering during the long voyage home.

7. Ishmael found an albatross dashed upon the deck when he sailed the Antarctic.

8. Ishmael was struck with wonder and bowed before the albatross. He considered it mystical.

9. The White Steed of the Prairies is famous in American western legend.

10. The whiteness of the whale instilled horror in Ishmael.