Chapter 110 - Queequeg in His Coffin Practice Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 110 - Queequeg in His Coffin
Why is the crew emptying the Pequod's hold at the start of Chapter 110?
They are searching for the source of a leak in the ship. The casks nearest the surface are sound, so they must dig deeper and deeper.
How does Queequeg become ill?
While working in the damp, cold hold to rearrange casks, he catches a terrible chill that develops into a high fever.
What is a harpooneer's additional duty besides hunting whales?
Harpooneers serve as "holders" who must descend into the hold to manhandle and stow the clumsiest casks.
What simile does Melville use to describe Queequeg working in the hold?
He compares Queequeg to "a green spotted lizard at the bottom of a well," crawling amid dampness and slime.
What happens to Queequeg's eyes as his body wastes away?
They grow "fuller and fuller" with a "strange softness of lustre," rounding "like the rings of Eternity" even as the rest of him thins.
Why does Queequeg want a coffin-canoe instead of a standard sea burial?
His people's custom is to place dead warriors in canoes and float them toward the "starry archipelagoes." He shudders at being tossed in a hammock to the sharks.
What do Queequeg's people believe about the stars?
They believe the stars are islands, and that beyond all visible horizons their seas interflow with the blue heavens, forming the white breakers of the Milky Way.
What type of wood is used for Queequeg's coffin?
Dark, "coffin-colored" lumber from the aboriginal groves of the Lackaday Islands, which had been aboard from a previous voyage.
Who builds Queequeg's coffin?
The ship's carpenter, who measures Queequeg with his rule, chalking marks on his body for accuracy.
What word does Queequeg say after testing his coffin?
"Rarmai" — meaning "it will do; it is easy."
Name the small idol that Queequeg places in his coffin.
Yojo, his little personal god, which he crosses between his arms as he lies in the coffin.
What instrument does Pip carry during the coffin scene?
His tambourine. He offers to beat Queequeg's "dying march" on it.
What does Pip ask Queequeg to do if he reaches the "sweet Antilles"?
To seek out "one Pip, who's now been missing long" and comfort him, since Pip believes a lost version of himself is there.
How does Pip contrast Queequeg's dying with his own experience?
Pip declares "Queequeg dies game!" but calls himself a coward who "jumped from a whale-boat" and "died all a'shiver."
How does Starbuck interpret Pip's mad speech?
He sees it as evidence of heavenly knowledge, comparing it to feverish men speaking ancient tongues they learned in forgotten childhood.
What reason does Queequeg give for his sudden recovery?
He recalled "a little duty ashore" left undone and simply changed his mind about dying.
What does Queequeg believe about willpower and sickness?
That if a man makes up his mind to live, mere sickness cannot kill him—only a whale, a gale, or some violent unintelligent destroyer can.
How does Melville contrast savage and civilized recovery from illness?
A sick civilized man may convalesce for six months, but "a sick savage is almost half-well again in a day."
What does Queequeg do with his coffin after recovering?
He converts it into a sea-chest for his clothes and spends hours carving the lid with hieroglyphic figures copied from his tattoos.
What do the tattoos on Queequeg's body contain?
A complete theory of the heavens and the earth, and a mystical treatise on the art of attaining truth, inscribed by a departed prophet.
Can Queequeg read his own tattoos?
No. Though "his own live heart beat against them," the mysteries were unreadable even to him and destined to moulder away with him.
What exclamation does Ahab make upon seeing the tattooed Queequeg?
"Oh, devilish tantalization of the gods!" — expressing frustration that such deep truths are inscribed on a body that cannot decode them.
What role does the coffin eventually play in the novel's conclusion?
It is converted into the Pequod's life-buoy and ultimately saves Ishmael's life when the ship is destroyed by Moby Dick.