Chapter 23 - The Lee Shore Practice Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 23 - The Lee Shore
Who is standing at the helm of the Pequod as it departs Nantucket?
Bulkington.
Where did Ishmael first encounter Bulkington?
At the Spouter Inn in New Bedford.
How long had Bulkington been at sea before arriving in New Bedford?
Four years.
What does Ishmael call this short chapter in relation to Bulkington?
The "stoneless grave" of Bulkington.
How does Ishmael describe the length of this chapter?
He calls it a "six-inch chapter."
What does the lee shore represent symbolically in this chapter?
The deceptive danger of safety, comfort, and conformity.
What does the open sea represent symbolically?
Independence, the pursuit of truth, and spiritual freedom.
What comforts of the port does Ishmael list?
Hearthstone, supper, warm blankets, and friends.
Why is the port the ship's "direst jeopardy" in a gale?
Because the wind can drive the ship onto the rocks of the shore, destroying it.
What does Ishmael say "all deep, earnest thinking" is?
The intrepid effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea.
What does Ishmael say resides in "landlessness alone"?
The highest truth, which is shoreless and indefinite as God.
What title does Ishmael give Bulkington in the chapter's final lines?
Demigod.
What word does Ishmael use for Bulkington's death at sea?
Apotheosis (transformation into a god).
What is the central extended metaphor of the chapter?
Bulkington is compared to a storm-tossed ship that must avoid the lee shore.
What literary device is Ishmael using when he addresses Bulkington directly?
Apostrophe—directly addressing an absent or imaginary person.
What paradox does Melville present about the ship's "only friend"?
The ship's only friend (the open sea) is also her bitterest foe.
What does the phrase "the land seemed scorching to his feet" suggest about Bulkington?
That he is so restless and driven to the sea that dry land feels intolerable to him.
What season is it when the Pequod departs?
Winter—specifically a "shivering winter's night."
What does Melville mean by calling the shore "treacherous" and "slavish"?
The shore deceives with false promises of safety and enslaves people in comfortable conformity.
How does Ishmael describe the waves the Pequod sails into?
Cold, malicious waves.