Chapter 46 - Surmises Practice Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 46 - Surmises
What does the title "Surmises" mean in the context of Chapter 46?
It refers to Ishmael's educated guesses about what is going on in Ahab's mind—his private strategic calculations.
What is Ahab's primary concern in this chapter?
Keeping his crew obedient and motivated during the long search for Moby Dick by continuing ordinary whale hunts.
What famous metaphor does Ahab use for his crew?
He calls men "tools" and says that "of all tools used in the shadow of the moon, men are most apt to get out of order."
Why is Starbuck a particular concern for Ahab?
Although Starbuck's body and coerced will are under Ahab's control, his soul abhors the quest and he would joyfully disintegrate himself from it or frustrate it.
What does Ahab mean by keeping "his magnet at Starbuck's brain"?
It refers to the magnetic, charismatic power Ahab holds over Starbuck, which only controls his body and will, not his deeper spiritual convictions.
What does Melville say about corporeal versus spiritual superiority?
That corporeal superiority does not involve intellectual mastership, and the intellectual stands in a sort of corporeal relation to the purely spiritual.
Why must Ahab strip the hunt of its "strange imaginative impiousness"?
Because few men's courage is proof against protracted meditation unrelieved by action—the crew needs practical tasks to avoid dwelling on the terrifying nature of the quest.
How does Ahab describe sailors' temperaments?
As capricious and unreliable: "they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness."
What does Ahab believe is the "permanent constitutional condition" of man?
Sordidness—that material self-interest ultimately governs human behavior.
To what historical group does Ahab compare his crew?
The medieval Crusaders, who despite their holy mission could not resist committing burglaries and picking pockets along the way.
What role does money play in Ahab's calculations?
Ahab fears that without the promise of cash from whale oil, the crew would mutiny: "this same quiescent cash all at once mutinying in them, this same cash would soon cashier Ahab."
What wordplay does Melville use with the word "cash"?
He puns on cash/cashier: the quiescent cash mutinying in the crew would "cashier" (dismiss) Ahab.
What legal charge has Ahab exposed himself to?
The charge of usurpation—diverting the ship from its contracted commercial purpose to his private vendetta.
What could the crew legally do if they opposed Ahab's quest?
With perfect impunity, both moral and legal, they could refuse all further obedience and even violently wrest command from him.
How does Ahab protect himself from the charge of usurpation?
By continuing the natural, nominal purpose of the voyage—hunting whales for profit—and observing all customary usages.
What does the chapter reveal about Ahab's sanity?
It shows a paradox: Ahab's "subtle insanity" is manifested in his "superlative sense and shrewdness"—he is rational enough to strategically sustain his madness.
Why does Melville call Ahab's insanity "subtle"?
Because it manifests not as raving madness but as calculated shrewdness in managing the crew and concealing his true obsession.
What does Ahab order at the end of Chapter 46?
He orders the three mastheads to keep a bright lookout and not omit reporting even a porpoise, signaling that ordinary whaling will resume.
What narrative technique does Melville use throughout this chapter?
Indirect interior monologue—Ishmael speculates (surmises) about Ahab's private thoughts rather than having direct access to them.
What does the phrase "temporary interests and employments should intervene" mean?
That short-term goals like regular whaling must keep the crew occupied and "healthily suspended for the final dash" at Moby Dick.