Chapter 51 - The Spirit-Spout Practice Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 51 - The Spirit-Spout
Who first spots the spirit-spout?
Fedallah, Ahab's Parsee harpooneer, who habitually keeps watch at the masthead during moonlit nights.
What does the spirit-spout look like when first seen?
A silvery jet lit up by the moon, looking celestial—"some plumed and glittering god uprising from the sea."
What four cruising grounds has the Pequod crossed at the start of Chapter 51?
Off the Azores, off the Cape de Verdes, the Plate (off the Rio de la Plata), and the Carrol Ground (south of St. Helena).
What happens each time the crew tries to chase the spirit-spout?
It disappears before they can reach it, sometimes vanishing for one, two, or three days before reappearing farther ahead.
What do the superstitious sailors believe about the spirit-spout?
They believe it is cast by Moby Dick himself, treacherously beckoning them into remote and savage seas.
What does Ahab order when the spout is first sighted?
He orders the t'gallant sails, royals, and every stunsail spread, and the best man to take the helm.
What is Cape Tormentoto?
The older Portuguese name for the Cape of Good Hope, meaning "Cape of Torments," which Melville uses to contrast with the cape's more hopeful modern name.
What happens to the weather when the Pequod turns eastward toward the Cape of Good Hope?
The eerie calm and lifeless seas give way to howling winds, violent storms, and dark, tormented waves.
What ominous creatures appear around the Pequod near the Cape?
Strange forms dart in the water before the ship, and inscrutable sea-ravens perch on the stays and rigging.
How do the crew members secure themselves during the Cape storms?
They slip into bowlines (rope loops) secured to the rail along the bulwarks, swinging in them like loosened belts.
What does Melville mean when he says Ahab walked "on life and death"?
His living leg makes lively echoes while his ivory (dead) leg sounds like a coffin-tap, symbolizing his existence between life and death.
Where does Starbuck find Ahab at the end of Chapter 51?
Sitting upright in his floor-screwed chair in the cabin, eyes closed, still dripping with storm water, facing the tell-tale compass overhead.
What is the tell-tale?
The cabin compass, mounted on a beam in the ceiling, which allows the captain to check the ship's course without going to the helm.
What thought does Starbuck have upon seeing Ahab asleep in his chair?
"Terrible old man! ... sleeping in this gale, still thou steadfastly eyest thy purpose."
What literary effect does the recurring spirit-spout create?
It builds psychological tension and supernatural foreboding, reinforcing the theme of obsessive, futile pursuit.
How does Melville describe the sea near the Cape of Good Hope?
The black sea "heaved and heaved... as if its vast tides were a conscience; and the great mundane soul were in anguish and remorse."
What does Melville say about the space around the Pequod before reaching the Cape?
"All space, in repugnance to our vengeful errand, seemed vacating itself of life before our urn-like prow."
What contrast does the spirit-spout maintain even during the storms?
It remains "calm, snow-white, and unvarying," still directing its fountain of feathers skyward amid the blackness of the elements.
How does Fedallah appear to the crew at the masthead?
Like an otherworldly figure—"his turban and the moon, companions in one sky"—making the sailors uneasy.
What does Melville compare the moonlit waves to at the start of the chapter?
"Scrolls of silver" that create what seems "a silvery silence, not a solitude."