Chapter 52 - The Albatross Practice Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 52 - The Albatross
What is the name of the ship the Pequod encounters in Chapter 52?
The Goney, also called the Albatross.
Where does the encounter with the Albatross take place?
South-eastward from the Cape of Good Hope, off the distant Crozett Islands, a cruising ground for Right Whalemen.
How long has the Albatross been at sea?
Nearly four years, as indicated by the extreme weathering and the tattered state of the crew's clothing.
Describe the physical appearance of the Albatross.
She is bleached white like a stranded walrus skeleton, streaked with reddened rust, and her spars and rigging are furred over with hoar-frost. Only her lower sails are set.
What do the lookouts on the Albatross look like?
They have long beards, wear raiment so torn and patched it resembles animal skins, and they stand swaying in iron hoops nailed to the masts.
What question does Ahab shout to the Albatross?
"Ship ahoy! Have ye seen the White Whale?"
Why can't the captain of the Albatross answer Ahab?
His speaking trumpet falls from his hand into the sea, and the rising wind prevents him from being heard without it.
What does Ahab ask the Albatross to tell people at home?
To address all future letters to the Pacific Ocean, and if he is not home in three years, to address them to— (the sentence is never completed).
What happens to the fish swimming alongside the Pequod?
When the two ships' wakes cross, the fish dart away with "shuddering fins" and align themselves with the Albatross instead.
How does Ahab react to the fish swimming away?
He murmurs "Swim away from me, do ye?" in a tone of "deep helpless sadness" unlike anything he had previously shown.
What order does Ahab give the helmsman after the encounter?
"Up helm! Keep her off round the world!" directing the Pequod to continue her circumnavigation.
What literary allusion does the chapter title "The Albatross" invoke?
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," in which killing an albatross brings a curse upon a ship and its crew.
What is a "goney" in nautical terminology?
An old sailors' term for an albatross, a large seabird found chiefly in the southern oceans.
What is a "tyro" as used in the chapter?
A beginner or novice. Ishmael uses it to describe himself as a newcomer to the far ocean fisheries.
What philosophical point does the narrator make about circumnavigation?
That sailing round the world leads "only through numberless perils to the very point whence we started," suggesting the futility of Ahab's pursuit.
What does the dropped speaking trumpet symbolize?
Failed communication and cosmic interference with Ahab's quest—the universe itself seems to prevent him from learning about Moby Dick.
What does Melville mean by "to any monomaniac man, the veriest trifles capriciously carry meanings"?
That Ahab's obsession causes him to read significance into every small event, such as the fish abandoning the Pequod, interpreting them as omens.
What does the narrator say would give "promise in the voyage"?
If the world were an endless plain where sailing eastward could forever reach new distances and discover sights more sweet and strange than the Cyclades or Islands of King Solomon.
How does the Albatross serve as a foil to the Pequod?
The Albatross is heading home after completing her voyage, while the Pequod is driving forward into an obsessive, open-ended hunt—the ships represent return versus pursuit.
What is the "demon phantom" the narrator mentions at the chapter's end?
It refers to the elusive objects of human obsession that "some time or other, swims before all human hearts"—for Ahab, this is Moby Dick, but it represents any consuming pursuit.