Chapter 60 - The Line Practice Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 60 - The Line
What material originally made up the whale-line?
The best hemp, slightly vapored with tar to maintain flexibility without over-stiffening.
What material replaced hemp for whale-lines in the American fishery?
Manilla rope, because it is stronger, more elastic, softer, and more handsome than hemp.
How thick is the whale-line?
Only two-thirds of an inch in thickness.
How much weight can the whole whale-line bear?
Nearly three tons, since each of its fifty yarns can suspend 120 pounds.
How long is the common sperm whale-line?
Something over two hundred fathoms (approximately 1,200 feet).
How is the whale-line coiled in its tub?
In concentric spiralizations forming a round, cheese-shaped mass, with no hollow except the minute vertical tube at the axis called the "heart."
Why must the whale-line be coiled with extreme care?
The least tangle or kink would, when the line runs out, infallibly take off somebody’s arm, leg, or entire body.
How do English boats differ from American boats in storing the whale-line?
English boats use two smaller tubs instead of one large American tub, which fit more readily and strain the boat less.
Why is the lower end of the whale-line left unattached to the boat?
So an additional line from a neighboring boat can be fastened if needed, and to prevent the whale from dragging the boat underwater.
Where does the upper end of the line run before the chase?
From the tub aft, around the loggerhead, forward the entire length of the boat across every oarsman’s oar handle, through the chocks in the bow, and back to connect with the harpoon.
What simile does Ishmael use to describe the oarsmen surrounded by the line?
He compares them to "Indian jugglers, with the deadliest snakes sportively festooning their limbs."
To what does Ishmael compare sitting amid the darting whale-line?
Being seated in the midst of a steam-engine in full play, with every flying beam, shaft, and wheel grazing you.
What historical allusion does Ishmael make about the six crew members?
He compares them to the six burghers of Calais before King Edward, pulling into the jaws of death with halters around their necks.
Who is Mazeppa, alluded to in this chapter?
A legendary Cossack leader who was strapped to a wild horse and carried away. Ishmael warns that one could be "made a Mazeppa of" by the darting line.
What does Ishmael compare the calm repose of the line to?
The calm before a storm and a seemingly harmless rifle that holds the fatal powder, ball, and explosion within it.
What is Ishmael’s universal philosophical conclusion about the whale-line?
"All men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks"—we only realize life’s perils when caught in the sudden turn of death.
What role does habit play according to Ishmael?
Habit enables the whalers to tell jokes and exchange merry mirth even while surrounded by deadly nooses, showing how humans normalize danger.
What does Ishmael say a philosopher seated in the whale-boat would feel?
Not one whit more terror than if seated before an evening fire with a poker instead of a harpoon—because all of life is equally perilous.
What is the "short-warp"?
The rope immediately connected with the harpoon, to which the whale-line is attached after going through sundry mystifications.
What humorous comparison does Ishmael make about the American tub?
He says when the painted canvas cover is placed on the tub, the boat looks as if it were pulling off with a "prodigious great wedding-cake to present to the whales."