Plot Summary
In Chapter 88 of Moby-Dick, Ishmael shifts from narrating the hunt to delivering a cetological lecture on the social organization of Sperm Whales. He explains that while enormous herds are sometimes encountered, whales more commonly travel in small bands of twenty to fifty individuals called schools. These schools come in two distinct varieties: harem schools, composed almost entirely of females led by a single dominant male, and all-male schools, made up exclusively of young, vigorous bulls known as Forty-barrel-bulls.
The Harem School and the Schoolmaster
Ishmael describes the male leader of the harem school as a "luxurious Ottoman" who swims surrounded by his concubines, protecting them from rival males and chasing away any "pert young Leviathan" who dares approach. This dominant bull is called the schoolmaster, a title derived from the whaling term "school" for the harem itself. Ishmael notes the size disparity between the schoolmaster and his females—the cows are only about one-third the bulk of an average male. The harem migrates seasonally, following temperate waters from the Equator to the Orient, living a life of "indolent ramblings" that Melville compares to fashionable society.
The Life Cycle of the Schoolmaster
The schoolmaster breeds prolifically but takes no interest in raising his offspring, leaving "anonymous babies all over the world." As he ages, however, "a general lassitude overtakes the sated Turk"—he forswears his harem, disbands it, and becomes a solitary whale who wanders the oceans alone, "saying his prayers, and warning each young Leviathan from his amorous errors." Ishmael compares this lone, aged whale to the frontiersman Daniel Boone, who likewise sought only the companionship of Nature herself.
The Forty-Barrel-Bull Schools
The all-male schools provide a sharp contrast. These young bulls are the most pugnacious of all whales, "full of fight, fun, and wickedness," which Ishmael likens to riotous college students at Yale or Harvard. They eventually mature, break apart, and each seeks a harem of his own. A final behavioral difference underscores the chapter’s themes: when a bull from the male school is struck by whalers, his companions abandon him immediately, but when a female is struck, her companions linger protectively around her—often becoming prey themselves.