Chapter 96 - The Try-Works Practice Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 96 - The Try-Works
What are the try-works?
A massive brick furnace with two large iron try-pots, mounted on the deck of a whaling ship, used to render whale blubber into oil.
Where on the ship are the try-works located?
Between the foremast and mainmast, the most roomy part of the deck.
What protects the wooden deck from the heat of the try-works?
A shallow water reservoir extending under the entire enclosed surface of the works, kept replenished by a tunnel inserted at the rear.
What geometric principle does Ishmael discover while polishing the try-pot?
That all bodies gliding along a cycloid will descend from any point in precisely the same time.
Who oversees the first firing of the try-works on this voyage?
Stubb, the second mate.
What is used as the initial fuel for the try-works?
Wood shavings that the carpenter had been thrusting into the furnace. After that, the crisp, shriveled blubber scraps (called "fritters") feed the flames.
What does Melville mean when he says the whale "supplies his own fuel and burns by his own body"?
The rendered blubber scraps still contain enough oil to burn, so once the fire is started with wood, the whale's own remains keep it going.
How does Melville describe the smell of the try-works smoke?
He says it has an "unspeakable, wild, Hindoo odor" like funereal pyres, smells like "the left wing of the day of judgment," and calls it "an argument for the pit."
Who are the "Tartarean shapes" tending the try-works fires?
The pagan harpooneers (Queequeg, Tashtego, and Daggoo), who always serve as the whale-ship's stokers.
What historical reference does Melville use to compare the burning Pequod?
The fire-ships of Canaris, the bold Greek (Hydriote) who sent burning ships against the Turkish frigates during the Greek War of Independence.
What does Melville say the rushing Pequod is "the material counterpart" of?
Her monomaniac commander's (Ahab's) soul.
What happens to Ishmael while standing at the tiller during the try-works?
He falls into a drowsy trance, unconsciously turns himself around so his back faces the compass and prow, and nearly capsizes the ship.
What does Ishmael discover when he wakes from his standing sleep?
He has turned himself about and is facing the ship's stern with his back to the prow and compass, and the ship is about to fly up into the wind.
What is Ishmael's famous warning after the tiller incident?
"Look not too long in the face of the fire, O man!" He cautions against the artificial fire that makes all things look ghastly.
What does Melville call "the only true lamp"?
The sun. He says it is "the glorious, golden, glad sun, the only true lamp—all others but liars!"
According to Melville, what kind of mortal "cannot be true"?
One who "hath more of joy than sorrow in him" — such a person "cannot be true—not true, or undeveloped."
Who does Melville call "the truest of all men"?
The Man of Sorrows (Jesus Christ). He adds that "the truest of all books is Solomon's, and Ecclesiastes is the fine hammered steel of woe."
What is the Catskill eagle metaphor?
A metaphor for souls that can "dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again" — even in their lowest swoop, they remain higher than plain-dwelling birds because their gorge is in the mountains.
What does "There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness" mean?
Wisdom requires encountering sorrow, but one must not surrender entirely to despair, as that leads to destructive madness rather than understanding.
What does Ishmael mean by "Give not thyself up, then, to fire, lest it invert thee"?
Do not become consumed by obsessive darkness or despair, or it will disorient you completely—just as the literal fire inverted Ishmael's sense of direction at the tiller.
What Solomon quotation does Melville cite in this chapter?
"The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead," meaning those who abandon reason remain spiritually dead even while living.