Twitter Summaries of Moby Dick, as recounted by one called Ishmael, Chapters 37-72

37. I present the dramatics of Captain Ahab, who questions his sanity, believing his madness maddened, and aims to fulfill his prophecy with the White Whale.

38. Drama turns to Starbuck, who agonizes over the true mission of the Pequod, but resolves his bond to Ahab and promises to follow him to his impious end.

39. Stubb seizes the narrative, and sings himself a ditty, displaying his belief in the predestination of the voyage, however ignorant of the outcome.

40. The nature of the crew is shown in Shakespearean light, singing and dancing as though family, until Mother Nature voices her displeasure.

41. The legend of Moby-Dick is described, with his intelligent malignity towards humans, and the epic struggle with one Captain Ahab.

42. I describe my fear of the whiteness of the whale, which exhibits a foreboding nature, and only multiples the terror at sea.

43. An observant sailor hears noises from the ship’s hold, though his companion attributes it to the former’s poor nutrition.

44. Ahab predicts the route of Moby-Dick through his chart, letting loose the mad shrieks of his soul plotting its escape from his damned psyche.

45. I detract the ignorance of the reader who doubts the nature of my tale, and provide true examples of the whaling industry to move away from an intolerable allegory.

46. I reason the plans of Captain Ahab, who must maintain the loyalty of his crew and attack every whale in sight, contrary of its hue.

47. Queequeg and I reunite to weave together a sword-mat, to which I refer as the Loom of Time, before Tashtego’s sighting of a whale removes me from reverie.

48. Fedallah and Ahab’s secret crew emerges from hold, though we do not capture the whale and are nearly drowned.

49. I am overcome with laughter, though I believe myself as a man already dead; I charge Queequeg to me by lawyer, executor, and legatee to my will.

50. I surprise over Ahab’s usage of a personal crew, despite handicap, and the bizarreness of the crew itself, led by the demoniacal Fedallah.

51. We follow the spirit-spout to our conceivable doom, observed closely by Ahab in his cabin, as we men become practical fatalists in our voyage.

52. We pass alongside the Albatross, adrift at sea for four years, and Ahab inquires the captain of the White Whale only to be drowned out by a gale.

53. The definition of a gam is provided, where crews exchange news and companionship, though Ahab refuses gams with boats not pertinent to his quest.

54. I relate a story once told in Lima, where a particularly mutinous crew is relieved by the swallowing of the first-mate by Moby-Dick, though my story is take distrustfully.

55. I relate my reluctance to contemporary images of whale, since none have the whole beast alive, and that the whale must remain unpainted to the last.

56. I discover more acceptable depictions of whales, mainly by that of the French, which is curiously since France has never been considered a nation of whalers.

57. I then note the international intrigue of whales, from carvings, to paintings, to the night sky that guides the sailors at sea.

58. A juxtaposition of land and sea is provided, contrasting the visibility and safety of land from the dangers of the unknown sea, much like the human soul.

59. The sight of a giant squid is confused for the White Whale, and though the presence of squid means that of the whale, the crew finds ominous meaning.

60. I describe the whale-line and its dangers to the crew, rendering me to contemplate the constant whale-line around our crewmen’s necks.

61. We kill our first whale, thanks to the efforts of Stubb and Tashtego, as the crew stands and views the corpse we have made.

62. I argue against the current system of harpooning, where the harpooner is subjected to assist in rowing before focusing a perfect shot in a weary condition.

63. I continue my negative digression into the uselessness of the double-harpoon line, and the risks is promotes to the safety of the crewmen.

64. Stubb insists on dining on a steak of his whale, and when displeased by its overcooked state, plays with the cook in preaching to the hungry sharks.

65. I discuss the rarity of consuming the meat of the whale, which seems iniquitous since one must eat beside the lamp fueling by the whale’s oil.

66. We are forced to rid ourselves of the sharks meaning to take our prize, though Queequeg’s hand nearly meets its on the teeth of a dead creature.

67. We cut into the whale, removing the blubber from the carcass in strips as if peeling the rind away from an orange.

68. I promote the idea of the whale’s blubber acting as its skin, becoming thick as to protect it from harsh environments, despite the ridicule I have received for this opinion.

69. We haul the stripped carcass overboard, which carries the ghost of the whale and continues to terror the seas in its façade as a rocky shoal.

70. The whale is beheaded before release, and Ahab converses with the head, asking of its horrors seen.

71. We encounter the Jeroboam and its prophet Gabriel, who commands us to Think and warns of the horrors of chasing Moby-Dick.

72. I assist Queequeg with the cutting, tied to him with Monkey-Rope in a wedding, as the ginger offered to him is tossed in favor of strong spirits.

Twitter Summaries of Moby Dick, as recounted by one called Ishmael, Chapters 1-36:

1. I, Ishmael, weary of the damp, drizzly November in my soul, looks to escape the confines of New York and sail out for adventure.
2. I arrive in New Bedford but to, alas, miss the ferry to the true whaling capital of Nantucket, so I resign on finding a cheap and ominous-sounding inn to rest.
3. After much hesitation, I take a room at the Spouter-Inn, though I must lay with a dark-skinned cannibal that worships a piece of wood and smokes his tomahawk in bed.
4. I awake with Queequeg’s arm affectionately thrown around me, as if I were his wife, after which I observe his habits of hygiene.
5. I share a silent breakfast with my fellow sailor guests, who are, to my surprise, not enlivened with stories of their seafaring escapades.
6. I observe the unnatural scenery of New Bedford, with its docks and fancily-dressed women, which subsists due to the price whale oil fetches throughout the globe.
7. I stumble into the Whaleman’s Chapel, and discover it ironic how we mourn the dead so incessantly as they reside in the paradise of Heaven.
8. Father Mapple enters the chapel and dramatically climbs a roped ladder onto the pulpit, an act that I cannot help but feel lays deep symbolism within.
9. Father Mapple recalls the story of Jonah and his plight of being swallowed by a great fish, and insists on preaching Truth in the face of Falsehood.
10. I grow affection for my bosom friend, Queequeg; we share a smoke which symbolizes our union, do worship together, and rest as a cozy, loving pair.
11. Queequeg awakes in the night as we share another smoke, while nostalgia overcomes my companion as he recalls the story of his life as a savage.
12. Queequeg recounts his life on Kokovoko, of which he is prince, and the journey that taught him to rebuke Christianity and take on the harpoon in lieu of the scepter.
13. The townsfolk are repulsed by the friendship displayed by Queequeg and I, and Queequeg shows heroics by rescuing an overboard bumpkin that ridiculed him previously.
14. I recite a history of Nantucket and all of its idiosyncrasies, asserting that the island is only the center of its vast empire that is the seas.
15. We settle at the Try-Pots inn, and share a dinner that tastes of the ocean and the fish that surrounds us.
16. I seek out a ship for whaling, and stumble across the Pequod, owned by two Quakers, and negotiate my wages for joining the crew.
17. I return to Queequeg to find him unresponsive in his Ramadan, which causes much distress on the innkeeper, and I explain to him the fallibilities of his beliefs.
18. Queequeg is hired upon the Pequod, though the Quakers are weary of his paganism; Bildad tries conversion, but Peleg warns against pious harpooners.
19. We stumble across a skeptic named Elijah, who warns us against the exploits of Captain Ahab, but we shrug him off on the basis of insanity.
20. The ship is being provisioned for our voyage, and we learn of the improving health of our Captain Ahab.
21. I believe to see men boarding the ship only to find a single sailor aboard, while Elijah tried once more to persuade us with his insanity.
22. The Pequod sets sail on a cold Christmas, as Bildad and Peleg ship out of port before rowing back to shore, with no presence yet known of Ahab.
23. I introduce Bulkington, who steers the ship; I remark how he is a man fated to die at sea, and that such a death will leave him glorified as God.
24. I forcefully defend the business of whaling, retorting any questions and criticisms that may arise by those ignorant to the benefits of the trade.
25. I provide examples of the usefulness of whaling, reminding those Europeans that their very kings rely on the purity of whale oil for their coronations.
26. I introduce the careful and rational first-mate, Starbuck, and reflect upon the democratic dignity of the working man, even in the meanest mariners.
27. I shed light on the other officers, all white Americans, each with their own dark-skinned harpooner, contracting the “brains” and the “muscles”.
28. Ahab appears on deck, donned with a false leg carved from a whale’s jaw, and a white scar upon his face made from some elemental strife at sea.
29. Stubb dares to complain about Ahab’s pacing, his leg sending echoes across the ship, and Ahab calls him dog and advances upon him, sending Stubb into a fright.
30. Ahab longs to smoke, but the act can no longer sooth his nervous whiffs, so he hurls the pipe into the ocean and paces once more.
31. Stubb recalls a dream of being kicked by Ahab’s ivory leg, and a merman’s insistence of the honor of being kicked by a man as great as his captain.
32. I take time to explain cetology, or the science of whales, and revises the current classification of the creature into three books: Folio, Octavo, and Duodecimo.
33. I go on to discuss the workings of the whaling ship, from the role of the specksynder, to the comradery that often supersedes the hierarchy of the vessel.
34. I recall the etiquette of dinner in Ahab’s cabin, such as the order of the officers in their dining times, and avidity shown by the harpooners in terrorizing the cook.
35. I describe my experience on the mast-head searching for whales, daydreaming away, and realizing that romantic, melancholy, and absent-minded young men such as myself make terrible sailors.
36. Ahab explains his mission of hunting down the infamous Moby-Dick, and promises a gold doubloon to the man that is able to raise the whale.