1. Before Ahab lowers himself on the Third Day, he shares a special parting exchange with Starbuck:
"Some men die at ebb tide; some at low water; some at the full of the flood;-and I feel now like a billow that's all one crested comb, Starbuck. I am old;-shake hands with me, man."
Their hands met; their eyes fastened; Starbuck's tears the glue.
"Oh, my captain, my captain!-noble heart-go not- go not!-see, it's a brave man that weeps; how great the agony of the persuasion then!"(421).
Here, Ahab and Starbuck show a sudden and unexpected display of humanity. Indeed, throughout the text, Ahab and Starbuck have clashed constantly. Their conflicts make this exchange all the more important and exceptional. What does this resolution to their relationship mean? How does Starbuck's conceit that Ahab is a "noble heart" change their dynamic in the end?
2. What is the significance of the two "hearses" being Moby Dick and the Pequod? Both are cannibals in a way. Does that fact label Ahab as a "savage" in the end?
3. How is the end of the Epilogue significant? We once again see Ishmael identify himself as an "orphan." Why don't the sharks and sea-hawks attack him? Is it because he is "chosen" by God, or perhaps he is "orphaned" from the world itself?
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