Who's in the crew?

[kev67]

I wondered how many men were on board the Pequod. The Pequod has three boats, which is some clue. Ishmael was offered a 300th share of the profits, while Queequeg was offered a 90th. However, there's the shareholders to consider and the officers will get a greater share than the men. Therefore I reckon the crew is much less than a hundred. There is:


Captain Ahab,
Starbuck, the first mate,
Stubb, the second mate,
Flask, the third mate,
Queequeg, harpooner,
Daggoo, harpooner,
Tashtego, harpooner,
1st Nantucket sailor,
2nd Nantucket sailor,
Dutch sailor,
French sailor,
Pip,
Iceland sailor,
Maltese sailor,
Sicillian sailor,
Long-Island sailor,
Azores sailor,
China sailor,
Old Manx sailor,
3rd Nantucket sailor,
Lascar sailor,
Tahitian sailor,
Portuguese sailor,
Danish sailor,
4th Nantucket sailor,
English sailor,
Spanish sailor,
St Jago's sailor,
5th Nantucket sailor,
Belfast sailor,
Dough boy,
Ishmael, the narrator


Is that everyone? The sailors are mentioned in chapter 40. That may only be one watch though.

[prendrelemick]

There was a secret boat crew of Indians that Ahab had smuggled aboard. Also the Carpenter? The Cook? The Blacksmith?

[kev67]

There were 36 crew in the Town-Ho, which was another Nantucket whaler. I guess there were between 5 and 7 extra crew members that Ahab smuggled aboard, depending on how many rowers there are to a boat.

Edit: There are six crew to a boat. In addition to the crew previously mentioned there is Fleece the cook.

I wondered what the role of the Old Manx Sailor was. Presumably he would be one of the crew left on board while the whale boats went after the whale. Maybe he was hired for his expertise in processing whales. It looks like a tricky business.

[kev67]

There was a secret boat crew of Indians that Ahab had smuggled aboard. Also the Carpenter? The Cook? The Blacksmith?

Yes, 32 + 5 Indians + carpenter + blacksmith + cook = 40.

[Pompey Bum]

You forgot about Bulkington.

[kev67]

You forgot about Bulkington.

Who is this Bulkington of which you speak? Does he appear in the last ten chapters?

[Pompey Bum]

Who is this Bulkington of which you speak? Does he appear in the last ten chapters?

Bulkington is a mysterious figure who turns up at the Spouter Inn in Chapter 3 and is discussed as a crew member in Chapter 23 (The Lee Shore), which is entirely about him. He is described as a tragic, god-like hero. But Melville never mentions him again, leading some to imagine that his storyline was edited out for one reason or another, and that The Lee Shore was added as a reflection on his absence.

[kev67]

+ Bulkington = 41, which is the same as the crew of the Town Ho minus the five secret boat crew. However one has just fallen to is death so it's back down to 40. Melville is a little coy about the exact number of crew. In chapter 126, the carpenter wonders how many crew there are, but cannot remember so just adds thirty lifelines to the life buoy made out of Queequeg's coffin. In chapter 123 Starbuck says to himself that Ahab would be the wilful murderer of thirty men and more. Yes, ten more not including himself by my reckoning.

[Pompey Bum]

However one has just fallen to is death

Was that a Monty Python reference, Kev? :) Or are you suggesting that Bulkington was swept overboard in the last lines of Chapter 23? I've heard that idea, but Melville seems awfully vague and figurative about it to me. Certainly he is dead, though.

[thekingrat]

Moby-Dick is my 2nd favourite novel, seeing as I have only read it once, I will refer to this page during my next read, thanks for posting the question and thanks for responding!

[kev67]

Was that a Monty Python reference, Kev? :) Or are you suggesting that Bulkington was swept overboard in the last lines of Chapter 23? I've heard that idea, but Melville seems awfully vague and figurative about it to me. Certainly he is dead, though.


No, a man fell out of a mast into the sea in chapter 126, The Lifebuoy. They threw him the lifebuoy, but he was never seen again. Melville does not identify him. I thought he might have been Bulkington.

[Pompey Bum]

No, a man fell out of a mast into the sea in chapter 126, The Lifebuoy. They threw him the lifebuoy, but he was never seen again. Melville does not identify him. I thought he might have been Bulkington.

I guess it's possible, but it's odd Melville doesn't identify him. This is the last paragraph in Chapter 23. I've heard it interpreted as Bulkington's being swept overboard, but I sure don't see it.

"But as in landlessness alone resides the highest truth, shoreless, indefinite as God—so better is it to perish in that howling infinite, than be ingloriously dashed upon the lee, even if that were safety! For worm-like, then, oh! who would craven crawl to land! Terrors of the terrible! is all this agony so vain? Take heart, take heart, O Bulkington! Bear thee grimly, demigod! Up from the spray of thy ocean-perishing—straight up, leaps thy apotheosis!"