Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, Chapter 67 - Cutting In quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. On what day does the cutting in process take place aboard the Pequod?

   • A weekday evening, with the crew working by lantern light through the night
   • Correct answer: A Saturday night extending into the Sabbath, making the whalemen Sabbath breakers
   • A Monday morning, immediately after the whale was first sighted and killed
   • A Friday afternoon, with the work completed before the traditional day of rest

   Ishmael opens the chapter noting "It was a Saturday night, and such a Sabbath as followed!" and calls all whalemen "ex officio professors of Sabbath breaking."

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Ishmael compare the Pequod to during the cutting in process?

   • A forge or ironworks, with sparks flying and metal clanging on the deck
   • A hospital ward, with the mates performing surgery on the whale's carcass
   • Correct answer: A shamble or slaughterhouse, with every sailor turned into a butcher
   • A cathedral, with the crew performing a sacred ritual over the dead whale

   The text states: "the ivory Pequod was turned into what seemed a shamble; every sailor a butcher."

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3. 3

   Question 3. Where is the main block of the cutting tackles lashed aboard the ship?

   • To the bowsprit, extending out over the water where the whale floats alongside
   • To the capstan on the main deck, providing a central anchor for the tackle
   • Correct answer: To the lower mast-head at the main-top, the strongest point above the deck
   • To the stern rail, allowing the whale to be stripped from behind the ship

   Ishmael describes how the cutting tackles are "swayed up to the main-top and firmly lashed to the lower mast-head, the strongest point anywhere above a ship's deck."

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4. 4

   Question 4. Approximately how much does the great blubber hook weigh?

   • About twenty-five pounds, light enough for one man to handle with effort
   • Roughly fifty pounds, requiring two men to maneuver it into position
   • Correct answer: Some one hundred pounds, too heavy for casual handling by the crew
   • Over two hundred pounds, needing the windlass just to move the hook itself

   The text specifies "the great blubber hook, weighing some one hundred pounds, was attached" to the lower block of the tackles.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Which two officers cut the blubber with long spades while suspended over the side?

   • Ahab and Flask, the captain and third mate working together on the task
   • Correct answer: Starbuck and Stubb, the first and second mates armed with long spades
   • Queequeg and Tashtego, the experienced harpooneers wielding their spades
   • Stubb and Flask, the second and third mates directing the operation

   The text states: "Starbuck and Stubb, the mates, armed with their long spades, began cutting a hole in the body."

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6. 6

   Question 6. What happens to the Pequod when the crew first begins heaving at the windlass?

   • The ship surges forward, dragged by the weight of the whale still in the water
   • Correct answer: The ship careens over on her side, every bolt starts, and the mast-heads tremble
   • The ship settles lower in the water as the blubber weight transfers to the deck
   • The ship spins slowly in place, pivoting around the whale tied alongside

   Ishmael describes how "the entire ship careens over on her side; every bolt in her starts like the nail-heads of an old house in frosty weather; she trembles, quivers, and nods her frighted mast-heads to the sky."

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7. 7

   Question 7. To what fruit does Ishmael compare the whale when describing how the blubber is removed?

   • A coconut, with the blubber cracked off in hard, irregular pieces from the body
   • A banana, with the blubber pulled away in long strips from stem to stern
   • Correct answer: An orange, with the blubber stripped off by spiralizing it like peeling rind
   • A watermelon, with the blubber sliced away in thick, heavy wedges

   Ishmael writes: "the blubber envelopes the whale precisely as the rind does an orange, so is it stripped off from the body precisely as an orange is sometimes stripped by spiralizing it."

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8. 8

   Question 8. What is the "scarf" in the context of this chapter's whaling process?

   • A cloth tied around the mates' faces to protect them from the whale's blood
   • Correct answer: The line along which the blubber uniformly peels off, cut by the mates' spades
   • A knot used to secure the blubber hook to the lower block of the tackle
   • The initial incision made near the whale's tail to begin the stripping process

   The text describes how the blubber "peels off along the line called the 'scarf,' simultaneously cut by the spades of Starbuck and Stubb, the mates."

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9. 9

   Question 9. What danger does the hoisted mass of blubber pose to the crew on deck?

   • It may catch fire from the nearby try-works, engulfing the deck in flames
   • It may snap the mast from the sheer weight pulling downward on the rigging
   • Correct answer: It may swing and box a man's ears and pitch him headlong overboard
   • It may split open and flood the deck with oil, making the surface treacherous

   Ishmael warns that "every one present must take good heed to dodge it when it swings, else it may box his ears and pitch him headlong overboard."

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10. 10

    Question 10. What weapon does the harpooneer use to sever the blubber strip?

    • A long-handled cutting spade, the same tool used by the mates for scarfing
    • A standard harpoon, repurposed for slicing through the thick blubber mass
    • Correct answer: A boarding-sword, described as a long, keen weapon wielded with precision
    • A broad-bladed flensing knife, traditionally used in Arctic whaling operations

    The text states: "One of the attending harpooneers now advances with a long, keen weapon called a boarding-sword."

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11. 11

    Question 11. What is a "blanket-piece" in the cutting in process?

    • The first thin layer of blubber closest to the whale's skin, peeled off separately
    • Correct answer: The long upper strip of blubber that is severed and swung clear for lowering
    • A protective covering placed over the hatchway to keep oil from spilling below
    • The final piece of blubber cut from near the whale's tail at the end of the process

    After the harpooneer severs the strip in twain, "the long upper strip, called a blanket-piece, swings clear, and is all ready for lowering."

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12. 12

    Question 12. What is the blubber-room, and what happens there?

    • A room on the upper deck where blubber is minced into thin slices for the try-pots
    • Correct answer: An unfurnished parlor below the main hatchway where hands coil the blanket-piece
    • A storage hold at the ship's bow where barrels of rendered oil are kept sealed
    • A heated compartment near the try-works where blubber is softened before boiling

    The blanket-piece goes "through the main hatchway right beneath, into an unfurnished parlor called the blubber-room" where "sundry nimble hands keep coiling away the long blanket-piece."

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13. 13

    Question 13. What simile does Ishmael use to describe the blanket-piece being coiled in the blubber-room?

    • Like a great anchor chain being wound around the capstan drum below decks
    • Like a bolt of heavy sailcloth being rolled for storage in the ship's hold
    • Correct answer: Like a great live mass of plaited serpents being coiled by nimble hands
    • Like a thick hempen rope being stowed in neat flemish coils on the deck

    Ishmael describes the workers "coiling away the long blanket-piece as if it were a great live mass of plaited serpents."

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