Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, Chapter 97 - The Lamp quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What does the Pequod's forecastle resemble when the off-duty watch is sleeping?

   • A bustling marketplace filled with trading goods
   • Correct answer: An illuminated shrine of canonized kings and counsellors
   • A dark cavern lit by a single candle flame
   • A battlefield strewn with the spoils of conquest

   Melville writes that descending into the forecastle, "you would have almost thought you were standing in some illuminated shrine of canonized kings and counsellors."

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2. 2

   Question 2. How does Melville describe the scarcity of oil for sailors on merchant ships?

   • As rare as diamonds found in a desert stream
   • As precious as gold dust on a foreign shore
   • Correct answer: More scarce than the milk of queens
   • As hard to find as pearls in a mountain lake

   Melville states, "In merchantmen, oil for the sailor is more scarce than the milk of queens."

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3. 3

   Question 3. According to Melville, what is the usual lot of the merchant sailor?

   • Correct answer: To dress in the dark, eat in the dark, and stumble in darkness to his pallet
   • To share a single lamp among the entire crew each evening
   • To buy his own oil from the ship's stores at inflated prices
   • To work only during daylight hours and sleep at sunset

   Melville writes: "To dress in the dark, and eat in the dark, and stumble in darkness to his pallet, this is his usual lot."

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4. 4

   Question 4. What famous fictional object does Melville compare the whaleman's berth to?

   • Pandora's box of mysterious treasures
   • Correct answer: An Aladdin's lamp of magical brightness
   • The golden fleece of ancient mythology
   • King Solomon's treasure room of wonders

   Melville writes that the whaleman "makes his berth an Aladdin's lamp, and lays him down in it."

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5. 5

   Question 5. Where does the whaleman go to refill his lamps?

   • To the ship's supply closet below the main deck
   • Correct answer: To the copper cooler at the try-works on deck
   • To the captain's private oil reserve in the hold
   • To the blubber storage room in the ship's bow

   Melville describes the whaleman taking his lamps "to the copper cooler at the tryworks, and replenishes them there, as mugs of ale at a vat."

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Melville say the whale oil aboard ship is as sweet as?

   • Honey gathered from wildflower meadows in June
   • Fresh maple syrup tapped in early springtime
   • Correct answer: Early grass butter in April from pastoral farms
   • Clover nectar collected by bees in midsummer

   Melville describes the whale oil as "sweet as early grass butter in April."

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does the word "unvitiated" mean in the context of this chapter?

   • Carefully measured and portioned for specific uses
   • Correct answer: Not corrupted, adulterated, or impaired in quality
   • Recently extracted and still warm from the source
   • Specially treated to burn with a brighter, steadier flame

   Melville describes the whale oil as being in its "unmanufactured, and, therefore, unvitiated state"—meaning pure and uncorrupted by processing.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What types of lighting "contrivances ashore" does Melville say cannot match the whaleman's oil?

   • Gas, electric, and chemical lighting instruments
   • Correct answer: Solar, lunar, and astral lamp contrivances
   • Tallow, beeswax, and paraffin candle varieties
   • Fireplace, hearth, and furnace heating devices

   Melville writes the oil is "a fluid unknown to solar, lunar, or astral contrivances ashore."

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9. 9

   Question 9. To whom does Melville compare the whaleman who hunts his own oil?

   • A miner who digs for gold in a remote mountain camp
   • A farmer who grows wheat on his own fertile homestead
   • Correct answer: A traveller on the prairie who hunts his own supper
   • A fisherman who catches salmon in a wild northern river

   Melville writes that the whaleman "goes and hunts for his oil, so as to be sure of its freshness and genuineness, even as the traveller on the prairie hunts up his own supper of game."

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10. 10

    Question 10. What key theme does Chapter 97 develop through the contrast between whalemen and merchant sailors?

    • The dangers of obsession and the corrupting influence of power at sea
    • Correct answer: The self-sufficiency and unique privilege of the whaleman's trade
    • The strict hierarchy aboard whaling ships compared to naval vessels
    • The economic exploitation of common sailors by wealthy ship owners

    The chapter emphasizes that whalemen, unlike other sailors, have abundant access to their own product—whale oil—making them self-sufficient producers and consumers of light.

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