How did chapter 113 the forge characterize Ahab

Chapter 113 - The Forge

Wordcount - about 1700 (1692)

Overview:

This chapter takes place around mid-day, on the Pequod, while it is in Japanese waters. Captain Ahab approaches Perth, the Blacksmith of the ship, as he is working. We see him hesitate before asking the blacksmith for the special order. Before asking, Ahab and the Blacksmith have a conversation, as Ahab wonders what it is like to live amongst all the sparks and the fire. The Blacksmith replies saying that he can no longer be burned, that his pain has scarred over and that he no longer carries anger.

Ahab is quite shocked by this as he is not over his own anger; he acknowledges how it has led to his own madness. He even goes so far as to ask if the Blacksmith, a man who smooths out dents and imperfections, would or could fix his head. The Blacksmith responds that this is the one imperfection that he cannot fix.

Quickly changing the topic of conversation, Ahab spills a bunch of Horseshoe stubbs in front of Perth, telling him to make him a harpoon so strong that not even “a thousand yoke of fiends” could separate it or break it. Perth responds that this would be complicated as Horseshoe iron is one of the hardest metals blacksmiths have to deal with, Ahab tells him to move forward with his work. The Blacksmith, as Ahab orders him, makes 12 rods that are each checked by Ahab himself. Perth then begins to weld the rods together himself, yet Ahab stops him saying that he wants to weld his harpoon himself. The fire burns bright and hot and Fedallah is seen slipping around the fire area.

The shank (the rods all welded together), is tempered in water after Ahab is finished welding it. Perth, while staring at the shank, asks his captain if it is destined for the white whale. Ahab responds that it is and that this Harpoon needs a tip. Ahab then gives him his razors, made of steel, to shape the point of the Harpoon. However Perth has a moment of hesitation while making this Harpoon, not wanting to help Ahab in his quest. He ends up making the barbs nonetheless.

As he is about to temper the barb, he calls for Ahab to fetch him some water to do this, yet ahab wants nothing of this. He calls the harpooners, Queequeg, Tashtego and Daggoo, and asks them if they are willing to give their blood so that he may properly temper the barbs. They agree and the barb is tempered in the “heathen blood.” The cord is then attached to the Harpoon in a way that makes it seem inseparable from the Harpoon itself. Ahab walks away happy from this all and, as the persona and the crew hear the Peg-Leg and the Harpoon “walk” across the deck, there is a feeling of pity and sorrow towards the captain of this ship, and how this ship might just be destined for a melancholic end.

Analysis:

In the beginning of this chapter, as Captain Ahab is speaking with the blacksmith, the reader is presented with a comparison of sorts between the two men. As the reader learned in the previous chapter, Perth is a man who lost all his family and it is for this reason that he went “a-whaling”. The reader also recognises that Ahab is a man who has been through many losses himself: first his leg to Moby Dick and then the respect of his fellow whaling captains as he, the great captain Ahab, was unable to capture the whale. Melville creates such a comparison between the two characters through Ahab's self-awareness: “Thy shrunk voice sounds too calmly, sanely woeful to me. In no Paradise myself, I am impatient of all misery in others that is not mad. Thou should’st go mad, blacksmith.” Melville reveals that both characters have gone through significant losses. The author uses the example of these men to represent the different ways, in Melville's eyes, as to how Humans deal with loss. The path of sorrow is shown through the blacksmith, a man running away from his problems on a whaling ship, a man who hides himself in his work, and a man that is portrayed as broken. There is then the path of madness and rage that ultimately leads to that same portrayal. This path is embodied by Ahab, a man utterly consumed by his anger and his need for revenge. This observation on human nature made by Melville is almost one of a warning. The implication being that one shouldn't let their losses get the best of them, so as to not end up like these two men.

The idea of Melville using this chapter to question human nature is furthered by Ahab's desire to “fix” himself. As Ahab moves away from trying to sway the Blacksmith away from sorrow and insanity, he begins to ask

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