Moby-Dick discussion questions Chapter 103 “Measurement of the Whale’s Skeleton” and Chapter 104 “The Fossil Whale”
Why does Ishmael suggest that the whale’s skeleton gives an inaccurate sense of the whale?
Explain the philosophical implications of the chapter’s final sentence.
According to Ishmael, how long have whales existed? What difference does that make? In other words, to what does Ishmael implicitly compare the whales? What light does that shed on Ahab’s quest?
