Moby-Dick Questions Chs. 125-131: In ch. 125, why is Ahab so moved by and kind to Pip

In ch. 125, why is Ahab so moved by and kind to Pip?  How would your characterize their relationship?  Compare it to that of Ishmael and Queequeg at the beginning of the novel.  In ch. 126, what is the symbolic significance of Queequeg’s coffin becoming a life-buoy?  What is the significance of the Pequod meeting the Rachel?  Who was the biblical Rachel, and how is her story an appropriate intertext for Captain Gardiner of the Rachel?  What are the differences in attitudes toward Moby-Dick and toward family shown by Ahab and Captain Gardiner?  What Christian principle does Gardiner base his appeal to Ahab on, and where did we see an earlier appeal invoked by Ishmael in the novel?  What is the significance of the meeting with the delight in ch. 131?  What omens are there in this chapter?  What hint regarding Fedallah’s prophecies to Ahab do you see in the last sentence of ch. 131?