The Daily Dick: Musings on the Greatest Novel Ever

Starbuck: "'I stand alone here upon an open sea, with two oceans and a whole continent between me and law.- Aye, aye, ‘tis so.- Is heaven a murderer when its lightning strikes a would-be murderer in his bed, tindering sheets and skin together?- And would I be a murderer, then, if' - then slowly, stealthily, and half sideways looking, he placed the loaded musket’s end against the door."

Musing: This chapter holds so many nuggets of beauty. Here is the moment when the fate of the Pequod is decided. Starbuck knows that in his decision to obey God, he dooms the ship. Yet he places the musket against the wall, and leaves the sleeping Ahab in his bed. And so, the end is at hand.