Ahab: "Ye believers in gods all goodness, and in man all ill, lo you! see the omniscient gods oblivious of suffering man; and man, though idiotic, and knowing not what he does, yet full of the sweet things of love and gratitude. Come! I feel prouder leading thee by thy black hand, than though I grasped an Emperor’s!”
Musing: Ahab invites Pip to live the rest of the voyage in his cabin. The context of the time period can not be ignored here. This is 1851. Melville's father-in-law, a judge, was known to uphold the Fugitive Slave Act in court decisions. Ahab is taking the hand of a black man and caring for him with love. Again, we see that Ahab, though cracked, is not without his humanities. And the lnaguage, so Lear-like, is lovely.