- Ishmael is starting to feel like the entire universe is just one giant practical joke at his expense, and he feels detached and ready to accept the abuse of Fate.
- As Ishmael’s pulled up on deck of the ship (he’s is the last to be rescued), he asks Queequeg whether this sort of thing—chasing a whale in a storm and almost drowning—is common on whaling voyages. Queequeg agrees stoically that it is.
- Next, Ishmael asks Stubb if ordering his men to go out under these dangerous conditions is usual for a prudent man like Starbuck, and Stubb says that it is.
- Finally, Ishmael turns to Flask and asks if most whalemen regularly row themselves backwards into the jaws of death. Flask agrees that it’s pretty typical.
- After these assurances of what his future on the Pequod is likely to be, Ishmael decides to make a last will and testament, appointing Queequeg as his executor.
- Ishmael tells us that this is the fourth time in his sea-going life that he’s made a will.
- It always makes him feel better, almost as though his death has already happened and now he’s living on borrowed time.