Fedallah Character Analysis in Moby-Dick

Snuck aboard the Pequod by Ahab, Fedallah, or “the Parsee,” is a man of indeterminate Asian origin, who serves as Ahab’s harpooneer. Fedallah is believed by some on the ship, including Stubb and Flask, to be the “devil incarnate.” Fedallah is killed during the second day of the chase, when he is caught in the line and dragged down into the water by Moby Dick.

Fedallah Character Timeline in Moby-Dick

The timeline below shows where the character Fedallah appears in Moby-Dick. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

One of this “dusky band,” called Fedallah by Ahab, appears to be of Chinese or Filipino descent; he is the harpooneer of... (full context)

Ishmael also writes, briefly, that Fedallah and the others of the “tiger crew” do not ever really mingle with the remainder... (full context)

...several nights, when the Pequod sails among the smooth, blue, serene waters near the Azores, Fedallah mounts the mast-head and claims to see a white spout around midnight, illuminated by the... (full context)

...them to kill this particular whale, which is of little commercial use. Stubb states that Fedallah—the Persian man whom Ahab has invited on board—is actually “the devil” in disguise, and that... (full context)

Fedallah and Ahab stay awake that night, watching the dying whale as the boat is hooked... (full context)

...as indicative of the nature of his quest to kill the white fiend, mounts on Fedallah’s back (who is standing by the main mast) and announce that every man on the... (full context)

Ishmael states that the crew has become silent, awaiting the final encounter with Moby Dick. Fedallah seems never to sleep, and neither does Ahab, whose hat is pulled down so low... (full context)

...Ahab leaves Starbuck in command of the Pequod and takes to his own whaleboat, with Fedallah as the harpooneer, and the crew of stowed-away Chinese sailors. (full context)

...than a god. Ahab’s boat approaches the whale first, and Ahab grabs his harpoon from Fedallah—the one made for him by Perth—and attempts to ram it down Moby Dick’s throat, as... (full context)

...swimming in the nearby waters, as Moby Dick glides quickly away. But Ahab realizes that Fedallah is missing—that he was trapped under Moby Dick when the whaleboats were jammed against the... (full context)

...ready and water-tight, to continue to attack Moby Dick. Meanwhile, Ahab sees a horrific sight: Fedallah’s body is trapped against the White Whale’s, for he was caught in one of the... (full context)

Ahab realizes this is the first hearse of Fedallah’s prophecy, and wonders what the second will be. Ahab nevertheless orders the crew to once... (full context)

...to ram into that vessel. Ahab realizes, to his eternal dismay, the second part of Fedallah’s prophecy: that the Pequod itself is the “second hearse,” made of American wood, and that... (full context)

...“one did survive the wreck,” and it was he, Ishmael. Ishmael “took the place of Fedallah” in Ahab’s boat, and Ishmael survived . The “vortex” created by the sinking Pequod and... (full context)